Building Careers and Shaping Public Policy

01 November 2005

The Honorable John Sweeney
U.S. House of Representatives
416 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
Dear Representative Sweeney:

On behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-United States of America (IEEE-USA), I am writing to endorse H.R.421, the GI Advanced Education in Science and Technology Act, and encourage prompt enactment by the Congress of this important legislation. The GI Advanced Education Act will increase graduate level educational opportunities for returning veterans and help meet the growing need for scientists and engineers in the United States.

The GI Advanced Education Act is designed to increase enrollments in doctoral degree programs in math, science and engineering by authorizing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay a stipend of up to $1,200 a month to all eligible servicemen and women who elect to pursue a post-military education in these fields. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the fastest growing occupations over the next ten years will include engineering, computer and information systems managers, computer scientists and systems analysts and computer, electrical and electronics engineers. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004).

Continuing advances in electronic and computer-based technologies are driving rapid changes in the production and delivery of goods and services in the national and global economies. These advances will demand higher levels of knowledge, skill, motivation and involvement at all levels of the science and engineering workforce and a revolution in education, both for entry-level and incumbent professionals.

Improved education, training and lifelong learning are absolutely imperative if the United States is to maintain its economic and technological competitiveness in the 21st Century. The modest investment
in our returning veterans prescribed in H.R 421 will help us to achieve these goals while providing hard-earned educational benefits to some of America’s best, brightest and most deserving students.

IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., created in 1973 to advance the public good, while promoting the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 225,000 technical professionals who are U.S. members of the IEEE. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Bill Williams at 202-785-0017.

Sincerely,

Gerard A. Alphonse
President, IEEE-USA