Washington, DC - Congressman Edolphus "Ed" Towns (D-Brooklyn) testified today in front of the House Science Research subcommittee on legislation that he has introduced to strengthen technology infrastructure and improve educational instruction in digital technologies at minority serving institutions.

"Just as the government has a responsibility to ensure that students have up to date textbooks and classrooms, we must also ensure that all of our students have access to modern technology services," said Towns.  "My legislation would help narrow the gap between the halves and the halve nots."

A recent study by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education shows that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) significantly trail other colleges and universities when it comes to access to computer resources, high speed connectivity, and integration of technology into classroom learning.

"Slightly more than 20 percent of all college degrees earned by African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians in this country are awarded by minority serving institutions," said Towns.  "We must ensure that these college graduates have the tools to compete in our technology based, global economy."  He  also emphasized the  need for a  peer  review  procedure  to ensure  that representatives  from  the  MSI  community are  the  ones  who  are  actually  reviewing  the grant  applications.

Towns introduced similar legislation last Congress.  However, this year, similar legislation has already passed the Senate, which increases the likelihood that Towns' bill, the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2003, could be come soon become law.

Minority serving institutions, which would benefit from the bill, must have at least half of their enrollment from minority groups.  In addition to HBCUs, other minority serving institutions include Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions