Reducing Credit Hour Requirement for Edith Nourse Rogers Stem Scholarship

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 2196, which would amend the credit hour requirement for the Edith Nourse Rogers Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Scholarship program and the Forever GI Bill, named after Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers, who served 18 consecutive terms in Congress and was a tireless advocate for veterans throughout the 21st century. This legislation follows the spirit of this pioneering Congresswoman and ensures that our veterans are able to access the benefits that they have earned.

The Rogers STEM Scholarship provides up to 9 months of additional Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to qualifying veterans and Fry Scholars seeking an undergraduate STEM degree or who have earned a STEM degree and are seeking a teaching certification.

Our bill makes a necessary and timely change to the eligibility requirement for the Rogers STEM Scholarship program from 128 required credit hours to a much more common 120 credit-hour requirement.

After passage of the Forever GI Bill, the VA discovered that there were only three States where the average STEM degree exceeds 128 required credit hours, meaning that the vast majority of veterans would be unable to access this benefit.

This scholarship is set to launch August 1, as was recently said, of this year, and it is incumbent on Congress to make this fix before then to ensure that more student veterans pursuing STEM degrees are able to utilize the additional funding Congress provided for them in the Forever GI Bill.

I would like to thank my colleague, Congressman Levin, for his support in introducing this bill, as well as Ranking Member Roe and Representative Radewagen for their cosponsorship as well.

This is a win-win. There is a labor supply shortage, especially in critical STEM fields, and so employers need STEM-educated workers. At the same time, there is no better group of people than veterans who know teamwork, who know about putting a cause greater than themselves, and who, in many cases, have skills that are particularly adaptive to the STEM fields where this is a win for them, as well, in their movement to civilian life.

I am proud to see this legislation pass by voice vote in our committee, and I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation to ensure we are setting up our veterans for success and job security after their service to our Nation.

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