[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 699 Engrossed in House (EH)]
H. Res. 699
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
June 7, 2006.
Whereas according to the Department of Labor, most of the new jobs created
throughout the United States in the past decade have come from the
creative efforts of entrepreneurs and small businesses, which have been
expanding and advancing technology and fueling the recent growth in the
economy;
Whereas entrepreneurs have been the source of economic innovation throughout the
history of the Nation, and the entire society has been improved because
of the new ways of doing things that have been brought about by people
who market their ideas;
Whereas economically independent entrepreneurs are engaged citizens who work to
improve the economic environment in their local communities, providing
better opportunities for businesses to operate and a better environment
for the human resources they need to advance their business dreams;
Whereas 70 percent of high school students want to become entrepreneurs, and
entrepreneurial skills will assist students in the future regardless of
whether they work in a business owned by others or run their own
business;
Whereas the high interest of students in becoming entrepreneurs and the critical
role entrepreneurs have played in advancing the national economy make it
vital for the Nation's schools to provide students with training in the
skills which will enable them to become the entrepreneurs of the future;
Whereas the Partnership For 21st Century Skills identified financial, economic,
business literacy, and entrepreneurship skills as the types of skills
students must have in order to enhance workplace productivity and career
options;
Whereas exposing students to the types of market-driven problems faced by
entrepreneurs is an excellent example of how educators can use problem-
based learning strategies to prepare students for the situations they
will encounter in the future, an approach recommended by the National
Council on Competitiveness in its 2004 report entitled `` Innovate
America'';
Whereas entrepreneurship education provides exactly the type of academic
engagement of all students promoted by the National High School
Alliance, based on relevant real-world contexts that build on community
assets, allow participation in workplace-based learning, and include
performance-based assessments;
Whereas entrepreneurship education has been shown to be especially effective in
closing the achievement gap between minority students and others in
public schools;
Whereas students who participate in entrepreneurship education programs have
better attendance records, perform better on core subjects, and have
lower dropout rates than those who do not participate in these programs;
Whereas successful programs in entrepreneurship education have been established
in many States, including the public-private partnership program in
North Carolina by the Center for 21st Century Skills, which helps
students acquire the knowledge and skills needed for success in the
global economy and which has been touted as a national model for
education in the 21st century;
Whereas the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has assembled a multidisciplinary
panel of distinguished scholars who will evaluate relevant research and
review what has been learned in the many existing programs on
entrepreneurship under way throughout the United States in order to
provide recommendations for a comprehensive approach to teaching
entrepreneurship in colleges and universities;
Whereas the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has contributed significant time
and resources to create the Kauffman Campuses program to make
entrepreneurship education a common and accessible campus-wide
opportunity that is an integral part of the college experience;
Whereas the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education has developed and nurtured
a lifelong entrepreneurship education model to encourage students'
awareness of entrepreneurship as a career option throughout their years
of school and to assist entrepreneurs as they implement their
entrepreneurial ideas;
Whereas the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education has lead the initiative to
broadly define the field of entrepreneurship through 403 performance
indicators to guide the delivery of entrepreneurship education in
support of the lifelong learning model;
Whereas, through the initiative to observe annually National Entrepreneurship
Week, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Consortium for
Entrepreneurship Education, and partner organizations promote awareness
of the contributions of entrepreneurs as innovators, positive forces in
the economy, and important resources for improving communities as places
to live and work; and
Whereas National Entrepreneurship Week will focus on the innovative ways in
which entrepreneurship education can bring together the core academic,
technical, and problem solving skills essential for future entrepreneurs
and successful workers in future workplaces: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) encourages the implementation of entrepreneurship education
throughout the United States;
(2) supports the goals and ideals of National Entrepreneurship Week
so that the people of the United States are reminded of the
contributions of entrepreneurs and so that educators are encouraged to
reflect on how entrepreneurship education can improve the performance of
their students; and
(3) requests that the President issue a proclamation calling on the
Federal Government, State and Local governments, schools, nonprofit
organization, and others to observe National Entrepreneurship Week
annually with special events in support of entrepreneurs and
entrepreneurship education programs.
Attest:
Clerk.