[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3707-S3715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
CHIPS ACT OF 2022--Resumed
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senate will resume consideration of the House message to accompany H.R.
4346, which the clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
House message to accompany H.R. 4346, a bill making
appropriations for Legislative Branch for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2022, and for other purposes.
Pending:
Schumer motion to concur in the amendment of the House to
the amendment of the Senate to the bill, with Schumer
amendment No. 5135 (to the House amendment to the Senate
amendment), relating to the CHIPS Act of 2022.
Schumer amendment No. 5136 (to amendment No. 5135), to add
an effective date.
Recognition of the Majority Leader
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Democratic leader is
recognized.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, for the last century--the whole last
century--America's prosperity was anchored on our country's unmatched
commitment to science research, technological growth, innovation, and
advanced manufacturing.
The question before the Senate, then, is simple: Will that prosperity
live on in the century to come? Are we on the brink of another
generation of American ingenuity, of American discovery, of American
leadership? By passing our CHIPS and Science bill today, the Senate
says: Yes, we are, and in a loud, bipartisan voice.
Today, by approving one of the largest investments in science,
technology, and manufacturing in decades--in decades--we say that
America's best years are yet to come.
This is a very good day for the American people and for American
innovation. The legislation is going to create good-paying jobs. It
will alleviate supply chains; it will help lower costs; and it will
protect America's national security interests.
I am confident that future generations will look back on the passage
of this bill as a turning point for American leadership in the 21st
century.
I admit that some of the policies--not all, but some are esoteric,
but they are vital. All too often we are told government and business
think short term. This is one of the most significant pieces of long-
term effect and thinking legislation that we have seen in this body in
a very long time.
I believe that our grandchildren and our grandchildren's
grandchildren will work in jobs we cannot yet imagine because of the
investments we are making here today.
Like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the recent gun
safety law, the CHIPS and Science bill is one of the major bipartisan
achievements of this Congress. But reaching this point was anything but
easy.
On the contrary, the legislation has been several years in the
making, and it took a lot of twists and turns before reaching the
finish line. It brought together industry, labor, universities,
[[Page S3708]]
Governors, mayors from both parties and from every region. And I thank
my colleagues and their staff for pushing it over the line.
In 2019, I approached my Republican colleague Todd Young. We had
talked in the gym that he was interested in the same types of
investments that I was. And I said: Let's work together on legislation
to revive America's commitment to science and innovation. Together, we
drafted the first version of the Endless Frontier Act, a bill whose
policies shaped today's legislation.
A year later, we joined with Senators Cornyn and Warner to begin
addressing our Nation's chip crisis by pushing for an authorization of
new Federal chips as an incentive as part of the NDAA. And Senator
Kelly of Arizona has been a major advocate for getting these chip
programs done.
So even before this Congress began, Members on both sides knew that
we had to work together if we were to keep America competitive in the
21st century. We also knew that if we didn't get there first, our
rivals--chief among them the Chinese Communist Party--would likely beat
us to the punch and reshape the world in their authoritarian image, a
frightening, frightening process.
A month after I became majority leader, I directed the chairs and
members of our relevant committees to start drafting a legislative
package to outcompete China and create new American jobs, with the
Endless Frontier Act serving as the core of this effort.
I also instructed them to draft legislation to plug the dangerous
holes in America's semiconductor industry. I said to everyone, to
people on both sides of the aisle, that if both sides work together, I
would put a bill on the floor of the Senate later that spring, and that
is what happened when we overwhelmingly passed the U.S. Innovation and
Competition Act in June 2021. It took 3 weeks, lots of debate,
amendments, just as the Senate ought to work, even on major and
difficult legislation, as this has been.
Senators Cantwell and Wicker were tremendous leaders in this effort
and skillfully managed the floor process. They deserve a great deal of
praise not only for passing last year's bill but for their efforts this
year as well.
A year later, the legislation we are passing today contains many of
the critical investments in that bill. Both bills make historic
investments in science and innovation--the original Endless Frontier
and USICA bill and the bill we are passing today, CHIPS plus Science.
Both bills make those investments.
We will plant the seeds for developing the tech hubs of tomorrow in
places with great potential but which have been overshadowed by cities
like San Francisco or Boston or Austin or New York City. The bill will
help turn cities like Buffalo and Indianapolis into new centers for
innovation, and the result will be countless new, good-paying jobs and
a bright future for those areas for years to come.
Both bills will help end the chips crisis by offering tens of
billions of dollars to encourage American chip manufacturing and R&D.
And, if anything, this year's version is stronger because of the ITC
provisions. It will create tens of thousands of high-tech manufacturing
and Davis-Bacon construction jobs from Albany, NY, to New Albany, OH,
and beyond. It is going to lower costs for cars, washing machines, and
so much more in the long run because our chip shortage will be
alleviated.
Both bills establish the National Foundation tech directorate and
provide funding to the Department of Energy to achieve new
breakthroughs in the technologies like AI, quantum computing, cyber
security, renewable energy, 5G, biotech, and other discoveries yet
unknown. And both bills provide funding to build wireless communication
supply chain to counter Huawei. This was a top priority for my
colleague Mark Warner, and I thank him for his efforts in this regard.
The bottom line is this: Today's legislation is one of the largest
investments in science, technology, and advanced manufacturing in
decades.
Now, of course, while this bill contains many critical investments in
chips and scientific research, there are other major proposals from
both sides that are still in the works within the conference committee.
That important work must continue. It will. And it is my intention to
put the conference committee on the floor in September after the work
is complete.
So let me be clear. Today is a very good day for the American people
and for the future of our country. I believe firmly that, when signed
into law, this bill will reawaken the spirit of discovery, innovation,
and optimism that made America the envy of the world and will continue
to do so. Because of the investments we are approving today, America
will be the place where the next transformational breakthroughs in
industry and science occur.
Nearly 80 years ago, Dr. Vannevar Bush, the head of the U.S. Office
of Scientific Research, wrote in a report to President Truman that
``without scientific progress, no amount of achievement in other
directions can ensure our health, prosperity, and security in the
modern world.'' The name of that report? It was called ``Science: The
Endless Frontier.'' It is the inspiration for much of the work we have
dedicated to passing this bill today.
In the wake of Dr. Bush's report, we created the National Science
Foundation, funded the National Energy Laboratories, split the atom,
spliced the gene, landed a man on the Moon, and unleashed the internet.
We generated decades of American prosperity and fostered an innate
sense of optimism in the American spirit.
Today, we face the great task of renewing and strengthening that
legacy in a world of fierce competition. It is no longer a situation
where we can just leave it up to corporate America because we didn't
have competition. Now there are nation-states funding and aiding their
corporations, and authoritarian governments around the world are doing
that and cheering for us to fail--cheering for us, hoping that we will
sit on our hands and not adapt to the changes in the 21st century. They
believe that squabbling democracies like ours can't unite around
national priorities like this one. They believe that democracy itself
is a relic of the past and that, by beating us to emerging
technologies, autocracies around the world hope to reshape the world in
their own image.
Well, let me tell you something: I believe in America. I believe in
our system. I believe that they will not succeed. I believe that this
legislation will enable the United States to outinnovate, outproduce,
and outcompete the world in the industries of the future, and I believe
that the strongly bipartisan work on this bill revealed that, in this
Chamber, we all believe--all of us, Democrats and Republicans--that
another American century lies on the horizon.
For this, these many worthy reasons, let us pass the CHIPS and
Science bill today.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kaine). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Recognition of the Republican leader.
The Republican leader is recognized.
Inflation
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, here is how Washington Democrats are
describing the American economy. From the White House last month:
``robust economic progress under President Biden's leadership.''
According to President Biden himself, our economy has ``unique
strengths that we can build on,'' that it was ``providing important
breathing room for American families,'' and that it was ``strong as can
be but for inflation, but for gas and food.'' The economy is as strong
as it can be except that pesky thing: the worst inflation in more than
40 years. You almost have to laugh at that analysis.
Contrast the Democrats' spin with how working Americans are
describing our economy. From a grocery store manager in Tennessee:
``It's just not a good situation.'' From a grandmother in Georgia:
``The food, the gas, the bills, and the mortgage, everything. . . .
It's a lot on a family.'' Overall, a majority of Americans are
concerned their paycheck can't cover the essentials amidst inflation,
and a majority
[[Page S3709]]
disapprove of what President Biden is doing about it.
Clearly, something isn't adding up, but that isn't a new feature of
Washington Democrats' one-party control of government. In fact, missing
the mark on economic policy has been a hallmark of the Biden
administration. Last spring, they misread what it needed after a once-
in-a-century pandemic and flooded the engine with trillions in liberal
spending. Then, they missed the warning signs of the runaway inflation
that that mistake brought on. Now, they are mounting a panicked
campaign to redefine the word ``recession'' before the next quarterly
GDP comes out tomorrow.
So Washington Democrats seem to think the real-world effects of their
policies--the pain Americans are feeling as they try to balance
household budgets--can just be spun away--spun away--with talking
points. Well, I can tell you there are millions of working families who
wish it were, in fact, that simple, but you know full well that it
isn't.
Border Security
Mr. President, now on a different matter, yesterday, I met with
members of the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association to discuss the
ongoing substance abuse crisis in my home State. These frontline
professionals have watched Kentucky pass some grim milestones in recent
years. This is one of the most horrifying consequences of the ongoing
breakdown of law and order in our country.
In 2020, overdose deaths in the Commonwealth increased nearly 50
percent from the year prior, reaching an alltime high of 1,964. Then,
last year, we broke that record again, recording 2,250 overdose
deaths--14.5 percent higher than in 2020.
Remember, as of this past January, 2 years into the pandemic,
fentanyl alone had killed more Americans aged 18 to 45 than the
coronavirus. That is not even all overdoses; that is just fentanyl
alone.
The Kentucky law enforcement officers with whom I got to visit work
every day to try to reverse these heart-wrenching trends. They have had
some success. Earlier this month, in Louisville, law enforcement seized
a full kilogram of fentanyl in Louisville. The experts say that is
enough to kill half a million people in Louisville alone. But they are
struggling to stem the cascade of narcotics pouring into our streets.
The reason for this, they told me, is pretty clear: our unsecured
borders.
Already this year, our overwhelmed Customs and Border Patrol agents
encountered more than 1.6 million illegal crossers down at the border.
That is close to the total number of encounters for the entirety of
last year. Some of these individuals were promptly detained and
deported, but many of them were booked briefly and then released into
the American heartland. Presumably, we will never hear from most of
them ever again. These are just the known encounters, to say nothing of
the 900,000 ``got-aways'' that DHS officials think have taken place
since the beginning of the last fiscal year. Put another way, a group
of people larger than the entire population in my hometown broke into
our country without interacting with border agents at all.
Alongside this human tide is an ever-increasing flood of illicit
drugs, most notably fentanyl. That drug played a role in 72 percent of
overdoses in Kentucky last year. CBP officials have seized 5,722 pounds
of the stuff this year alone. Imagine how much slipped through their
fingers and onto our streets.
Are Democrats admitting this is an emergency? Are they working
overtime to put a tourniquet on this crisis? Just the opposite.
Secretary Mayorkas jetted to a summit in Aspen earlier this month and
pronounced that ``the border is secure.'' That is our Secretary of
Homeland Security. Maybe that kind of talk plays well at a ritzy ski
resort packed with liberals. It doesn't play very well with law
enforcement and first responders in States like Kentucky who have to
deal with crime and fatal drug overdoses every single day. The far left
throws our borders open for ideological reasons, and it is the most
vulnerable communities that end up paying the deadly price.
The president of the National Border Patrol Council has directly
contradicted the Biden administration's insistence that our southern
border is in great shape. Here is what he had to say. This is the
president of the National Border Patrol Council:
[T]he cartels use illegal border crossers to facilitate
their higher value contraband, including . . . fentanyl.
In other words, more illegal immigration means more of this illegal
poison. But President Biden and Washington Democrats simply won't admit
it. Their response to the border crisis has been to issue new internal
guidance encouraging border personnel to use more politically correct
language when they are referring to criminal aliens. They would rather
police language than police the border.
Remember, the Biden administration spent taxpayer dollars going to
court, arguing they have a right to end the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy
and throw our borders open even wider. President Biden tried to cut
funding for ICE in his most recent budget.
Washington liberals say the compassionate policy is to lure desperate
people into inhumane conditions, let the drug cartels have open season,
and let Americans die as a result. That is not compassion; that is
cruelty--an abdication of duty with deadly consequences for the
American people.
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. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, the Biden border crisis continues to rage.
Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 207,416
individuals attempting to cross our southern border illegally, the
highest June number ever recorded. And April and May successively set
records for the highest numbers for any month ever.
During the 2021 fiscal year, Customs and Border Protection
encountered a record number of individuals attempting to cross our
southern border illegally--1,734,686, to be precise--a record. We still
have 3 months to go for this fiscal year, but we have already exceeded
last year's number by more than 11,000. That is right. In just 9
months, we have already exceeded last year's record number of
apprehensions.
The situation on our southern border is out of control, although you
would never know it to hear the President and his administration. ``The
border is secure'' the President's Homeland Security Secretary said
just a few days ago. Again, The border is secure. My only question is
how he said that with a straight face.
Our southern border is the opposite of secure. It is in crisis. The
flood of illegal immigration is so great that huge numbers of Customs
and Border Protection officers have been pulled off the border to
process migrants. A May article from the Economist reported that:
Around 60 percent of CBP agents have been assigned to
process migrants, taking them away from field work.
That, of course, leaves our borders wide open to illegal activity,
including the drug trafficking that is flooding our country with
fentanyl.
It also means even with all the apprehensions the Border Patrol has
made, many more individuals are getting through unstopped. One source
reports that so far this fiscal year, there have been more than half a
million got-aways--in other words, individuals the Border Patrol saw
but was unable to apprehend.
The Economist article I mentioned also noted:
One border expert estimates that less than 20 percent of
people trying to cross the border undetected are stopped.
Less than 20 percent--that is a security nightmare.
Our Customs and Border Protection agents are giving this job their
all, but there is no way for them to keep up with the flood of illegal
immigration, especially when they are being pulled off the border to
process migrants.
It is President Biden's job to help stop this border crisis, but when
he is not pretending this crisis doesn't exist, he is taking actions
that are contributing to this disaster. On his very first day in
office, President Biden rescinded
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the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border. He
halted construction of the border wall. He revoked a Trump
administration order that called for the government to faithfully
execute our immigration laws. And his Department of Homeland Security
issued guidelines pausing deportations, except under certain
circumstances. That was all, again, on his first day in office.
Needless to say, the effect of all this was to declare to the world
that the U.S. borders were effectively open. And even as huge numbers
of illegal immigrants pour across our southern border, he has continued
to build on those actions. The President sought to significantly limit
the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enforce
immigration laws.
Deportations dropped precipitously during fiscal year 2021, as did
arrests in the interior of the country. In March of this year, the
administration rescinded a 2019 rule expanding expedited removal for
individuals here illegally. And, of course, the administration is still
attempting to remove title 42 COVID-19 restrictions, with no viable
plan to control the resulting surge in illegal immigration.
Illegal immigration, especially the kind of out-of-control illegal
immigration we are currently experiencing, has serious consequences. I
have already mentioned some of the security risks it presents. With
Customs and Border Protection overstretched, it is easier for bad
actors to cross the border into our country--gang members, drug
traffickers, human smugglers, and the list goes on.
Our country is currently in the midst of a fentanyl crisis. In fact,
right now, fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death for American
adults between the ages of 18 and 45. And where is all this fentanyl
coming from? Most of it is being trafficked across our southern border.
The current border situation is undoubtedly facilitating that
trafficking.
Illegal immigration is financially costly, as well. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement is currently running out of money for this year,
thanks, in part, to the out-of-control situation at our southern
border.
President Biden has talked about wanting to build a ``fair, orderly,
and humane'' immigration system. There is nothing--nothing--humane
about our current situation. Encouraging illegal immigration, as the
President's policies have done, has contributed to a humanitarian
crisis that saw 557 migrants die attempting to cross the southern
border during fiscal year 2021. Just last month, in an incredibly
tragic, horrific story, 53 migrants died in an unair-conditioned
tractor-trailer after being smuggled across the border. It was a sober
reminder of the human costs of policies that enable illegal
immigration.
The President may think that his border policies are compassionate,
but, again, he would be wrong. Policies that encourage illegal
immigration, that encourage individuals to undertake the often
dangerous journey across our southern border often at the mercy of
human smugglers are the very opposite of compassionate. I would like to
think that the President would wake up to the dangerous situation we
are in and take action to help stem the flood of illegal immigration at
our southern border, but after a year and a half of his
administration's neglecting this crisis, I am not getting my hopes up.
I am afraid that, like inflation, out-of-control illegal immigration
has become a fact of life in the Biden Presidency. As with inflation,
Americans and those vulnerable individuals who are attempting to enter
our country, will be left to suffer the consequences.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
H.R. 4346
Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, when it comes to America, I am an
optimist--always. You see, I can't help but approach the future with
great hope. After all, as Americans, we have never let obstacles stand
in our way or accepted that problems can't be solved.
Our citizens are the world's most ingenious; our military, its
mightiest; our economy, the strongest; and our innovators, the most
creative. The last century was defined by our accomplishments and our
ideals and I believe this one will be, too. But I have to say, this
path is not guaranteed.
Now as then, America's success depends on unleashing the potential of
our people and outcompeting and out-innovating global rivals who don't
share our values or our economic interests.
Right now, we are in the middle of a great power competition with an
authoritarian regime in Beijing that seeks global primacy and rejects
democracy. The Chinese Communist Party is currently investing $1.4
trillion in frontier technologies that will dominate the 21st century--
artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonics, among other
key technologies. Its innovators are earning patents and publishing
research in AI at greater rates than our own. Its schools are producing
four times the STEM graduates as America's. The Chinese Communist
Party's computer and science universities are regularly outranking
ours.
Its military is making advances in cyber warfare and the development
of hypersonic weapons, autonomous vehicles, electronic and cyber
warfare, and orbital bombardment systems.
These are the technologies that will dominate the 21st century,
economically and militarily.
China's Government is planning on winning the AI race, winning future
wars, and winning the future. The truth is, if we are being honest with
ourselves, Beijing is well on its way to accomplishing these goals.
America is at risk of falling behind economically and technologically
to a world power that doesn't value liberty or even human life.
So how should we respond?
For too long, when it comes to Chinese aggression, America has relied
on a strategy of deterrence, taking steps like blocking Huawei from
doing business in the U.S., tightening export controls, and improving
foreign investment rules.
Now, these are important measures, but they are no longer enough. You
see, it is time to go on the offensive. And that is exactly what this
legislation--which has gone by many names from the Endless Frontier Act
to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act to CHIPS+--will do: unleash
private sector innovation while significantly boosting Federal national
security investments.
Let me highlight a few specifics. First, this bill greatly encourages
domestic investment in semiconductor production. Right now, the USA is
almost entirely reliant on other nations for high-tech computer chips
that power our smartphones, automobiles, household appliances, and
military platforms. In fact, the recent shortage of these chips has
hobbled our economy; it has hit our pocketbooks.
For example, a shortage of computer chips forced General Motors to
idle its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, IN, twice already this year.
U.S. semiconductor production, once accounting for nearly 40 percent of
the world's supply, has dropped to just 12 percent, while China's
production share is increasing rapidly. Ninety percent of the chips
used in our military technology are made overseas. Let me say that
again. Ninety percent of the chips used in our military technology are
made overseas. Most are made in South Korea and Taiwan, but an
increasing number are produced in China. This is a very real economic
and national security vulnerability.
And this bill will reassert America's place in this industry and take
a giant leap towards ensuring that our supply chain and national
defense will never be at the mercy of technology produced overseas.
Another important aspect of this bill is critical applied research
funding. This legislation reforms and invests in the National Science
Foundation to partner with the private sector and universities to
develop critical emerging technologies that will transform the global
landscape. We know that national success and competitiveness in the
21st century economy will be built on emerging technologies like
quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
Funding research crucial to keeping America safe is one of the
Federal Government's responsibilities, and this legislation will help
us not just catch up with but overtake China in these critical areas.
And this bill will establish regional technology hubs across our
country,
[[Page S3711]]
which will become centers for the research, development,
entrepreneurship, and manufacturing of new key technologies.
This is incredibly important at a time when too many Americans in the
heartland feel left out and too many areas overlooked, when only a
handful of cities account for nearly 90 percent of job growth in these
advanced sectors.
Simply put, this bill will make America stronger, safer, and more
prosperous. And it is desperately needed. How do we know? Because the
Chinese Communist Party has actively lobbied against this legislation.
They know this bill is bad for China and good for the United States of
America.
This bill is about securing our country, giving our people the tools
to flourish, and ensuring America continues its global research role.
It has been a long journey to get to this point, but history will
show that by passing this CHIPS+ bill, we are confronting the
challenges of today and building a prosperous and secure tomorrow for
all Americans.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Unanimous Consent Request
Mr. SANDERS. I have heard, time and again, my Republican colleagues
and a number of Democrats voice their serious concern about the deficit
and our national debt. We are told that because of the deficit that at
a time when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any
major country on Earth, we cannot extend the child tax credit to help
working parents and substantially reduce childhood poverty.
At a time when over 600,000 Americans are homeless and some 18
million families are spending half of their incomes on the high cost of
housing, we are told over and over again that because of the deficit we
cannot build the low-income, affordable housing we desperately need.
At a time when millions of senior citizens in this country
desperately need help to go to a dentist because their teeth are
rotting in their mouths, they can't afford hearing aids, they can't
afford eyeglasses, we are told that we cannot afford to expand Medicare
because of the deficit.
At a time when the average family in this country is spending $15,000
a year on childcare--an unimaginable amount of money for a working
family--we are told that we cannot reform a dysfunctional childcare
system because of the deficit.
At a time when some 70 million Americans are uninsured or
underinsured, we are told that we cannot guarantee healthcare to all
Americans as a human right--like virtually every other major country
does--because of the deficit.
In other words, despite the fact that half of the people in our
country today are living paycheck to paycheck, despite the fact that
half of our seniors live on incomes of $25,000 or less, despite the
fact that we have more income and wealth inequality today than we have
had in 100 years, where three billionaires own more wealth than the
bottom half of America, despite all of that, whenever it comes to
protecting the needs of low-income or working families, I hear, over
and over again, we just cannot afford to do that because of the
deficit.
Well, guess what? All of that profound and serious concern about the
deficit fades away when it comes to providing a $76 billion blank check
to the highly profitable microchip industry with no protections at all
for the American taxpayer.
Somehow the deficit is of great concern when it comes to providing
help to working families, to low-income Americans, to children, to
seniors, but it is not a concern when you provide massive corporate
welfare for enormously profitable multinational corporations.
I guess when the semiconductor industry spends $19 million on
lobbying this year alone and when Intel spends $100 million on lobbying
and campaign contributions over the past 20 years, when that industry
says: Jump, the response from Congress is: How high?
That is what a political system dominated by Big Money looks like.
The people in this country who desperately need help can't get it. The
corporations that are making huge profits and the CEOs who are making
exorbitant compensation packages get everything they need--and more.
In other words, it appears that the deep concerns about the deficit
are rather selective.
Now, after I finish my remarks, I will give my colleagues a chance to
prove me wrong. I will be raising a budget point of order against this
bill because it increases the deficit by over $79 billion, with $76
billion of that money going to the microchip industry with no strings
attached.
Let me be very clear. There is no doubt that there is a global
shortage of microchips and semiconductors, which is making it harder
for manufacturers to produce the cars, cell phones, household
appliances, and electronic equipment that we need. And that is why I
fully support efforts to expand U.S. microchip production.
But the question we should be asking is this: Should American
taxpayers provide the microchip industry with a blank check of over $76
billion at a time when semiconductor companies are making tens of
billions of dollars in profit right now and paying the head of Intel
some $170 million a year in compensation? And I think the answer to
that question is a resounding no.
That is why, at the conclusion of my remarks, I will be asking
unanimous consent to attach an amendment to this legislation.
This amendment is simple and straightforward. It would prevent
microchip companies from receiving grants under this legislation unless
they agreed not to buy back their own stock--not complicated.
Now, this is rather amazing. This is really quite incredible and
tells you where we are as a nation politically. Over the past decade,
semiconductor companies have spent nearly $250 billion--70 percent of
their profits--not on research and development, not on building new
microchip plants in America--what this bill is presumably about--but on
buying back their own stock to enrich their wealthy shareholders.
Let me repeat: The industry that is asking for $76 billion of
corporate welfare today, over the past decade spent $250 billion--70
percent of their profits--not on research and development, not on
building new microchip plants in America but on buying back their own
stock to enrich their wealthy stockholders.
Apparently, they just couldn't find $76 billion of their own money to
invest in new plants in America. They need the taxpayers of this
country to do it for them.
Do any of my colleagues really believe we should allow microchip
companies to receive $76 billion in taxpayer assistance without a ban
on stock buybacks?
Under my amendment, microchip companies would not be allowed to
receive taxpayer assistance unless they agreed they would not repeal
existing collective bargaining agreements and would remain neutral in
any union organizing effort.
Do any of my colleagues believe that we should be handing out
corporate welfare to profitable corporations who are engaged in busting
unions?
Under my agreement, microchip companies would not be able to receive
$76 billion in taxpayer assistance unless they agreed not to outsource
jobs overseas.
Now, I heard my colleague from Indiana speak a moment ago about the
crisis in the microchip industry, how we are producing a smaller and
smaller amount, but he forgot to mention--somehow forgot to mention--
that over the last 20 years, the microchip industry has shut down over
780 manufacturing plants and other establishments in the United States
and eliminated 150,000 American jobs while moving most of its
production overseas.
In other words, what taxpayers are doing are rebuilding an industry
that was destroyed by the industry itself by going abroad in search of
more profit.
Under my amendment, microchip companies would be prevented from
receiving taxpayer assistance unless they agree to issue warrants or
equity stakes to the Federal Government.
Now, I happen to believe in industrial policy. I think it makes sense
for the government and private sector to be working together when it is
mutually beneficial. If private companies, however, are going to
benefit from generous taxpayer subsidies--$76 billion--
[[Page S3712]]
the financial gains made by these companies must be shared with the
American people, not just wealthy shareholders. Does that sound really
unreasonable?
If these guys are going to make huge profits based on this
investment, don't you think maybe the taxpayers of this country who
gave them the money might be able to get some of those benefits back?
The microchip industry today is worth about $680 billion. By 2030,
that market, the market for microchips, is expected to grow to a
trillion dollars. Do any of my colleagues really believe that if
microchip companies make a profit as a direct result of these Federal
grants--which is extremely likely--the taxpayers in this country,
taxpayers do not have a right to get a reasonable return on that
investment?
And let us be clear, none of this is a radical idea. All of those
provisions that I just articulated were included in the CARES Act that
passed the Senate by a vote of 96 to 0. In other words, every Senator
here has already voted for these provisions.
Now, I have heard recently some of my colleagues who are saying:
Don't worry. We have imposed ``strong guardrails'' to this bill.
Well, let me respectfully disagree. These so-called guardrails would
do nothing to prevent microchip companies from outsourcing a single job
abroad. In fact, these so-called guardrails would not even force Intel
to divest all of the money they have put into semiconductor companies
in China. These so-called guardrails would do nothing to protect
taxpayers or to stop microchip companies from union busting.
Yes, I understand some language has been inserted in this bill that
would prohibit microchip companies from using Federal grants to buy
back their own stock, but let's be clear, this language is totally
meaningless. Under this legislation, companies will still be able to
use the enormous profits that they are making to buy back their own
stocks.
Bottom line, let us rebuild the U.S. microchip industry. I believe
that. But let us do it in a way that benefits all of our society, not
just a handful of wealthy, profitable, and powerful corporations.
In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said:
The problem is that we all too often have socialism for the
rich and rugged free enterprise capitalism for the poor.
I am afraid that what Dr. King said 54 years ago was accurate back
then. And as we can see by this legislation today--massive subsidies
for the rich and the powerful, while we continue to turn our backs on
working families--what King said then is even more accurate now.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up
amendment No. 5145, that the amendment be considered and agreed to, and
that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the
table without intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Washington.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Point of Order
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I raise a point of order that the pending
measure violates section 4106 of the concurrent resolution on the
budget for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71 of the 115th Congress, the
Senate pay-as-you-go point of order.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, I move to waive all applicable
sections of that act and any other applicable budget points of order
for the purpose of the pending bill, and I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays are ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
CHIPS Act of 2022
Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I would like to be recognized to speak on
the bill.
We will soon be moving to a vote on the so-called CHIPS legislation.
It has had several names during its consideration in the Senate and in
the House. I prefer to call it the CHIPS and Science Act. But it is an
important bipartisan piece of legislation, and I urge its adoption.
Is my friend from Vermont seeking recognition?
Mr. SANDERS. No.
Mr. WICKER. So I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation.
It will expand American semiconductor production, create new
opportunities for research into cutting-edge technologies, and enhance
our ability to compete with China.
There is no more important competition than the one for technological
supremacy between the United States and China. The outcome will shape
the global balance of power for decades and will impact the security
and prosperity of all Americans.
Regrettably, at this moment, we are not in the driver's seat on a
range of important technologies; China is. China and other nations are
increasingly dominant in tech innovation, posing a massive threat to
not only our economy but to our national security.
But with today's vote, Congress has a chance to move us back in the
right direction and put America back into a place to win the game.
This legislation--the CHIPS and Science Act, I will call it--will
provide a historic boost to our semiconductor industry, which for too
long has played on an uneven global playing field.
Increasing American chip production is absolutely vital, given the
importance of chips to our economy, as well as our national defense.
The pandemic taught us the hard way that we cannot be dependent on
semiconductor production halfway around the globe.
But, of course, chip semiconductors are not the whole ball game. This
legislation goes much further, advancing American innovation in quantum
computing, advanced robotics, biotechnology, advanced materials, and
artificial intelligence--the full suite of technologies that we need to
outcompete China.
And instead of limiting those investments to a small handful of
institutions in five wealthy States, this bill casts a wide net,
enlisting the talent and expertise of STEM researchers nationwide. This
legislation will guarantee that EPSCoR, a program designed to stimulate
competitive research in 25 predominantly rural States, receives 20
percent of all R&D funding from the National Science Foundation, up
from the current 13 percent--13 percent now, 20 percent when it is
finally ramped up.
The bill will also reauthorize the National Science Foundation, the
gold standard for funding basic research, and it will establish a new
Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, called TIP,
at NSF to supercharge the process of translating basic research into
technology development, and then to the commercial market, enabling us
to compete better with China across a vast range of technologies.
This legislation would not be complete without new safeguards against
espionage--which we know is taking place right now--against
intellectual property theft, for which the Chinese have become
notorious. I am pleased we were able to include a number of long-
overdue reforms to protect the fruits of our Nation's R&D investments.
Even so, there is more work to be done to protect American research
across the whole of government, and I commend my friend Senator Portman
from Ohio for moving forward with his initiative, which I hope can be
incorporated into the statute at some point.
This moment has been a long time in the making, and I want to issue
some bipartisan congratulations and words of thanks.
My dear friend and colleague from the State of Washington, the chair
of the Commerce Committee, Senator Cantwell, is on the floor, and I
congratulate her and commend her and thank her for her cooperation with
me on this issue.
I want to thank Leader Schumer and Senator Young, the original
cosponsors of the Endless Frontier Act, as well as Senator Cornyn,
Senator Sinema, and many other colleagues who helped make this a better
bill.
And I also want to congratulate and commend officials from the
previous administration--from the Trump administration--who are also
telling
[[Page S3713]]
Americans about the importance of this legislation.
This is a bill that will be signed by President Joe Biden, but it is
also endorsed by Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, President Trump's
International Trade Adviser; by Mike Pompeo, President Trump's CIA
Director and Secretary of State; and by Robert O'Brien, former National
Security Advisor to President Trump. So three distinguished and
knowledgeable national defense officials and foreign policy officials
are saying this about the bill we will soon vote on.
Ambassador Lighthizer, of the Trump administration, said on Kudlow 2
days ago:
We are in this existential competition with China. The
battleground of that competition is technology and chips.
That is where we are going to win it or lose it.
And he goes on to point out that the bill, while not perfect, is
exactly the bill that we can get done right now, and I don't know of
any bill that is ever perfect.
Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, a stalwart in the last
administration on national defense, says this:
Congress must pass the CHIPS Act for both our national and
economic security. We have to become less dependent on China
for critical technologies--and this is how we do it. . . . A
bipartisan bill, supporting R&D for semiconductor chip
manufacturing, is essential to securing vital technologies
for our economy and our military.
That is Mike Pompeo, President Trump's Secretary of State.
And then Robert O'Brien, former National Security Advisor to
President Trump, said:
America needs this legislation without delay.
So I want to also say a note of thanks to my own staff--my personal
staff and my committee staff--for their tireless efforts over the last
year and a half on this issue. This is the culmination of a great deal
of work by some very, very talented personnel--countless meetings, a
legislative hearing in April, a markup in May, a final vote by the
Senate in June after days and days of debate on the floor. All of these
staff members worked nights and weekends, considering and helping to
manage almost 1,000 amendments through the committee and the floor, and
all of them contributed in many ways.
I will single out for recognition my policy director, James Mazol,
who was absolutely vital to us in putting it all together, and his
entire team.
So thank you very much, Mr. President. I urge a ``yes'' vote. I think
the strong 64 votes we had yesterday on cloture was indicative of the
support, and I anticipate its passage and look forward to its
successful passage in the House of Representatives.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be
allowed to finish my remarks prior to the scheduled vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about
the legislation before us and how it is an investment today for jobs
tomorrow.
And I want to thank my colleague from Mississippi for his partnership
on this legislation. It seems like a century ago that we had a markup
in committee and passed this out--the science portion, which we are now
voting on--24 to 4, more than a year ago. And yet here we are today, on
the product of much negotiation, not just in our committee but in eight
other committees--seven other committees.
We are here because we know that innovation is in the DNA of
Americans, and we know that it helped us win the world wars; it helped
us cure disease. We know it has helped create millions of jobs, and it
has helped members of the business community on opposite sides of a
phone call or an email connect to each other to get a product or a
service.
So this bill embraces American innovation and our tradition of it,
and I, too, encourage a ``yes'' vote.
After watching the COVID crisis mangle our supply chain and see
semiconductors be a big part of inflation, the shortage of
semiconductors has increased the cost of a used car by more than 40
percent, putting it out of reach of many families at a time when they
just needed a car to drive to work.
So this bill is about making sure that we face our manufacturing
challenges here at home and that we train and skill the scientists and
the workers to get that done.
And so thanks start with Senators Schumer and Young for their hard
work in introducing this legislation more than 2 years ago. Senator
Schumer's great work with Senator Young on this was an eye-opening
change in the way that we make investments in R&D. It was a concept
novel then, but I think we have a lot of understanding of it now, and
that is to move our R&D into faster translation into products and
services. Why? Because the rest of the world is doing that and we need
to hurry as well.
I also want to just point out that there are lots of contributions
from Members in this bill: Senator Peters on AI scholarships, Senator
Cortez Masto on national science technology strategy, Senator Rosen on
critical minerals, Senator Sinema on our NASA authorization, Senator
Warnock on semiconductor supply chains, Senators Brown and Coons on
Manufacturing USA Institutes, Senator Ossoff on cyber security
education grants, Senator Menendez on supply chain issues. So many,
many things in this legislation were contributed by many different
Members through a regular order process.
But let's get specific about it. There are about five or six things
in this bill that really matter to our Nation at this critical moment.
First is a new mission at the National Science Foundation. That new
mission is different because the National Science Foundation has been
focused on basic research. So we are creating, for the first time, in a
$20 billion investment over 5 years, the focus for that new mission at
NSF to say that they have to focus on translating that science into
faster discoveries in products and solutions that will help U.S.
manufacturing here at home.
And while the United States has excelled at basic research, we have
allowed other countries to excel at translational research, and that
needs to stop now.
We need to make the investment in industries from aerospace to
pharmaceuticals, to farming, to information technologies that will help
increase the pace of innovation here in the United States of America.
Second, we say that NSF is not alone in its mission. We recognize
that the Department of Energy also has a key role to play in
translational science.
I want to thank the Presiding Officer, Senator Lujan, for his
contribution of a $16.9 billion DOE investment that doubles down on the
current work in key technology areas that we also have to do faster
translational science to scale up in cutting edge energy R&D. This was
a very large portion of the energy innovation that was funded in this
bill.
This legislation also includes a 5-year, $50 billion, first-ever
reauthorization of the Department of Energy Office of Science. And I
want to thank Senators Manchin and Barrasso for working on this and its
inclusion in this.
Combining these investments will go a long way in reversing the
decline in Federal R&D that has dropped three-fold since 1978. We need
to improve U.S. competitiveness, but we are only going to do it by
investing today for those jobs tomorrow.
Third, the bill also says that we need to be smarter at how we make
our investments. Now, I would say I represent a tech hub. It is already
in existence. It took 30-plus years to create. There are places like
Seattle, San Jose, San Francisco, Boston, and San Diego that you could
say are tech hubs. They account for 90 percent of the growth in
innovation sectors between the years 2005 and 2017. But is that all we
are going to do in the United States of America, allow innovation to
just continue to be more and more expensive because it is only produced
in those areas?
I am a firm believer in distributed generation, whether that is
electricity or whether that is innovation. And the more dispersed the
innovation is, you never know where the next Bill Gates or Bill Boeing
is going to be from and what innovation they might come up with.
So this bill also has a new mission in the Department of Commerce in
technology hubs, where it will focus on trying to foster new
collaboration between
[[Page S3714]]
universities, businesses, labor, and local government to accelerate
economic growth and opportunity in innovation. These tech hubs will
focus on the key technology areas that are in this bill and help us
move faster at innovation.
I want to thank my colleague Senator Tester, from Montana, who is a
very big advocate in making sure that there was geographic diversity to
the tech hubs. And we know that while we want to grow more technology
advancement in the United States, that we also want to see it not just
in Seattle, but in places like Spokane or Indianapolis or West Virginia
or Wichita.
We also increase in this Act the Manufacturing Extension
Partnerships. During the pandemic, we saw that many companies could not
survive without supplies that were no longer available to them. And we
know that with the manufacturing extension ecosystem, that we have to
stay competitive by innovating. This bill delivers $76 billion over 10
years to develop the next generation of chips and to reestablish chip
manufacturing in the United States.
Now I know my colleague from Vermont and my colleague from Florida
and many others have criticized this part of the legislation. I know
that they think that this is somehow--I wish, trust me, I wish that--I
would probably agree more with the Senator of Vermont on the
prioritization within our budget on the various things that will help
American families. But we can't ignore that chip production has gone
overseas and that the United States has lost its share of that
production to the point that we are now down to as little as 12
percent--or could go to 12 percent, at which point, who wants to
manufacture when the ecosystem is somewhere else? We know that just
last year alone, chip shortages cost the U.S. economy $240 billion.
That is the automobile industry that didn't have chips; that is part of
the electronics industry that didn't have chips. You can say it is even
in the cost of every product that you buy because we certainly didn't
produce the transportation system to even move products throughout the
United States in companies like PACCAR that are from the Northwest,
because they too did not have chips to put into their trailers to move
products across the United States. So we know that with every dollar of
chip R&D investment, that increases GDP gains by $16.50.
So I know my colleagues would like us to make other investments, but
I would say that chips are just as essential as wheat is in America.
People think about our farm investments and with no hesitation say:
Let's make sure that we keep wheat production in the United States of
America. I guarantee you, chips are no less important. And we have to
have an increase in the United States, or we are going to continue to
fall behind on national security issues and on economic development
issues that are so critical.
We also, in this legislation, make one of the most significant
investments in STEM over the last many years. It puts $13 billion into
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce
development. It creates $2 billion to minority-serving institutions,
including Native American institutions, to encourage their research and
innovation.
And I want to thank Senator Wicker for his leadership on the F-score
provision, probably one of the more hotly debated conversations between
our colleagues here in the Senate and in the House. But I would say to
my colleagues, this is about innovation everywhere. This is about
growing opportunity everywhere. And that is exactly what we are saying
with F-score. You never know what the next innovation is going to
bring.
So these key provisions, from diversifying our investment in
education and job training, from making investments in tech hubs, to
the investment in R&D by both DOD and NSF through faster translational
science, we are improving the ecosystem that we have in the United
States of America. This ecosystem has been built over a long period of
time. It represents competing and collaborating organizations. That is
what the strength of our R&D is.
So I want to thank Senators Schumer and Young, Senators Cornyn and
Kelly, and many other people who helped introduce and move this
legislation. I want to thank Senator Warner for his contributions and
thank, again, Senator Wicker and his team for the many advances in this
legislation. I also would be remiss if I didn't thank retiring Chair
Eddie Bernice Johnson and Ranking Member Frank Lucas who worked hard to
craft the legislation before us.
I want to thank on my staff: Lila Helms, Melissa Porter, Mary
Guenther, Amit Ronen, Stacy Baird, Nikki Teutschel, Christi Barnhart,
Jonny Pellish, Rosemary Baize, Erica Holman, and Emma Stohlman for
their help; and on Senator Wicker's staff, as he already mentioned,
James Mazol and many other people. I want to thank on Senator Schumer's
staff Jon Cardinal, Mike Kuiken, and Meghan Taira for their hard work.
But no one deserves more focus and attention than Richard-Duane
Chambers from my staff, who literally worked on the last COMPETES bill
and then worked at DARPA, so clearly knows seriously the challenges
that we faced in getting this legislation done and getting it over the
goal line.
So I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. We
don't know exactly what innovations will come out of this, but we do
know this: America will be more competitive because of it. And we do
know this: that we will be able to grow our economy for the future
because of the investments that we have made today.
I yield the floor.
Amendment Withdrawn
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all postcloture time
is expired, and amendment No. 5136 is withdrawn.
Vote on Motion to Waive
The question is on agreeing to the motion to waive.
The yeas and nays were previously ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and
the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski).
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 64, nays 33, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 270 Leg.]
YEAS--64
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Graham
Hagerty
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lujan
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Portman
Reed
Romney
Rosen
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Tillis
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS--33
Barrasso
Blackburn
Boozman
Braun
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
Paul
Risch
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Thune
Toomey
Tuberville
NOT VOTING--3
Leahy
Manchin
Murkowski
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hickenlooper). On this vote, the yeas are
64, the nays are 33.
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in
the affirmative. The motion is agreed to, and the point of order falls.
The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent for 3 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this is a very good day for the American
people, for American leadership, and for American prosperity in the
21st century. After years of hard work, the Senate is passing the
largest investment in science, technology, and advanced manufacturing
in decades.
This CHIPS and Science bill is going to create millions of good-
paying jobs down the road. It will alleviate supply chains, it will
help lower costs, and it
[[Page S3715]]
will protect America's national security interests.
All too often, our government and our businesses are accused of being
too short term, but this is one of the most significant long-term
thinking bills we have passed in a very long time. I told our caucus
yesterday that our grandchildren will hold good-paying jobs in
industries we can't even imagine because of what we are doing right
now.
And we did it together, both sides cooperating in good faith on some
truly difficult issues. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle for their superb work on this legislation: my colleague
Senator Young, with whom I originally authored the Endless Frontier
Act, as well as Senator Cantwell, our conference chair, and Senators
Wicker and Warner and Cornyn and Kelly. I also want to thank Senators
Warnock, Brown, and Sinema for their help and Leader McConnell for his
support as well as all members of the conference committee and all the
individual Senators--just about every one of us--who helped shape this
legislation. These are moments when the Senate is at its very best.
This is going to go down as one of the major bipartisan achievements
of this Congress, along with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
and the recent gun safety law. The American people deserve to see more
examples like this, of both sides coming together to do very, very big
things that will leave a lasting impact on our country.
And I am confident that future generations will look back on the
passage of this bill as a turning point for American leadership in the
21st century. And we are paying attention to all of America. We are
making sure tech hubs will be located not just in the big, big
megalopolises like San Francisco or New York City or Boston but in
places like Buffalo and Syracuse and Rochester and Indianapolis and
Omaha--not just major cities.
For decades, it was America's fierce commitment to scientific
research, technological growth, and advanced manufacturing that made us
the envy of the world. That funding that we put into science created
the greatest laboratories, split the atom, spliced the gene, landed a
man on the Moon, and unleashed the internet. We generated decades of
American prosperity and fostered an innate sense of optimism in the
American spirit. And we made the world a safer, more hospitable place
for our democratic values.
Today, we face the great task of renewing and strengthening that
spirit in this century, in a world of fierce competition and hungry
authoritarians. It is no longer the case where we can just leave it up
to corporate America. Now there are nation-states and authoritarian
governments funding and aiding these corporations to come to their
shores. Authoritarian nations are cheering for us to fail, hoping we
sit on our hands and fail to adapt to the changes of the 21st century.
We dare not cede the mantle of global leadership on our watch. We
dare not permit America to become a middling nation in the middle of
this century.
No, we mean for America to lead this century. We mean for America to
prosper and grow just as we have done throughout history. It won't
happen on its own, but today we are laying the foundation for a bold
and thriving future. Today, by passing this CHIPS and Science bill, we
are making clear that we believe America's best days are yet to come.
I yield the floor.
Vote on Motion to Concur
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question occurs on agreeing to the motion
to concur with amendment No. 5135.
The yeas and nays were previously ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and
the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski).
The result was announced--yeas 64, nays 33, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 271 Leg.]
YEAS--64
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Daines
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Graham
Hagerty
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lujan
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Portman
Reed
Romney
Rosen
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Tillis
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS--33
Barrasso
Blackburn
Boozman
Braun
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Ernst
Fischer
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
Paul
Risch
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Toomey
Tuberville
NOT VOTING--3
Leahy
Manchin
Murkowski
The motion was agreed to.
____________________