Science and Technology Issues in the 117th Congress

"The federal government supports scientific and technological advancement directly by funding and performing research and development, and indirectly by creating and maintaining policies that encourage private sector efforts. Additionally, the federal government regulates many aspects of S&T activities. This report briefly outlines a key set of science and technology policy issues that may come before the 117thCongress.

Many of these issues carry over from previous Congresses, and represent areas of continuing Member interest.Examples include policies on taxation, trade, intellectual property, commercialization of basic scientific research and other overarching issues that affect scientific and technological progress. Other issues may represent new or rapidly evolving areas affected by the threats of pandemic diseases, climate change, and malicious cyber activities, among others. Examples covered in this report include infectious disease modeling and forecasting, digital contact tracing and digital exposure notification, hydrogen pipelines, and expansion of emerging information and communications technologies such as 5G.

These and other S&T-related issues that may come before the 117thCongress are grouped into 10 categories.
 Overarching S&T Policy Issues,
 Agriculture,
 Biotechnology and Biomedical Research and Development,
 Climate Change and Water,
 Defense,
 Energy,
 Homeland Security,
 Information Technology,
 Physical and Material Sciences, and
 Space.

Each of these categories includes concise analysis of multiple policy issues. The material presented in this report should be viewed as illustrative rather than comprehensive. Each section identifies CRS reports, when available, and the appropriate CRS experts to contact for further information and analysis.."
 Science and Technology 

Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering

"Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering provides statistical information about the participation of these three groups in science and engineering education and employment. A formal report, in the form of a digest, is issued every 2 years...."
"Women, minorities, disabled in science

Six million graduates employed in science and engineering in 2013

"The number of college graduates in the United States nearly doubled between 1993 and 2013, according to a new report from the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

The report details that the number of graduates with degrees in science and engineering (S&E) fields grew faster than the number of those with other types of degrees. In 2013, 27 percent of graduates held degrees in S&E fields. Roughly 1 in 10 graduates were employed in S&E occupations, a proportion that has remained largely unchanged since 1993..."

Science and Engineering employment

Women's History Month: March 2013

"STEM Careers and CDC Women Making a Difference
Every March, America recognizes women and their contributions to history. This year's theme is "Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)."
CDC celebrates Women's History Month 2013 by recognizing the contributions of female employees who work in STEM careers.
CDC women represent diverse STEM fields, including microbiology, chemistry, behavioral science, toxicology, epidemiology, biology, medicine, and mechanical engineering. The challenges they meet are just as broad, from identifying sources of outbreaks and tracking disease trends, to evaluating effectiveness of programs and identifying strategies to protect workers, to improving our understanding of disease and educating the public and professionals about the latest strategies to stay healthy. As varied as their work is, though, they all share a common goal: to help people live safer and healthier lives..."

Womens History

Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin

"One focus area for increasing the STEM workforce has  been to reduce disparities in STEM employment by sex,  race, and Hispanic origin. Historically, women, Blacks,  and Hispanics have been underrepresented in STEM
employment..."
STEM Employment

The U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce: Recent, Current, and Projected Employment, Wages, and Unemployment

"The number of scientists and engineers needed to meet growth and net replacement needs between 2010 and 2020 is 2.4 million, including 1.4 million in the computer occupations and 525,900 engineers..."
Science and Engineering Workforce

Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering

"Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering provides statistical information about the participation of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering education and employment. A formal report, now in the form of a digest, is issued every 2 years..."
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/2013/start.cfm

Science of the Summer Olympics: Engineering in Sports

"The Olympians from Team USA heading to London in July represent not only an American commitment to athletic achievement, but also the pervasive impact of innovation.

From the devices that protect the athletes, to the mechanisms that track their races, to the systems that help them train, technologies created and guided by engineers are critical components of the Olympic experience..."

National Global Change Research Plan, 2012-201

"The Obama Administration today released a 10-year strategic plan for research related to global change, identifying priorities that will help state and local governments, businesses, and communities prepare for anticipated changes in the global environment, including climate change, in the decades ahead.

The Plan—released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which for more than 20 years has coordinated Federal global change research— was developed collaboratively by more than 100 Federal scientists. It reflects extensive inputs from stakeholders and the general public, as well as a detailed review by the National Research Council, chartered by Congress to provide independent expert advice to the Nation. The Plan will be implemented through the USGCRP and the 13 Federal departments and agencies it represents..."

Immigration of Foreign Nationals with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Degrees

"Although the United States remains the leading host country for international students in science,
technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields, the global competition for talent has
intensified. A record number of STEM graduates—both U.S. residents and foreign nationals—are
entering the U.S. labor market, and there is a renewed focus on creating additional immigration
pathways for foreign professional workers in STEM fields. Current law sets an annual worldwide
level of 140,000 employment-based admissions, which includes the spouses and children in
addition to the principal (i.e., qualifying) aliens. “STEM visa” is shorthand for an expedited
immigration avenue that enables foreign nationals with graduate degrees in STEM fields to adjust
to legal permanent resident (LPR) status without waiting in the queue of numerically limited LPR
visas. The fundamental policy question is should the United States create additional pathways for
STEM graduates to remain in the United States permanently?.."

Science 2011:National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grade 8

"The average eighth-grade science score increased from 150 in 2009 to 152 in 2011. The percentages of students performing at or above the Basic and Proficient levels were higher in 2011 than in 2009 (figure A). There was no significant change from 2009 to 2011 in the percentage of students at the Advanced level..."

Science and Engineering Indicators 2012

"The United States remains the global leader in supporting science and technology (S&T) research and development, but only by a slim margin that could soon be overtaken by rapidly increasing Asian investments in knowledge-intensive economies. So suggest trends released in a new report by the National Science Board (NSB), the policymaking body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), on the overall status of the science, engineering and technology workforce, education efforts and economic activity in the United States and abroad..."
View full report.

Science and Engineering Indicators, 2012.

"The United States remains the global leader in supporting science and technology (S&T) research and development, but only by a slim margin that could soon be overtaken by rapidly increasing Asian investments in knowledge-intensive economies. So suggest trends released in a new report by the National Science Board (NSB), the policymaking body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), on the overall status of the science, engineering and technology workforce, education efforts and economic activity in the United States and abroad...
View full report.

ESA: Education Supports Racial and Ethnic Equality in STEM
"Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank unveiled findings from the Economics and Statistics Administration’s (ESA) third and final report on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs and education today at a Brookings Institution forum on advancing STEM education in the United States..."
view full report

The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2009
"This report presents results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in science at grades 4, 8, and 12. National results for each of the three grades are based on representative samples of public and private school students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense schools. State results are reported separately for fourth- and eighth-grade public school students from 46 states and the Department of Defense schools. Student performance is summarized as average scores and as percentages of students performing at or above three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. Results for student demographic groups (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, and type of school location) are included, as well as sample assessment questions with examples of student responses. The Technical Notes and appendix tables provide information on NAEP samples, school and student participation rates, the exclusion and accommodation rates of students with disabilities and English language learners, and additional state-level results..."

Foreign Science and Engineering Presence in U.S. Institutions and the Labor Force
"
The increased presence of foreign students in graduate science and engineering programs and in
the scientific workforce has been and continues to be of concern to some in the scientific
community. Enrollment of U.S. citizens in graduate science and engineering programs has not
kept pace with that of foreign students in those programs. In addition to the number of foreign
students in graduate science and engineering programs, a significant number of university faculty
in the scientific disciplines are foreign, and foreign doctorates are employed in large numbers by
industry.

Few will dispute that U.S. universities and industry have chosen foreign talent to fill many
positions. Foreign scientists and engineers serve the needs of industry at the doctorate level and
also have been found to serve in major roles at the masters level. However, there are charges that
U.S. workers are adversely affected by the entry of foreign scientists and engineers, who
reportedly accept lower wages than U.S. citizens would accept in order to enter or remain in the
United States..."

Girls & Science Education: How to Engage Girls in Science
"[Library of Congress]This guide gathers select print and electronic resources for educators, parents, researchers, and young women on how to get girls (particularly middle and high school aged) interested in science and scientific careers."

Selected Internet Resources --Government Resources for Science Images
"Most images are protected by copyright and cannot be reproduced without permission from the copyright owner. The exceptions are U.S. Government images, which generally are in the public domain and free from copyright.

Even though the following image sources are from government Web sites, it is always good practice to make sure that the image is not protected by copyright. One way to do this is to look for the artist credit and copyright symbol (©). If there is a copyright symbol, ©, and a date (©2002) then that image is protected by copyright. If you wish to use a copyrighted image, you will need to seek permission from the copyright owner. Once you are ready to use an image, be sure to include image credit and source.

The Internet resources below are organized by broad scientific classes. Since many of these sites are interdisciplinary in nature, there may be some overlap.

For a complete list of Government image Web sites, see the USA.gov graphics list

The U.S. Science and Technology Workforce
"In the 21st century, global competition and rapid advances in science and technology will
challenge the scientific and technical proficiency of the U.S. workforce. Policymakers often
discuss policy actions that could enhance the nation’s science and technology (S&T) workforce—
deemed by some as essential to both meet U.S. workforce demands as well as to generate the new
ideas that lead to improved and new industries that create jobs.

The America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) addresses concerns regarding the S&T workforce
and STEM education, and the 111th Congress is debating funding for the programs authorized
within it. Policymaker discussions tend to focus on three issues: demographic trends and the
future S&T talent pool, the current S&T workforce and changing workforce needs, and the
influence of foreign S&T students and workers on the U.S. S&T workforce. Many perspectives
exist, however, on the supply and demand of scientists and engineers. Some question the
fundamental premise that any action is necessary at all regarding U.S. competitiveness. They
question whether or not the S&T workforce and STEM education are problems at all..."

Science.gov
"Science.gov searches over 38 databases and 1,950 selected websites, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information, including research and development results."