It's not unusual for constituents to propose legislation to members of Congress. But it is unusual when a high school senior gets a law on the books. 

Nathan Wang has a passion: Learning about artificial intelligence, which he says is the next step in the science and tech revolution. 

"Your creativity is definitely limited by the knowledge of the tools you have," he said. "And AI once you learn it it expands your capacity to be creative by so much."

AI is, loosely speaking, a form of machine learning and Wang believes it needs to be a part of education in schools. So, during a Boys State trip to Washington, he proposed model legislation. His member of Congress, Rep. Paul Tonko, was willing to listen. 

"I didn't think I had the confidence or the expertise to do that, but that week and the people that I met there really changed that perspective," he said. 

Wang is now a freshman at Johns Hopkins University. But as a student at Shaker High School in Latham, Wang worked with Tonko's office to propose funding for learning about artificial intelligence in grades K through 12. 

Tonko called Wang's push imporant civic engagement. 

"The importance of it is really very heavy," Tonko said. "It translates into our competitiveness as it relates to science, health developments, manufacturing, even defense."

Money for AI learning in schools was included in a $740.5 billion defense bill now working its way through Congress. It passed in the House of Representatives this week with a veto proof majority and heads to the U.S. Senate. If approved, it could provide a foundation to future workers in the technology sector of tomorrow. 

It helps that Tonko is a bit of a kindred spirit for Wang as an engineer and represents a district that includes General Electric and tech hubs like SUNY Nano. 

"We are often times considered one of the hot beds in the country," he said. "Science and tech, innovation and jobs growth."

Wang believes learning about AI is important now and helps to keep students competitive. 

"A common question in math class is when am I going to use this in real life," he said. "I would argue it is much more important for a student to leave high school with a nuanced and familiar understanding of how math and science interplay with real world technologies than simply being able to compute a few equations."