[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S835-S836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 China

  Mr. President, on another matter. Everyone knows our country and our 
economy face daunting challenges beyond COVID-19. While our two parties 
don't agree on a whole lot, both Republicans and Democrats know that 
one of the main challenges of the 21st century will be competing with 
and confronting China.
  The roots of this challenge go back decades. When I was first elected 
to the Senate visiting all corners of New York, I saw entire industries 
going under as a result of unfair Chinese competition and the 
manipulation of the currency by China. For decades, China has 
effectively cheated and stolen its way to economic growth, engaging in 
brazen theft of American intellectual property via cyber operations, 
forced technology transfers, the dumping of cheap goods in our economy, 
and for a while, the pernicious manipulation of its currency. American 
workers, academics, and businesses of all sizes have paid the price to 
the tune of millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of wealth.
  More recently, China has directed its energy and mercantilist 
policies toward beating the United States and like-minded countries to 
the pole position on all leading technologies in the 21st century.
  When I say ``China,'' I mean the Chinese Government and the China 
Communist Party. The American people have nothing against the Chinese 
people.
  I have made no secret of America's failure to hold the Chinese 
Government accountable, and that has been a failure of both parties--
both parties in the past. After another bout of tough talk, we are not 
much closer to reining in China's predatory behavior than we were 4 
years ago. That is why yesterday, I asked the chairs and members of our 
relevant Senate committees to begin work on legislation to enable the 
United States to outcompete China and create American jobs.
  At the core of this effort will be the Endless Frontier Act. This is 
a bipartisan legislation that Senator Young and I sponsored and drafted 
together over a year ago. It would surge resources into the National 
Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce to advance American 
innovation in a number of critical technologies.
  We must also consider significant investments, even through emergency 
appropriations, to rebuild the capacity of the U.S. semiconductor 
industry. This, too, is a bipartisan effort that Senators Cotton and 
Cornyn joined Senator Warner and I, and we placed the original 
authorizing legislation in the Defense bill.
  Right now, semiconductor manufacturing is a dangerous weak spot in 
our economy and in our national security. Our auto industry is facing 
significant chip shortages. This is a technology the United States 
created, and we

[[Page S836]]

ought to be leading the world in. The same goes for building out 5G, 
the next-generation telecommunications network. There is bipartisan 
interest on both these issues.
  Overall, the new legislation must achieve three goals: one, boost 
American competitiveness by investing in our economy and our workers; 
two, leverage our alliances abroad; and, three, stop once and for all 
China's predatory practices. A number of my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle have strong bipartisan ideas on these issues, including 
Senators Menendez and Risch, Brown and Toomey, Cantwell and Wicker. I 
hope we can all work together to craft a bill that meets that moment.
  It is my intention to put this legislation on this topic on the 
Senate floor for a vote this spring. I urge the committees to continue 
their work in a bipartisan way so we can have strong legislation before 
us.
  It so happens that today, at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, 
significant work will be done on the same issues. President Biden has 
invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to the White House to discuss 
concerns with the U.S. supply chain, particularly the semiconductor 
shortage, and will sign an Executive order aimed at plugging the holes. 
I applaud both the meeting and the Executive order. The new 
administration is taking a strong first step in shoring up America's 
critical supply chains and putting a spotlight on American 
competitiveness