Edith Nourse Rogers Stem Scholarship Opportunity Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 2034, the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act, as amended.

Edith Nourse Rogers was a trailblazer for veteran benefits, and the program we are amending today that bears her name was created to support the next generation of veteran trailblazers. She was instrumental in the creation of the original GI Bill and advocated for a greater role for women in the Armed Forces.

Congress created the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship in 2017 as part of the Forever GI Bill. However, since creation, we have learned of cases where improvements to the program would encourage more veterans to pursue dual degrees, degrees in STEM education, and degrees in healthcare.

Representative Budzinski's legislation would improve the program to better fit student veteran needs by making two fundamental changes to the program to increase access.

First, the legislation allows veterans to apply for the scholarship while they are still finishing their undergraduate degrees. That means students won't have to delay their education for no reason or hit an arbitrary completed credit hour requirement if they are accepted into the program. Veterans can seamlessly progress to their next degree.

Second, the legislation removes the requirement that a student exhaust all credit hours on their GI Bill benefits, which makes enrollment easier for STEM-seeking students.

The scholarship is a wonderful tool, but these requirements, originally well-intended, have made the scholarship onerous to use and limited enrollment far below projections.

H.R. 2034 fixes those issues and clears the way for more trailblazers like Congresswoman Edith Nourse. I thank Representative Budzinski for introducing this important bill, and I urge my colleagues in the House and the Senate, as well, to support this bill.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Budzinski), my good friend and the author of the bill, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization.

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 2034, the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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