[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H342-H343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICA IS COMPETING WITH CHINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Ryan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RYAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the COMPETES 
Act. And quite frankly, I am stunned to hear some of the rhetoric 
coming from the other side around a bill that finally, after decades, 
recognizes that we are in a very stiff competition with China, and for 
the longest time America didn't know it.
  China was in this competition. China was doing everything they could 
to dump steel in our country. They spend 7 to 9 percent of their GDP on 
infrastructure every year. They got islands in the South China Sea. 
They told us they weren't going to militarize them; now they have.
  They have bases in Africa, long-term raw material contracts in 
African countries to solidify their control of precious metals so that 
our phones, our weapons systems, our computers, they have a plan.
  This is not complicated. But it is being seen through the prism of 
our current, broken, insane political system.
  And so what we are trying to do here is recognize that they are 
winning. Seventy percent of chip manufacturing comes out of China. The 
cargo ships along the California ports, those aren't coming from 
Kansas. They are coming

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from China. Over 50 percent of the electric vehicle market is dominated 
by China.
  And so the thoughtful thing, the smart, strategic thing for us to do 
in the United States is one, recognize this, and two, make sure we 
reinvest back into the United States, which is what we did with the 
bipartisan infrastructure bill.
  Twenty Republicans in the Senate, led by Senator Portman from Ohio--
who I commend for his leadership--said we have got to rebuild our 
country. Broadband, infrastructure, bridges are collapsing in 
Pittsburgh. We have got to fix this stuff.
  Workforce development, we have got to plug these communities in, if 
we are going to win. And so that is what we did in a bipartisan way.
  And so the next step is: How do we bring the chip manufacturing back? 
How do we rebuild the industrial base here in places like Ohio? That 
means we have to have a strategy that invests into the country. That is 
what the COMPETES Act does. $52 billion to move these chip 
manufacturers back.
  And what is stunning to me about how radical the right wing has 
become in this country, is that this isn't: Oh, we are going to invest 
this money and maybe we will get a deal; maybe someone will locate in 
the industrial Midwest. Last week, Intel announced a $20 billion 
investment north of Columbus, Ohio, with over 100 suppliers in that 
State that will benefit from locating there: thousands of construction 
jobs.
  And you know what they said? If we pass the COMPETES Act, if we pass 
this bill, it is going to become a $100 billion investment in the 
Midwest.
  And all we are saying is: If there is nothing else we can agree on in 
the United States Congress, I hope that it is this bill. I hope it is 
infrastructure. But it is culture war du jour. I mean, what a joke.
  China has a 10-year plan, 50-year plan, 100-year plan. We live in a 
24-hour news cycle talking about Dr. Seuss, Big Bird, M&Ms, Sponge Bob, 
and we are getting our clock cleaned.
  And this is an attempt, by us, hopefully, in a bipartisan way--
doesn't look that way, but hopefully, in a bipartisan way--to actually 
prepare America, post-pandemic, post-economic collapse, to bring back 
manufacturing. And it is already happening. This is already happening.
  We saw all the leaders in Ohio: Democrat, Republican, Governor 
DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Husted, JobsOhio, under a Republican 
Governor, J.P. Nauseef, the Columbus Partnership, Kenny McDonald, the 
business leaders, everybody, the unions--and this bill creates 1 
million union apprentices in the next 5 years to build this stuff.
  Wake up. Wake up. We are losing. And this is a step forward for 
America to start leading the way and leading the country again.

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