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May 12, 2010

Rep. Lynn Woolsey's Floor Speech on H.R. 5116, the COMPETES Reauthorization

As prepared for delivery
 
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5116, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act.  I want to commend Chairman Gordon for his hard work in bringing this bipartisan bill to the Floor.
 
I believe in science -- and that with enough support -- our scientists can solve almost any problem put in front of them.  But at the end of the day, this bill is about jobs.  Investments in basic and applied research, green manufacturing jobs, and high risk, high reward technologies will help lay the groundwork for a clean energy economy and create thousands of new green jobs in our country.
 
A central piece of this effort must be to get more girls and underrepresented minorities involved in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels, so they can turn their education into a career.  I’m pleased that this bill includes provisions that will be coordinate federal STEM programs and bring more women and minorities into these fields.
 
Madam Speaker, H.R. 5116 supports innovations that will not only change the way we generate energy, but will also leave a cleaner and healthy world for our children and grandchildren.  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting green jobs by voting for H.R. 5116.