[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3347-S3348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Semiconductors

  Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, as it turns out, I rise to echo the 
sentiments of my colleague, the distinguished Senator from the State of 
Illinois.
  The Senate is prepared to finally begin debating a targeted version 
of the jobs and competition bill that many of us have been working on 
for more than a year, and I rise today to urge my colleagues not to 
waste any more time in getting this important bill across the finish 
line. We should not allow politics to get in the way of the people's 
work.
  As a voice in the Senate for my home State of Georgia, I cannot 
stress enough how critical it is for us to get this bill done for our 
national security

[[Page S3348]]

and to keep our economy competitive against global actors like the 
Chinese Communist Party and to lower rising costs for hard-working 
families all across Georgia and all across our country.
  Now, I know that there might be disappointment from some of my 
colleagues that we are not able to pass the more robust package right 
now that we have been working on and negotiating since last April. And, 
honestly, I share that disappointment.
  As both a member of the Commerce Committee and a member of the 
committee that has been negotiating the final competition bill, I have 
been working hard to secure several priorities for Georgia in that 
package, and I am not about to stop fighting for those priorities.
  I am going to keep fighting to get investments and policies like 
funding for regional tech hubs, for STEM education--an education 
program that invests in all of our children, in all of our young 
people--and workforce development passed into law.
  But let me be clear: Passing a bill that will strengthen domestic 
production of one of our country's most valuable resources, 
semiconductors or chips, is a crucial opportunity to invest in the 
economy, invest in our security, and our future. And we cannot wait 
another minute.
  I want to shine a spotlight on this because I have heard from 
Georgians about the importance of this legislation and, specifically, 
investing and making more chips here in the United States. We know that 
chips are essential components in the products that support thousands 
of good-paying jobs in Georgia, not to mention things like cars, cell 
phones, computers, vacuum cleaners, ATMs. Chips are all around us, a 
host of products we rely on every single day.
  And we know that our chips supply chains are under significant 
strain, both from production limits and geopolitical threats. But what 
you may not know is how these issues directly affect workers and 
companies on the ground all across the State of Georgia--companies like 
Kia, which has a thriving facility out in West Point, GA, about halfway 
between Atlanta and Montgomery, AL, on I-85. Semiconductors are 
essential to the manufacturing of the roughly 340,000 vehicles Kia 
produces in Georgia every year. At least twice in the past year, this 
facility, which I have visited on more than one occasion, has had to 
stop work at the plant because they didn't have enough chips.
  They had to stop working, not because they didn't have enough 
customers, but because they didn't have enough chips. I visited that 
West Point facility, and I met with some of those workers. And I can 
tell you that the last thing that those workers need is to miss days 
off work and money out of their paychecks because we don't manufacture 
enough of the materials that they work with every single day.
  And it is not just car manufacturers in Georgia. The chip shortage is 
hurting our State's economy in myriad ways, big and small. For 
instance, Stephen Milner is the CEO of Planters Telephone Cooperative, 
a member-owned telecommunications provider in Screven County that does 
broadband expansion, as well as broadband maintenance.
  Stephen's company needs equipment to do that work that requires 
semiconductors, and as he explained recently in the Atlanta Journal 
Constitution, it has become harder to expand telephone and internet 
services to new businesses and homes in the rural communities he 
services because his company can't guarantee that it will get the parts 
needed to complete the job.
  So think about that. The chip shortage isn't just hurting jobs and 
bottom lines; it is hobbling our ability to expand rural broadband. And 
farmers all across Georgia will tell you that you can't even farm 
efficiently without a good broadband connection.
  And so this is devastating, especially for rural Georgians. And if we 
don't act soon, it will get worse. We have got to ensure that all of 
our citizens can take full advantage of every opportunity in our 
changing economy. And this is a problem we can solve. We can solve it.
  The only thing that gets in the way of this right now is politics. 
And so we have got to pass this bill. If we produced more chips here at 
home, it would boost domestic manufacturing, ease supply chain issues, 
and help begin to lower rising costs for goods that families are 
experiencing in Georgia and around the country. Why wouldn't we want to 
take steps to drive down costs for hard-working families right now? We 
work for them.
  Lastly, this bill contains provisions I fought for that will expand 
these tax incentives to companies down the semiconductor supply chain, 
supporting economic engines like the high-tech semiconductor plant 
being built in Covington, GA, that will create 400 new jobs.
  There are real economic consequences for people in my State if we do 
not pass this chips bill and make these investments. These are the 
human faces of the public policy that we would pass. But that is not 
the only reason we need to get this bill done as urgently as possible.
  It also bears repeating that passing this legislation is critical to 
our national security and strengthening our competitiveness against 
global actors like the Chinese Communist Party. Chips are used in 
technology critical to our national security.
  According to a 2020 report from the Semiconductor Industry 
Association, in 1990--listen--in 1990, the United States represented a 
37 percent share of the world's chip manufacturing capacity. Today, 
that number is 12 percent--from 37 percent to 12 percent.
  I submit that that is unacceptable, and it is a threat to our 
national security. As we have heard from Defense Secretary Austin, 
Commerce Secretary Raimondo, and other administration officials, we are 
at a tipping point--a tipping point--where international companies are 
making significant decisions about where they are investing their 
capital and putting down roots.
  In fact, we have already seen several of these entities hesitate to 
invest in American manufacturing due to inaction and political 
gamesmanship right here in Washington.
  So our ability to rise to this occasion will demonstrate whether the 
United States is willing to cede the innovation and economic higher 
ground to the Chinese Communist Party or whether we will stand up to 
the People's Republic of China and reinvest in the manufacturing and 
innovation prowess that has made America a lone superpower for decades.
  I submit that if we fail to pass this bill immediately, we will set 
back America's competitiveness for a generation or more. This critical 
moment requires all of us to put the country above politics. Imagine 
that: Put the country above politics. Put hard-working American 
families who are doing the best they can right now above politics and 
strengthen our Nation's competitiveness.
  And so I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the strong chips 
legislation, and let's ensure that the next century, like the 20th 
century, is the American century.
  I yield the floor.