II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1070
To establish a National STEM Week to promote American innovation and
enhance STEM education pathways for all students, including those
in rural, urban, and underserved communities.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH14, 2025
Ms. E
RNST(for herself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To establish a National STEM Week to promote American
innovation and enhance STEM education pathways for
all students, including those in rural, urban, and under-
served communities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National STEM Week 4
Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) Science, technology, engineering, and math-1
ematics (STEM) fields are crucial to the economic 2
competitiveness and innovative capacity of the 3
United States. 4
(2) There exists a need to enhance access to 5
quality STEM education across all demographics 6
and regions to address disparities in STEM partici-7
pation and to ensure a diverse and capable future 8
workforce. 9
(3) Informal and formal learning environments, 10
including afterschool programs and at-home activi-11
ties, play significant roles in stimulating interest and 12
proficiency in STEM subjects. 13
(4) Collaborations between educational institu-14
tions, industry partners, and communities can effec-15
tively inspire and prepare students for careers in 16
STEM. 17
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL STEM WEEK. 18
The National Science and Technology Council Com-19
mittee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathe-20
matics Education (CoSTEM), in consultation with other 21
relevant stakeholders, shall designate a week each cal-22
endar year as ‘‘National STEM Week’’. 23
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SEC. 4. PURPOSES OF NATIONAL STEM WEEK. 1
(a) P
URPOSES.—The purposes of National STEM 2
Week are, through the programs and activities described 3
subsection (b), to— 4
(1) highlight the importance of STEM edu-5
cation in educational institutions across the country; 6
(2) showcase diverse career pathways within 7
STEM fields in both classroom settings and informal 8
learning environments; 9
(3) encourage family engagement with STEM 10
activities at home to foster a conducive learning en-11
vironment; 12
(4) facilitate partnerships between educational 13
institutions and industry leaders to provide students 14
with real-world applications and mentorship opportu-15
nities in STEM fields; and 16
(5) support States and local communities in de-17
veloping and promoting their own STEM Week ac-18
tivities and resources, tailored to their unique edu-19
cational and industrial landscapes. 20
(b) P
ROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.—During National 21
STEM Week, the National Science and Technology Coun-22
cil Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and 23
Mathematics Education (CoSTEM) shall carry out the fol-24
lowing: 25
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(1) EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES .—Encourage 1
educational institutions to participate in National 2
STEM Week. 3
(2) C
OMMUNITY AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT .— 4
Encourage families of students attending the edu-5
cational institutions participating in National STEM 6
Week to participate in STEM activities. 7
(3) I
NDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT .—Encourage 8
STEM industries to— 9
(A) engage with students enrolled in edu-10
cational institutions by providing mentorship 11
programs, site visits, and guest lectures; and 12
(B) support STEM education initiatives at 13
such educational institutions through funding, 14
resources, and expertise. 15
SEC. 5. REPORTING AND EVALUATION. 16
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 17
of this Act, and on an annual basis thereafter, the Na-18
tional Science and Technology Council Committee on 19
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 20
(CoSTEM) shall submit to Congress a report detailing the 21
activities conducted under National STEM Week, includ-22
ing— 23
(1) a summary of nationwide participation and 24
activities; 25
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(2) an analysis of the impact of these activities 1
on improving STEM education and closing edu-2
cational gaps; and 3
(3) recommendations for improving future 4
STEM Weeks based on feedback from participants 5
and stakeholders. 6
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 7
In this Act: 8
(1) E
DUCATIONAL INSTITUTION .—The term 9
‘‘educational institution’’ means any elementary 10
school, secondary school, and institution of higher 11
education. 12
(2) E
LEMENTARY SCHOOL ; SECONDARY 13
SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec-14
ondary school’’ have the meanings given the terms 15
in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 16
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 17
(3) I
NDUSTRY LEADER .—The term ‘‘industry 18
leader’’ means an individual in a leadership position 19
within an industry partner who has the authority to 20
make strategic decisions and allocate resources to 21
support the purposes of National STEM Week. 22
(4) I
NDUSTRY PARTNER .—The term ‘‘industry 23
partner’’ means a for-profit or nonprofit entity seek-24
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ing to support the purposes of National STEM 1
Week. 2
(5) I
NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .—The 3
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 4
meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 5
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 6
(6) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 7
technology, engineering, and mathematics. 8
(7) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 9
the 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 10
the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, 11
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-12
lands, and the United States Virgin Islands. 13
Æ
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