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Press Release: 2019-12-10

TechNet Applauds Congressional Approval of the Building Blocks of STEM Act

Washington, D.C. — TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore today issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 737, the Building Blocks of STEM Act, which now goes to the President’s desk to be signed into law:

“The U.S. can only achieve our full economic potential if we embrace the diversity of our nation and advance policies like the Building Blocks of STEM Act to build a more inclusive homegrown STEM talent pipeline that helps more women succeed.

“This legislation will help engage more girls to pursue STEM and computer science education, equipping them with the tools to unlock promising career opportunities and ensuring that America is the global innovation leader of the 21st century.

“We thank Senator Jacky Rosen and Representative Haley Stevens for their leadership on this bill and look forward to President Trump signing it into law.”

In May, TechNet sent a letter in support of the Building Blocks of STEM Act to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. An earlier version of this legislation was supported by TechNet in the last Congress.

Once enacted into law, the Building Blocks of STEM Act would do the following:

Focus National Science Foundation (NSF) STEM education programming on young children and award grants to encourage young girls to pursue computer science learning;

Direct NSF to award research grants to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to the participation of young girls in STEM activities and to develop interventions in pre-K and elementary school classrooms to increase the participation of young girls in computer science; and

Direct NSF to more equitably distribute funding for early childhood education in its Discovery Research PreK-12 program, which seeks to enhance the learning and teaching of STEM and address the immediate challenges that are facing PreK-12 STEM education.