On August 2, the House approved, 367-57, the conference report for the 21st Century Competitiveness Act (H.R. 2272), after rejecting, 199-227, a motion to recommit by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL). The Senate also agreed, by unanimous consent, to the conference report on August 2. The Senate passed its version of the bill (S. 761, the America COMPETES Act) on April 25 (see The Source, 4/27/07), while the House passed the original version of H.R. 2272 on May 21 (see The Source, 5/25/07).
The report authorizes $43.3 billion in new programs at the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, and other agencies. In addition to establishing mentoring programs for women and underrepresented minorities interested in science careers, the conference report authorizes a $66.5 million pilot program of grants to create specialty schools for science and math instruction, and authorizes a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Expansion program at the National Science Foundation and stipulates that funds may be used for programs that provide extra STEM instruction to women and underrepresented minorities in secondary school
