Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan RESEARCHER Act.

This legislation would require Federal research Agencies to enact policies to address the financial insecurity of graduate and postdoctoral researchers, while collecting data to better understand the financial challenges that these researchers experience.

This legislation would require the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, OSTP, to develop guidelines on addressing the financial insecurity faced by graduate and postdoctoral researchers. Federal research Agencies would then be required to use these guidelines to implement their own policies to tackle this pressing issue.

It would also improve our understanding of the financial insecurity experienced by graduate and postdoctoral researchers by awarding universities and nonprofit organizations grants to study this issue, as well as commissioning a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The future of American leadership in science and technology depends on our success in securing our scientific workforce by strengthening the STEM pipeline.

One of the most significant barriers that imperils our ability to attract new talent into the STEM pipeline and keep our young people in the pipeline once they are there is the many financial stressors that make it difficult for graduate and postdoctoral researchers to provide for themselves while conducting critical research.

Alongside issues with their salaries, young researchers face challenges concerning food insecurity, student loan debt, health, housing, childcare, and more.

Research shows that graduate and postdoctoral researchers identify compensation, including salaries and benefits, as one of the most significant barriers that they face as young people trying to support their personal lives and jumpstart their early careers.

Alongside requiring Federal research Agencies to update their policies to address these concerns, we must also collect more data on this problem to ensure that our solutions are well thought out and effective.

Ensuring continued American leadership in STEM depends on what we do now to support the researchers who will guide the future of our scientific enterprise.

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