[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 113 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3194-S3195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 USICA

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, during the immediate past recess, the 
bipartisan conference committee negotiations over the U.S. Innovation 
and Competition Act, otherwise known as USICA, have officially come to 
a screeching halt. It has been more than a year since the Senate 
actually passed this bill--more than a year.
  Eight months later, House Democrats passed their own partisan bill, 
which looked more like the failed ``Build Back Broke'' agenda, rather 
than a serious attempt to protect our national security by countering 
the Chinese threat.
  And earlier this summer, a conference committee was appointed and 
began negotiating a compromise bill that would finally fund the CHIPS 
Act and make other critical investments in our national security and 
competitiveness. Of course, the CHIPS Act was designed to try to bring 
back on shore American manufacturing of advanced semiconductors, which 
I will talk more about in a moment.
  But with the CHIPS funding on the five-yard line, the majority 
leader, the Senator from New York, has tossed a grenade into the end 
zone.
  And why would you possibly jeopardize such an important national 
security priority? Apparently, so Democrats can try to, yet again, pass 
their unpopular social welfare bill that doesn't even appear to have 
universal Democratic support. Forget the bipartisan bill to safeguard 
our national security; forget commonsense safeguards to protect our 
most critical supply chains; forget new American manufacturing jobs and 
big investments in States all across the country.
  Senator Schumer has chosen to revive the ``Build Back Broke'' bill 
because we are just months from an election where polls suggest that 
his party is going to get swept out of control and then instead of 
majority leader, he will become the minority leader.
  So let's take a moment to recall how we happened to get here. More 
than 2 years ago, Congress began working to bolster domestic 
semiconductor manufacturing and address a major supply chain 
vulnerability.
  Semiconductors or microcircuits underpin all of the modern technology 
we depend upon every day: the cell phones in our pockets, the cars in 
our driveways, the tractors our farmers drive, and missile systems that 
our troops use abroad.
  Chips keep us safe; they keep us connected; and they ensure that we 
have fresh food, clean water, and a way to get to work every day. The 
United States relies on strong supplies of semiconductors, and we lead 
the way in chip design, but here is the kicker. While we lead the way 
in chip design, we outsource the actual manufacturing abroad.
  That is right. We manufacture none of the world's most advanced 
chips--zero.
  Seventy-five percent of these chips come from East Asia, and a 
whopping 90 percent of them are made in Taiwan. Given the explicit 
threat of war by the Chinese Communist Party against Taiwan, that is a 
grave cause for concern.
  Furthermore, having just lived through a pandemic, consider what 
another pandemic or natural disaster might do to disrupt the supply 
chain of these critical semiconductors.
  And when you consider the fact that global chip demand is expected to 
increase by 56 percent over the next decade, it is clear that the 
problem is going to get worse. A major disruption in our global chip 
supply would halt manufacturing on everything from laptop computers to 
cars, to anti-tank Javelin missiles being used in Ukraine against 
Russian aggressors.
  This is a matter of both economic and national security, which is why 
addressing the chip shortage has been a bipartisan priority. In 2020, 
96 Senators supported passing the CHIPS for America Act as part of the 
national defense authorization bill. That was way back in 2020.
  And it took less than 6 months from the time it became law until the 
Senate passed a bill to fund the CHIPS Program. That bill was called 
the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act passed by the Senate with a 
vote of 68 to 32.
  Despite the broad bipartisan support for the CHIPS Program, the House 
refused to pass the Senate bill not because it was a bad bill, but 
because it wasn't a partisan grab bag that provided billions for 
longstanding liberal policies.
  Their ``Build Back Broke'' agenda was 6 feet under, and they saw a 
must-pass national security bill as a convenient way to resurrect it. 
Their partisan legislation known as the COMPETES Act, included handouts 
for labor unions, a key supporter for the Democratic Party. The labor 
bosses were promised some pretty big benefits that never came to pass, 
and this was the way that House Democrats saw to respond.
  They also tacked on a range of unrelated partisan provisions, like an 
$8 billion payment to a U.N. climate slush fund, which has provided 
more than $100 million to China. The stated purpose of our efforts in 
USICA--the United States Innovation and Competition Act--has been to 
counter threats from China, not to subsidize them with taxpayer 
dollars, which apparently is what the House has chosen to do.
  Well, throughout the conference committee process, Republicans have 
pushed back against the long list of unrelated and downright harmful 
provisions.
  This bill should be about safeguarding our critical supply chains and 
strengthening our competitiveness, not doling out partisan political 
favors.
  Negotiations have made progress, but, frankly, we are running out of 
time, and time is of the essence. Last month, more than 120 tech CEOs 
sent a letter to congressional leaders urging quick action on this 
legislation.
  And we are seeing signs that a failure to act will lead to these 
critical investments being made not in the United States but outside of 
the United States, just the opposite of what we hoped to attain.
  A company called GlobalWafers is planning to build a silicon wafer 
factory in Sherman, TX, that would create up to 1,500 jobs and produce 
1.2 million wafers a month. These silicon wafers are an essential 
component of semiconductors.
  But last month, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the CEO told 
her that the plan was contingent on Congress passing the CHIPS Act 
funding. Unless the funding is approved by the August recess, the 
company will scrap plans for the facility.
  A couple of weeks ago, the CEO of Intel expressed a similar 
sentiment. He said the company could expand chip production in Europe 
instead of the United States if Congress fails to pass this funding.
  So the stakes are high, as is the need to move quickly, but 
apparently none of that matters to the majority leader and House 
Democrats. They have chosen to ignore this rapidly closing window of 
opportunity and the national security risks associated with the current 
chip shortage.
  They have chosen to ignore the jobs and investments this bill would 
bring to States all across this country. They have chosen to ignore the 
symphony of voices from across the spectrum who want to get this done.
  And for what? Apparently, another unwanted and unnecessary partisan 
spending spree--this trillion-dollar proposal known as a reconciliation 
bill, which is a spinoff of Build Back Better, which I affectionately 
call ``Build Back Broke.''
  This proposal would attack oil and gas producers at a time when gas 
prices remain at record highs, and one of the most urgent needs of 
everyday, working American families is to bring down the price of 
gasoline at the pump so they can afford to take their kids to school 
and go to work.
  Yet the partisan reconciliation bill that the majority leader 
contemplates bringing up would actually make that problem worse, not 
better.
  This partisan reconciliation bill would also increase taxes on 
American families, as their budgets are already being pummeled by 
inflation. And it could be that we are already in a recession, 
technically defined as two quarters of negative GDP.

[[Page S3195]]

  Well, one thing President Obama recognized back after the great 
recession of 2008, is it is not a time to raise taxes, and apparently 
the current Biden administration did not learn that lesson, nor did the 
majority leader.
  This bill would simply make inflation worse, not better. Why the 
Democratic leader has prioritized partisan politics over sound, 
bipartisan policy is lost on me. Why he would elevate partisanship 
above national security is lost on me. And why he would show contempt 
for the challenges families are facing due to failed policies of the 
Biden administration is lost on me.
  But now he is doubling down. His decision to pursue this partisan 
reconciliation bill won't just hurt families, it risks our ability to 
pass critical CHIPS funding on a timely basis.
  To reiterate the words of the Republican leader: There will be no 
bipartisan USICA as long as Democrats are pursuing their reckless tax-
and-spending agenda. Our Democratic colleagues cannot spend their 
mornings working on a purely partisan spending spree for the next 4 
weeks and expect Republicans to work with them on a bipartisan bill in 
the afternoon.
  We simply don't have time for these antics. Bipartisan conference 
negotiations require compromise and confidence that the person sitting 
across the table from you is negotiating in good faith.
  Senator Schumer's tactics have jeopardized the good faith that has 
driven this process up until now.
  From the beginning, what was originally known as Endless Frontiers to 
now the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, or USICA--this has been a 
big bipartisan effort.
  Two years ago, I introduced the CHIPS for America Act with Senator 
Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on which I 
sit, and a Democrat. We worked in good faith to get it signed into law 
as part of the national defense reuthorization act. And we all worked 
together--68 of us--to make sure that the bill was funded through the 
bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act.
  And more recently, I have been trying to help broker an agreement 
that can get this bill signed into law as part of the conference 
committee process. My desire to fund the CHIPS Act has not changed, but 
Senator Schumer's choices have taken an already difficult job and made 
it nearly impossible.
  He is trying to turn what has been a bipartisan process into a 
partisan exercise. I hope the Democratic leader will reconsider and 
will abandon his partisan spending spree so that we can spend the next 
3 weeks passing the CHIPS funding as part of the USICA with broad 
bipartisan support.
  This is a matter of national security and economic competitiveness, 
and it should not become a victim of partisan games.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.