Full Committee Markup -- H.R. 362

Opening Statement By Chairman Bart Gordon

Today we are meeting to markup three bipartisan bills.

I realize that I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I sincerely hope that the Committee on Science and Technology is a place where members of both parties can come together to get work done on important issues in a bipartisan way.

The important, non-partisan issue of this markup is U.S. competitiveness. This is one of the most critical issues facing our nation today. H.R. 362, the “10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds” Science and Math Scholarship Act, which I sponsored and Ralph Hall co-sponsored, takes a big step forward in dealing with this vital issue.

Together with H.R. 363, which this Committee reported out earlier this month, these bills take recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report, and turn them into real legislation that will make a difference.

In addition to H.R. 362, we are also marking up two other bills:

H.Con.Res. 76 is a resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year, an international cooperative initiative that led to significant advances in space and Earth science, and which was marked by the dawn of the Space Age.

H.Res. 252 recognizes the 45th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic space mission in which he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

The space race of the 1950’s and 1960’s helped to drive scientific achievement and technological innovation in the 20th century.

It is fitting that today, as we honor the scientific and technological achievements of the past, we are also helping to insure this country’s ability to make these great gains in the future.

"10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds" Math and Science Scholarship Act