[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            BIOECONOMY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2021

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. FRANK D. LUCAS

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2022

  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 4521, 
the so-called ``America COMPETES Act of 2022.'' And I regret the path 
the Democratic leadership has taken with bringing this bill to the 
floor.
  Some will call this a ``competitiveness package'' or a ``supply 
chain'' bill. Others claim the bill is about countering the Chinese 
Communist Party. But the truth is that it is none of those things. If 
this 3,000-page bill seems to have no coherence or strategic purpose, 
that's because it doesn't. This package was tossed together by 
Democratic leadership with no Republican input, and from what I 
understand with very little coordination between the Committee chairs. 
The Speaker hijacked good bipartisan bills dealing with U.S. 
competitiveness and countering the malign influence of China to pass 
another Democratic wish list that will go nowhere in the Senate.
  By combining competitiveness bills with partisan poison pills, H.R. 
4521 undoes more than a year of bipartisan work by the House Science 
Committee to develop and pass comprehensive legislation to double 
investment in basic research. As Ranking Member of the Science 
Committee, I was proud to work with Chairwoman Johnson to produce good 
policy that will double our investment in basic science, support the 
most important emerging technologies, build our technical workforce, 
and protect our research from theft. The House Science Committee passed 
more than a dozen bills to scale-up America's research and development 
capabilities over the next decade, ensuring the Chinese Communist Party 
does not achieve its goal of overtaking the U.S. in science and 
technology, giving them a dangerous economic and national security 
advantage.
  At the center of our work is the National Science for the Future Act 
and the Department of Energy Science for the Future Act, which both 
passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in June. When we 
passed those bills, I had high hopes that for once, Congress might be 
able to work together to get something done. The economic and national 
security threats from China grow every day, and the Chinese Communist 
Party has been clear that their target is to surpass the United States.
  The Senate has passed their own bipartisan package, the U.S. 
innovation and Competition Act (USICA) in June. While there are many 
flaws in USICA, I believe that we had a good opportunity to find a 
consensus agreement through a formal House and Senate Conference.
  I have been urging Democratic leadership to begin conferencing these 
bills with the Senate since the summer, to no avail. And now that House 
Democratic leadership has finally decided to act, and they have done so 
with no regard for all this bipartisan work.
  Instead of focusing on strong consensus policies, this package is 
filled with poison pills with no bipartisan support. There was no need 
to make this partisan.
  I believe that if given the opportunity we could have passed 
legislation that invests in American research, strengthens our supply 
chains, spurs private sector investment, ensures the domestic 
production of semiconductor chips, and confronts China's malign 
behavior. This bill is nothing more than a distraction. Now I fear that 
this week's exercise will make it more difficult to reach a bicameral, 
bipartisan deal on a bill.
  We cannot afford to play politics while the Chinese Communist Party 
threatens our economic and national security. I urge my colleagues to 
come back to the table to negotiate strategic, bipartisan legislation 
that addresses this generational threat. I ask my colleagues to oppose 
this flawed, partisan package.

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