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President Trump Signs Congressman Dunn’s Veterans STEM Bill into Law

Published

5 years ago

February 20, 2020

WASHINGTON, DC President Donald Trump signed Congressman Neal Dunn's (FL-02) Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act into law. This important legislation works to expand veterans' job and educational opportunities in the sciences.

“President Trump recognizes the importance of keeping our promise to America's heroes and ensuring they have the tools they need to succeed in civilian life. STEM related jobs are growing at an unprecedented rate in the United States and many of our veterans have the unique skills to excel in these fields,” said Dr. Dunn.

“By expanding education and job opportunities for our veterans in STEM fields, my legislation eases the transition from active duty to civilian life, while keeping America at the forefront of the world's ever-growing technology arena. Getting this important legislation signed into law has been one of my top priorities and I am thankful that we have a President who values our heroes' dedication to our country.”

On July 31, President @realDonaldTrump signed my Veteran STEM Scholarship Improvement Act into law. This modernizes the GI bill credit hour requirement so more STEM degree programs qualify in Texas, giving veterans more options for their education pic.twitter.com/88BoQBmI5N

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) October 1, 2019

“I thank my colleagues in the Senate and House for unanimously supporting this bipartisan effort to ensure our nation's veterans have the skills and opportunities to succeed in STEM careers, and I applaud President Trump for signing it into law,” Senator Marco Rubio said.

“Veterans who are returning to civilian life are uniquely qualified to excel in STEM roles, and the 21st century workforce will be dominated by these jobs. This bipartisan bill will ensure the skills our veterans attain during their service to our nation are put to good use for decades to come as they successfully transition back to civilian life.”

The Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a veterans outreach plan and publish data on veterans' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in its annual “Indicators” report.

The bill updates the NSF Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, fellowship program, and cyber grant programs to include outreach to veterans. Additionally, the bill tasks the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy with examining how to increase veteran participation in STEM career fields.

Dr. Dunn's legislation passed the House last Congress, but was not passed by the Senate. This Congress, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced companion legislation, S. 153, in the Senate.