SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

SEC. 843. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) The possession and maintenance of technologically superior systems in the Department of Defense is a critical part of the national defense strategy of the United States. (2) Defense programs use a significant portion of the entire science and technology workforce of the United States. (3) The science and technology workforce of the United States has been declining in recent years and that decline threatens 103 STAT. 1516the supply of qualified engineers and scientists for the Department of Defense in the future. (b) Sense of Congress.—In light of the findings in subsection (a), it is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should take such actions as may be necessary and appropriate to promote and encourage, at precollege through post-doctoral levels, an increase in the number of citizens and nationals of the United States who pursue courses of study in science, engineering, and other technical disciplines. (c) Report.—The Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Commit-tees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives, by February 1, 1990, a report on current, expanded, and proposed new programs of the Department of Defense and, as appropriate, proposed interagency programs to preserve and perpetuate an effective scientific and engineering workforce for the United States for the future. The Secretary, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall include in the report an evaluation of the following concepts: (1) Summer internships at Department of Defense laboratories for precollege teachers of sciences, engineering, or other technical disciplines. (2) An award program for exceptional precollege teachers in sciences, engineering, or other technical disciplines. (3) A scholarship program for undergraduates in scientific or technical education who plan to teach those disciplines at the precollege level. (4) Expanding the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program or any other such program that the Secretary and the Director mutually agree would promote in-creases in scientific and engineering careers. (d) National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships.—(1) Part HI of subtitle A of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new chapter: “CHAPTER 111—NATIONAL DEFENSE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS “Sec. “2191. Graduate fellowships. “§ 2191. Graduate fellowships “(a) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations providing for the award of fellowships to citizens and nationals of the United States who agree to pursue graduate degrees in science, engineering, or other fields of study designated by the Secretary to be of priority interest to the Department of Defense. “(b) A fellowship awarded pursuant to regulations prescribed under subsection (a) shall be known as a ‘National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship’. “(c) National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships shall be awarded solely on the basis of academic ability. The Secretary shall take all appropriate actions to encourage applications for such fellowships of persons who are members of groups (including minority groups, women, and disabled persons) which historically have been underrepresented in science and technology fields. Recipients shall be selected on the basis of a nationwide competition. The award of a fellowship under this section may not 103 STAT. 1517be predicated on the geographic region in which the recipient lives or the geographic region in which the recipient will pursue an advanced degree. “(d) The regulations prescribed under this section shall include— “(1) the criteria for award of fellowships; “(2) the procedures for selecting recipients; “(3) the basis for determining the amount of a fellowship; and “(4) the maximum amount that may be awarded to an individual during an academic year.”. (2) The tables of chapters at the beginning of subtitle A, and at the beginning of part III of subtitle A, of such title are each amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 110 the following new item: “111. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships 2191”. (e) Funding.—Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 201, $10,500,000 of the amount appropriated for fiscal year 1990 and $11,000,000 of the amount authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 1991 shall be available for National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships provided for under chapter 111 of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (c)).