Technical issues i wanted to ask you about Stem Education you come from a science background Science Education what is your committee doing when it comes to Stem Education and what is congress doing or should be . I will start with committees. Passing two major pieces of legislation that was by bipartisan but stalled in the senate it is extraordinarily important that not only we spread the word but put in the instrument that women and minorities are told about the importance of stem courses and we see it every day. We dont have the people educated and trained we see a lack of the brainpower now because of immigration. H1b visa fewer and fewer students are coming from india and china we just saw recently for example that much of the brainpower has been imported last names are not johnson or jones or smith. The only way we can do that is to educate women and minorities in the stem fields. Even coined the phrase more recently called bluecollar stemware no amount of phds or graduate degrees can be necessary to have those skills to be very innovative and a good workforce. Host joining us in our conversation today covering technology for the washington post. Thanks for having me on the show. Madam chair the point you just made regarding Stem Education and diversity, the past five years we have seen Silicon Valley make promises to diversify, but they reported put out reports that the numbers have not changed that much. What do the Companies Need to be doing to address diversity in tech . We are just beginning to release the results of our second study back when i first joined the committee. We did legislation to ask for research and why more women and minorities were not going into the field and remaining. We did have interesting findings and that is the hostility that women find in maledominated professions even though they no longer should be for go first of all we have more women now than men and more minorities. So it should be inclusive. We need all the talent we can get. We have to make sure there are opportunities for women of childbearing age and whatever age might have the opportunity to be in these fields. And we are broadening the Stem Education to include what we consider bluecollar and Workforce Readiness. And sometimes high school. We are about to lose our edge in innovation and we cannot afford to do that. We must be very forceful that there are many opportunities because we are in the age of innovation we cannot enter that world stage without having people that are in tune with innovation its a way of thinking and creative thinking and Critical Thinking. Madam chair your committee recently hosted a hearing on Artificial Intelligence. As that has become more prevalent how has the us approach to Stem Education needs to evolve quick. It is getting to be more important than ever. We are just beginning to look into that area. We have had some hearings with the research that we need to do. And then to sit around and think Artificial Intelligence will just appear but we have to be ready for that innovation and we have to make sure the workforce is ready. And thats critical. While we focus on many other things, that is our Workforce Readiness future. Host is it important the us quote unquote beat china with a ai . And important that we keep pace but we are not investing the same amount of time or money in the research to keep up with china. That is a concern that i have. We cannot assume we cannot keep up. We have to invest in the research and the education. At the democratic debate automation was a key issue one candidate andrew yang is proposing a universal basic income to address the changes of work that ai may bring to the us economy. What do you think of those proposals quick. That is an idea we need to entertain. I will not shut the door on any idea because we are challenged with our future. We in this country are losing ground. We cannot afford that. We have got to invest to have returns on investment. I also want to ask more broadly tech issues are coming up more and more on the debate stage last night so what do you think of the proposals we have seen from lawmakers like senator Elizabeth Warren to break up big tech . That is yet to be explored. However i will say all of the ideas coming forth, we have seen them coming over the years. Many of these started at the development right in the backyard of where i represent. Many of these innovative ideas are put to work there. A good example is texas is one of the first states to do learning with the schools and they developed into medicine so as a state with innovation we now see robots doing room service and hotels. Also just recently started to robots handling luggage at dallasfort worth airport. Ups delivering in colorado with their packaging. So this is happening right in our faces without any prior preparation, we know there is more to come and we must be ready for it. Not only do we just wait to see whats coming but also to be a part of that development and we have to take some responsibility that we have the scales we now see vehicle travel is right here on the horizon so the people that are accustomed to driving these trucks that have technology to help them drive these trucks. It is not too soon. As a matter of fact four years ago i started to talk about legislation to start to train truck drivers. It failed. We were never able to get it for the support that then it was killed in the senate. So the idea is that this wont happen between now see it will happen. We started this evolution of innovation with technology and Artificial Intelligence with our own research. Now the rest of the world is passing us by we cannot afford that. People that are capable of getting that education and training we have to make that responsibility that we have competing areas and we really have to make sure that we encourage young minds to think more critically and make better choices of what they major in or perhaps even making a choice to come to Community College or Workforce Development over a fouryear college. But we have to do innovation to make sure that we remain as a part of the cutting edge but we are about to lose that edge. We cannot afford to do it. Host representative johnson you referenced texas instrument instruments and the silicon chip but what about your district today . How hightech is it quick. Its pretty high tech. We will be ready to face the hightech with Community Colleges that are stepping up and we just had a large so this will continue but im more concerned about whether or not from the time the Critical Thinking to have more counselors to make sure we are not missing out. One of the concerns expressed over several years of hearings in congress is that congress is not tech savvy. What is your take . Any idea like that part of it is true. We have got to be more focused on her future. We cannot be more focused on her future and innovation. That is what is driving the world and lots of services. Five dollars for every dollar we have invested and even more research but we have to be much more realistic and involved with the young people in the thinking. Its not just the exclusive we have to include all of our lives to meet the challenge. Representative you talk about Stem Education and efforts to stay focused on innovation but do you think there is bipartisan that you mentioned quick. In the science and Technology Based committee this year 95 percent that legislation is coming out is very bipartisan we are focused on that. It should not be. Technology is not part is in. But nor should we be worried about other than that inclusiveness we are continuing to Work Together as a committee we have a very robust committee some returning members but with those new interest we cover those areas were not getting the attention we deserve but we are doing hard work. And on that point there was a hearing on deep fake with Artificial Intelligence to make it look like people are doing or saying things that never happened that is where there was bipartisan concern but as we get closer at the 2020 election do you think they are doing enough to address the information quick. That is difficult to tell. But what we like to look for. This is a challenge but there are many other rules coming along to make sure we step up to the plate. And the responsibility to this nation is bipartisan and i hope we will see that to come to a head if we focus on what we really need to focus on. So we are not fighting with each other but we are in competition with the rest of the world. Madam chair there is some talk the special Media Companies of twitter and facebook of the partisanship. Thats true. We have to be more aggressive. So to see that responsibility. On that point about responsibility i want to ask what you think the tech companys responsibility is when it comes to political content. We have seen the facebook announced it doesnt want to act as a referee for what politicians post on their site we have seen twitter and hold politicians to a different standard not taking it down when it might otherwise violate policies. This is a contentious issue for go do you think facebook and twitter should take action when the president uses the platform as a falsehood quick. I do. There is a close edge of freedom of speech but at the same time we should have a freedom of responsibility. It should be as equal as possible and not biased. Sometimes i think these platforms are very aware because it is the environment that some will all be toward one party or the other brick i guess thats a democracy. But thats one of the reasons we need the people to come along who can challenge us as a nation to see if that is real freedom of speech or if it is a distortion. Host representative johnson a recent poll shows Election Security is a major issue for the majority of voters and this is something your committee has looked at as well. Yes. I live that. We have always had a question about real freedom and expression. That is critical to a democracy. Thats one of the things i feel very strongly about. Is not anything to happen in the past but now with technology. Do you feel this country is ready for the 2020 election when it comes to the technology of Voting Machines quick. I cannot tell you i feel that confident that we are. I hope we are all working to get there. I hope we are all working that everybody has a fair chance to have that vote counted accurately. But getting into all of this technology is it does test whether or not we are focusing on the right interpretation of our constitution. Freedom of speech is one thing and fairness within that freedom of speech might have a challeng challenge. Representative johnson i want to ask you about what the executive branch might be able to do to address Election Security there was a recent Senate Intelligence report that said the executive branch could do more to callout and raise awareness ahead of the election. Do you agree quick. Yes i agree. Also the executive branch questions their fairness. So you have to start off with a platform to convince people you really are looking for fairness. I do think its possible if we have people in place that also feel that they are looking a way to get around fairness. You have to want to play on is to be honest. Host madam chair when it comes to five g is the country ready quick. I cannot answer that yes or no we will experience them. And then to protect the people to be honest and look for what we are dealing with. And then to decide to go beyond the morality of the technology. We cannot continue to let things go without some degree that we reach a fair balance but now whether or not we can just get out there we need to look at public responsibility so technology and innovation will offer that we cannot stop it. We have to learn to deal with it with fairness and honesty and integrity. Talk about checks and balances what type of a Regulatory Framework do you see quick. We do have to have some Regulatory Framework i believe and discipline what kind of platform we need im not sure i can tell you but with Good Research we can figure it out and i strongly believe in good strong basic research. You focus on innovation as there is a growing pressure and more calls for privacy regulation. Do you worry that could have a negative impact with startups moving forward quick. That is part of the environment honestly im not so sure how much privacy we can depend on everybody wants privacy bed at the same time the majority of people that are participating in these technologies that removes privacy so thats a challenge that we face and we cannot run away from there has to be part of the decisionmaking but that yet has not been fully determined to research and be a part of it as much as we can in this country but in some way ways, one good example is having a system that will have the medical records than they can go into the mainframe to find out the history that does get into privacy but also the essential part to save lives and that parameter to have people in place to help us reach the right platform of that parameter. Earlier this year there was lot of discussion passing a bipartisan privacy law by the end of the year it seems like those talks have deteriorated but what are the chances that Congress Passes federal privacy election before legislation before the election quick. I cannot predict that but i dont give up. Keep trying one day it looks like it is impossible to never give up if its the right thing for the people. Would you own a huawei phone quick. Im not sure. Probably not now but why dont know what the future it depends on the technology. It is not a time you just make up your mind you will not do something. I can remember my mother said i will never use a computer. That didnt last. My mother died ten years ago in 1996. Most of those days there were no computers now its an everyday thing. We can only talk about the research. Host should Science Space Technology committee has been our guest on the communicators along with cat from the washington post. 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