,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ccig  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #be1 #bjag,ms4 
,rosen 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,knight1 ,mr4 
,evans1 ,mr4 ,meeks1 ,mr4 ,tonko1 ,ms4  
,hanabusa1 ,mr4 ,beyer1 ,ms4 ,esty of   
,connecticut1 ,mr4 ,crist1 ,ms4         
,slaughter1 and ,mr4 ,soto7 introduced  
the following bill2 which was referred  
to the ,committee on ,science1 ,space1  
and ,technology  ,a ,,bill  ,to direct  
the ,national ,science ,foundation to   
support ,,stem education research       
focused on early childhood4  #a4 ,short 
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,building ,blocks of ,,stem ,act4  #b4  
,findings ,the ,congress finds the      
following3  7#a7 ,the ,national ,science
 ,foundation has made the largest       
financial investment in ,,stem education
 of all ,federal agencies1 and plays a  
very powerful role in helping to set    
research and policy agendas4  7#b7      
,studies have found that children who   
engage in scientific activities from an 

early age develop positive attitudes    
toward science and are more likely to   
pursue ,,stem expertise and careers     
later on4  7#c7 ,however1 the majority  
of current research focuses on          
increasing ,,stem opportunities for     
students in middle school and older4    
7#d7 ,women remain widely               
underrepresented in the ,,stem workforce
 and this gender disparity extends down 
through all levels of education4        
,strategic funding of programs is needed
 in order to understand and address the 
root cause of this gap4  #c4            
,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,early 
childhood ,the term early childhood     
applies to children from birth through  
the age of #aj4  7#b7 ,,stem ,the terms 
,,stem means science1 technology1       
engineering1 and mathematics1 including 
computer science4  #d4 ,supporting      
,,stem research on early childhood ,in  
awarding grants under the ,discovery    
,research ,pre,k-#ab program1 the       
,director of the ,national ,science     

,foundation shall consider age          
distribution in order to more equitably 
allocate funding for research studies   
with a focus on early childhood4