[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ENDLESS FRONTIER ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Now, on the Endless Frontier Act, last night the Senate 
voted to move forward with the Endless Frontier Act with a vote of 86 
to 11. It is likely that today the Senate will take another step to 
begin debate on the bill. It is my intention to have an open, 
bipartisan amendment process.
  The Endless Frontier Act already includes more than 20 bipartisan 
amendments from the Commerce Committee, under the leadership of Senator 
Cantwell and Ranking Member Wicker. I will expect we will consider 
several more here on the floor of the Senate.
  Later today, I will file a substitute amendment that pulls together 
more bipartisan legislation from across Senate committees into our 
comprehensive bill that we are now calling the U.S. Innovation and 
Competition Act.
  In addition to Chairwoman Cantwell and Ranking Member Wicker, I want 
to thank Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Risch of Foreign 
Relations; Chairman Brown and Ranking Member Toomey of Banking; 
Chairman Peters and Ranking Member Portman of HSGAC; Chairwoman Murray 
and Ranking Member Burr of HELP; and Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member 
Grassley, and Senator Klobuchar of Judiciary.
  Finally, I want to thank the bipartisan group of Senators working on 
the CHIPS and 5G proposals throughout the process--not only Senators 
Cantwell and Wicker but Senators Warner, Kelly, Cornyn, Cotton, Leahy, 
and Stabenow.
  Restoring America's competitive edge should unite Senators from both 
sides of the aisle. The foundation of the past century of American 
prosperity has been our leadership in science, technology, and 
innovation. If we are going to win the next century, the United States 
needs to be the one discovering the next groundbreaking technology.
  We had that opportunity, for instance, with tech, and we lead the 
world because of early investments by NSF and DARPA. We have the 
opportunity now to set our country on a path to outinnovate, 
outproduce, and outcompete the world in emerging industries of the 21st 
century, with profound consequences for our economic and national 
security. If we don't lead in science and innovation, we will fall way 
behind. If we don't lead in science and innovation, millions of good-
paying jobs that will be available to this generation and the next one 
will go poof--gone. We have no choice. We have no choice.
  We have always led, and now we have fallen behind. Other countries 
are investing more than we are. They are not as good at it as we are. 
They are not as innovative as we are. But if they put in the dollars 
and we don't, woe is us. Woe is us.
  So when you ask Americans why they are upset and they say: We are not 
sure about our future. We are not sure if our children will have better 
jobs than we will. We are not sure that our jobs will grow. This is the 
way to do it. This is the key. This unlocks our future to a bright, 
sunny America, the way we have always had, but we may have lost in the 
last few years, at least to some extent.
  I am so glad that this legislation, which we worked so hard on, has 
bipartisan support. It is a place where we can unite America and say we 
will stay No. 1, and we are giving our country, our universities, our 
businesses, our workers tools to do it

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