[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S503-S504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Madam President, on USICA and the America COMPETES Act, in the first 
year under President Biden and the Senate Democratic majority, America 
saw its strongest economic growth in decades, including increases in 
wages--very, very important to the American people, who have not seen 
enough of that over the last two decades.
  This week, Congress is taking a major step to build on that success 
by advancing legislation that will help lower costs, relieve U.S. 
supply chains, and bring manufacturing back to the United States.
  Over the next 2 days, the House will debate and vote to pass a 
companion bill to the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, 
which we approved last summer, of course, with strong bipartisan 
support. I am pleased the House is taking this important step.
  I have been pushing for months for progress on this legislation to 
strengthen supply chains and boost our technological competitiveness. 
Senators from both sides of the aisle want to see a competition and 
technology bill finally enacted. After this week, we will hopefully be 
one step closer to achieving that goal.
  Americans are demanding bold solutions to help lower the cost of 
living, and businesses from coast to coast need help to relieve supply 
chains strained by the pandemic. Legislation along the lines of USICA 
is just what the doctor ordered. It would provide the long-term help 
our country needs to lower costs and help businesses grow right here at 
home--jobs here in America, not overseas.
  One of the best examples of why this bill is needed is our Nation's 
dangerous chip shortage. The shortage has sent shock waves across the 
economy,

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hamstringing the production of everything from cars, cell phones, 
refrigerators, medical devices, and equipment used by our military. It 
has increased the cost of all of those items, and American families are 
paying for those costs.
  USICA would help relieve them and make sure these supply chain 
bottlenecks are relieved. Our proposal would provide $52 billion to 
help relieve those supply chain pressures and bring production back to 
America. Instead of relying on other countries for our chips, let's 
bring these jobs back home.
  Typically, it is America that provides the research, the R&D in 
cutting-edge chips, but somehow this country has allowed them all to be 
made--or the vast majority of them to be made overseas. Let's make them 
here with good manufacturing jobs, in addition to making sure we stay 
at the top of the game in terms of research. USICA does both--increases 
R&D and increases manufacturing jobs--all here in America.
  So I want to commend my colleagues for pushing this legislation 
forward. Of course, we will have much more work to do to bridge our two 
proposals together, but the House's vote this week sets us on a 
necessary course to passing these policies into law.