legislative work Fattah has created a few local education initiatives for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania families as a state legislator and in cooperation with state and municipal governments, including the CORE scholars program and the annual Grad Conference. College Opportunity Resources for Education (CORE) is an initiative providing almost $27 million in last-dollar scholarships to over 18,000 students. The program encourages the students to participate in service to the local community and provides technical assistance to the families of program participants ensuring that they apply for educational assistance programs (Pell Grants, PHEAA grants, etc.) offered by the state and federal government. A report issued by the National Student Clearinghouse concludes that participants in CORE are more likely than their fellow non-CORE classmates to complete their college education in four years. Youth mentoring Fattah was the lead Democrat responsible for the funding of the United States Department of Justice and the United States Attorney General. Since 2011, the Congressman was able to negotiate an increase of $30M to investment in DOJ programs that fund groups including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. In 2012, Fattah negotiated a partnership between FIRST and Boys & Girls Clubs of America to provide robotics programs to 4million youth by 2015. Neuroscience Fattah was the lead Democrat responsible for funding some of the largest science agencies in the federal system (NASA, NSF, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In December 2011, Fattah through his role on the Appropriations Committee, directed the OSTP to establish an Interagency Working Group on Neuroscience (IWGN). Housed within the White House and chartered on June 20, 2012, the IWGN convenes representatives across the Federal government to make recommendations about the future of neuroscience research. The Fattah Neuroscience Initiative is a policy initiative designed to make major progress understanding the human brain by intensifying, in a collaborative fashion, federal research efforts across brain disease, disorder, injury, cognition and development. The initiative aims to coordinate Federal research across agencies and draw upon public-private partnerships and the world of academia. The initiative promotes research and discovery across brain cognition, development, disease and injury. Manufacturing Fattah states that his priority is ensuring that small and medium businesses have the tools they need to prosper in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. He is the lead Democrat responsible for funding the Department of Commerce and the Office of the