Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SR132 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	III
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. RES. 132
5	5	Designating March 24, 2025, as ‘‘National Women of Color in Tech Day’’.
6	6	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
7	7	MARCH24, 2025
8	8	Ms. R
9	9	OSEN(for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr.
10	10	F
11	11	ETTERMAN, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. SCHIFF)
12	12	submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
13	13	on the Judiciary
14	14	RESOLUTION
15	15	Designating March 24, 2025, as ‘‘National Women of Color
16	16	in Tech Day’’.
17	17	Whereas National Women of Color in Tech Day acknowledges
18	18	the challenges many women of color face in the field of
19	19	technology (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘tech’’) and
20	20	recognizes and emphasizes the importance of women of
21	21	color in tech in the United States, including—
22	22	(1) Katherine Johnson, a former engineer at the Na-
23	23	tional Aeronautics and Space Administration;
24	24	(2) Marie Van Brittan Brown, who invented the first
25	25	home security system; and
26	26	(3) Patricia Bath, who invented the Laserphaco
27	27	Probe for the removal of cataracts;
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30	30	•SRES 132 IS
31	31	Whereas evidence suggests that structural and social barriers
32	32	in tech education, tech workforce development, the tech
33	33	workforce, and venture capital investment in tech can
34	34	disproportionately and negatively affect women of color;
35	35	Whereas women are underrepresented in tech, and women of
36	36	color often face additional systemic barriers in the tech
37	37	ecosystem specifically and in science, technology, engi-
38	38	neering, and mathematics (referred to in this preamble as
39	39	‘‘STEM’’) fields generally;
40	40	Whereas underrepresented minority students often face an
41	41	opportunity gap in STEM education in the United
42	42	States;
43	43	Whereas women and girls of color often face an achievement
44	44	gap in science and engineering education;
45	45	Whereas women and girls overall often face a large oppor-
46	46	tunity gap in computer science;
47	47	Whereas the competitiveness of the United States in the
48	48	21st-century global economy largely depends on devel-
49	49	oping STEM-literate citizens;
50	50	Whereas the demand for professionals in tech and computing
51	51	fields is expected to increase substantially over the next
52	52	decade;
53	53	Whereas, as of March 2023, data showed that there were
54	54	more than 750,000 open and unfilled cybersecurity jobs
55	55	in the United States;
56	56	Whereas increasing the number of women of color in tech will
57	57	be critical to building and maintaining a competitive tech
58	58	workforce;
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61	61	•SRES 132 IS
62	62	Whereas women of color currently make up 41 percent of the
63	63	female population in the United States and are projected
64	64	to make up the majority of women by 2060;
65	65	Whereas, according to the National Center for Education
66	66	Statistics, women of color in the United States earned 17
67	67	percent of bachelor’s degrees and 7 percent of doctorates
68	68	in STEM fields during the 2021–2022 school year;
69	69	Whereas the low number of women of color in tech positions
70	70	who have not received a bachelor’s degree, but who have
71	71	earned other certificates, demonstrates that women of
72	72	color may not be taking sufficient advantage of alter-
73	73	native pathways for reskilling in computing-related areas
74	74	or may not have adequate access or exposure to these
75	75	pathways;
76	76	Whereas increasing the inclusion of women of color in the
77	77	science and tech sectors can provide role models who can
78	78	inspire students of all backgrounds and identities, includ-
79	79	ing young girls of color;
80	80	Whereas diversity in any field incorporates different experi-
81	81	ences and ideas that can ultimately lead to more creative
82	82	and pioneering solutions to the current and future prob-
83	83	lems of the United States;
84	84	Whereas a May 2020 study by McKinsey and Company
85	85	shows that companies with a diverse workforce often per-
86	86	form better, hire more qualified employees, have more en-
87	87	gaged employees, and are better at retaining workers
88	88	than companies that do not prioritize diversity;
89	89	Whereas communities of color are underrepresented in cor-
90	90	porate leadership roles, including in the tech sector; and
91	91	Whereas a pipeline of qualified tech candidates of color is
92	92	critical for future growth, particularly as the tech indus-
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95	95	•SRES 132 IS
96	96	try works to improve the recruiting, hiring, and retaining
97	97	of candidates and employees of color: Now, therefore, be
98	98	it
99	99	Resolved, That the Senate— 1
100	100	(1) designates March 24, 2025, as ‘‘National 2
101	101	Women of Color in Tech Day’’; 3
102	102	(2) recognizes the celebration of National 4
103	103	Women of Color in Tech Day as a time to reflect on 5
104	104	the many notable contributions that women of color 6
105	105	have made to the field of technology in the United 7
106	106	States; 8
107	107	(3) urges the people of the United States to ob-9
108	108	serve National Women of Color in Tech Day with 10
109	109	appropriate programs and activities; 11
110	110	(4) pledges to work to increase diversity and in-12
111	111	clusion in the technology sector, including through 13
112	112	robust plans to ensure recruitment, training, and re-14
113	113	tention of underrepresented minorities at all levels; 15
114	114	(5) commits to working to eliminate barriers to 16
115	115	entering the technology sector faced by women of 17
116	116	color and individuals from other underrepresented 18
117	117	groups; 19
118	118	(6) reaffirms the commitment of the Senate to 20
119	119	ensuring that all students have access to science, 21
120	120	technology, engineering, and mathematics (referred 22
121	121	to in this resolution as ‘‘STEM’’) education for a 23
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124	124	•SRES 132 IS
125	125	21st-century economy, including computer science 1
126	126	education in particular; 2
127	127	(7) supports efforts to strengthen investments 3
128	128	in, and collaborations with, educational institutions, 4
129	129	including community colleges, historically Black col-5
130	130	leges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, 6
131	131	Asian-American, Native American, and Pacific Is-7
132	132	lander-serving institutions, Tribal Colleges and Uni-8
133	133	versities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serv-9
134	134	ing institutions, and other minority-serving institu-10
135	135	tions, to sustain a pipeline of diverse STEM grad-11
136	136	uates ready to enter the technology sector; and 12
137	137	(8) urges the President to work with Congress 13
138	138	to improve data collection, data disaggregation, and 14
139	139	dissemination of information for greater under-15
140	140	standing and transparency of diversity in STEM 16
141	141	education and across the workforce of the United 17
142	142	States. 18
143	143	Æ
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