[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 126 (Thursday, July 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3768-S3770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  NATO

  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I rise today, colleagues, to urge the 
Senate to proceed quickly--quickly--to the consideration of the 
accession protocols for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
  Once again the Senate has been given the responsibility of offering 
advice and consent to ratifying the accession of two new members to the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. We have been advising aggressively 
for quite some time, and it is time now to move to the consent portion 
of getting this done. NATO is the most successful political-military 
alliance in history. It helped bring down the Soviet Union, and it 
united Europe so it could rebuild economically.
  The Senate has the opportunity to expand NATO and bring both Finland 
and Sweden into the alliance. Over the years, these countries never 
sought membership. They were content to just partner with NATO, but 
they did not join. However, Putin's attempt to rewrite the security 
landscape in Europe with his invasion of Ukraine convinced the people 
of Finland and Sweden that they should become formal members of NATO. 
Why wouldn't they?
  After the past 2 weeks--and really the entire summer--the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee has carefully considered and discussed the 
prospective membership of our longtime partners, Finland and Sweden.
  The Senate has already shown bipartisan support for Finland and 
Sweden joining NATO. As my colleagues and I have laid out in a 
resolution of support in public statements at Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee meetings and hearings in June and in the committee report 
submitted to the floor along with the protocols, Finland and Sweden 
will make model members of the NATO alliance.
  Once approved by all 30 current members of NATO, these two nations 
will become integral members of the alliance. Both have strong and 
capable militaries and are already net contributors to the security 
alliance. Although militarily unaligned for decades, Finland and Sweden 
have long defended Europe's high north--a region becoming even more 
important with the competition from Russia and China in the Arctic.
  Both have already demonstrated the interoperability and commitment 
necessary to join the alliance. Finland already spends more than 2 
percent of its GDP on defense, and Sweden laid out its plan to reach 
that mark shortly--both requirements for joining NATO.
  These countries also bring additional capabilities to NATO. Both are 
intimately familiar with the north and east flank of Europe. Finland 
also trains U.S. forces in cold weather operations and the Finnish Navy 
is especially suited to operate and defend the Baltic Sea, where some 
Navy ships have less maneuverability, being a blue-water Navy.
  They have both participated in NATO missions in Afghanistan, the 
Balkans, and Iraq. In fact, these countries operated with less 
restrictions on their militaries in these missions than other NATO 
members. Finland and Sweden also share our democratic values, have 
strong military and defense industries, and extensive experience in 
Russian matters.
  One only has to take a look at a map to see the benefits of adding 
Finland and Sweden to NATO. With their proximity to the Baltic States--
the Baltic States, which are small--they are well-positioned to provide 
support, if needed, to our current Baltic NATO allies, just as the rest 
of NATO would if the Baltic States have a problem with Russia.
  Adding these two nations as full members to our alliance will further 
deter any temptation by Russia to engage in military adventurism in the 
Baltic area or the Arctic regions. Although my sense is Russia has 
already learned this year of the ineptitude, clumsiness, and just plain 
inabilities of its way-overrated military, which can't even win against 
a small, substantially less-equipped adversary, even when Russia used 
barbaric medieval tactics. Russia's efforts have been pitiful and, at 
the same time, despicable.
  Many Senators have already given firm statements of support for this 
succession, and we deserve the timely chance to make our support known 
through a vote. Let's get on with it.
  There are few things more important than voting on accession for 
Finland and Sweden to NATO. This accession process is an important 
chance for the United States to demonstrate leadership in NATO and 
commitment to its modernization and, very importantly, NATO's future.
  When the shooting is over in Ukraine, it won't be over. There is no 
doubt that NATO is going to take a long, hard look at what it is doing, 
what its priorities are, and, very importantly, hardening the eastern 
and northern flanks.
  Since this wave of NATO enlargement was first announced, the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee has carefully consulted and coordinated 
with our NATO allies, the governments of Sweden and Finland, with the 
administration, and within the Senate itself to ensure this process can 
move as efficiently and quickly as possible. I can't count the number 
of meetings and conversations we have had in this regard.
  We now have only one step left until ratification, and it makes no 
sense to dillydally at this stage. There should be no issue with moving 
this treaty as quickly as possible. The Senate's quick ratification of 
Finland and Sweden as new members of NATO will both send a strong 
message of transatlantic unity to a now foundering Russia and will 
strengthen NATO against Russia's growing threat.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.


                           CHIPS Act of 2022

  Mr. CARPER. Madam President, I rise today to discuss the CHIPS and 
Science Act, a bill approved by the Senate yesterday and, I am told, 
just approved literally in the last several minutes by the House of 
Representatives, a bill that I am proud to be able to support, along 
with many of my colleagues.
  This bipartisan legislation will invest in our Nation's semiconductor 
industry, strengthen America's manufacturing competitive edge over 
foreign competitors, and reduce supply chain burdens that exist with 
respect to our country and our people. Yesterday's vote marked an 
important step in providing America the authority to set the rules of 
the road for a 21st-century economy.
  I was pleased to join so many of our colleagues in support of this 
bill so that States like Delaware and like Nevada can continue to punch 
above our weight in the global economy for years to come.
  We probably all heard the saying before: ``Today, they don't make 
cars like they used to.'' Well, some of my colleagues know and many 
folks in Delaware know I can attest to that personally. For two 
decades, I drove a 2001 Chrysler Town and Country minivan, a silver 
one, affectionately called by many the Silver Bullet. It had 600,000 
miles on it.
  When I went to the DMV and took with me the young man who wanted to 
buy it, they asked me how much I was going to sell it for.
  I said: $1.
  The lady there at the desk at the DMV said: Well, what you have to 
do, you have to turn it over and sign on the back of title ``$1.''
  So I wrote ``$1,'' and I signed the document, as did the purchaser.
  Then the lady at the DMV said: There is a transfer fee you have to 
pay for the vehicle.
  I said: What is it?
  She said: 3 percent.
  I said: 3 percent of $1?
  She said: Yes.
  I pulled a nickel out of my pocket and gave it to her and said: Keep 
the change.
  But my old minivan is more popular and famous in my little State in a 
lot of places than I was.
  But anyway, that vehicle had seen every corner of the First State, 
with some 600,000 miles to her name. She carried ``Carpertown'' 
staffers, constituents, family members, and even a future President--
even a future President.
  When it came time to retire her early last summer, through anguish 
and heartache, I opted for a slight upgrade: a red Tesla Y that maybe 
someday will have 600,000 miles on it. We will see.

[[Page S3769]]

  Let me tell you, though, they don't make cars like they used to. They 
make them a lot better, a whole lot better and a whole lot cleaner as 
well.
  On top of being fully electric--and let me just say that 2, 3, 4 
years ago, our selection of electric vehicles, low-emission, no-
emission vehicles, was limited, very limited, and folks from Tesla were 
largely outside of the gate.
  First, the people from GM had come up with a very good hybrid vehicle 
for a number of years, but it took a long time for us to actually get 
into the business--both domestic manufacturers and foreign 
manufacturers--of building and selling fully electric vehicles.
  But on top of being fully electric, right when you step into these 
new cars, including the one I own, you see a world of technology in 
front of us--a state-of-the-art touchscreen GPS system, backup cameras, 
digital heating and air-conditioning controls. It is a far cry from my 
own minivan that drove so many miles.
  The odometer actually died on me at 500,000 miles. I don't know 
exactly how many miles it did have, but it had a lot. But at 500,000 
miles, we went to Dover Downs, the Miracle Mile, the Monster Mile, 
where they do auto racing and NASCAR racing. They let me drive my 
minivan around the track as fast as it would go. Holding the starter 
flag out the window, I thought it was going to rip my arm off, but it 
didn't. But it didn't.
  One ride in a car like my new one, and it is clear, automotive 
technology and the American economy have drastically advanced in the 
last 20 years. That is thanks, in part, to the advances of 
semiconductor technology or, as we sometimes say, chips.
  Now, folks at home might have read about chips or may have heard 
about some connection with semiconductors and our supply chain woes on 
the nightly news, but they still wonder what that has to do with their 
everyday lives. So here it is, a little bit of chips 101, a little bit 
of chips 101 before I get in my new vehicle and head for the Delaware 
State Fair as fast as I can go--legally, legally.
  Chips 101: a semiconductor, oftentimes referred to as a chip, is 
commonly used material in tech manufacturing made of elements like 
silicon that are valued for their ability to manage the flow of 
electricity.
  In our technology, a chip as small as a puzzle piece or even smaller 
than a fingernail is vital to creating the phones that we carry in our 
pockets or in our purses, the washing machine in our basements, the 
television in our family rooms, and, yes, all that technology in our 
new vehicles.
  But more than that, the semiconductors have a vital role to play in 
some of the medical equipment that monitors our health and in the 
weapons systems that protect our country.
  But after 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shock, 
unpredictable shutdowns, along with labor shortages and logistic 
failures, have led to severe supply chain constraints. These supply 
chain issues have caused the same inflation that Americans have seen 
play out in empty shelves at your local grocery stores or in new 
technology that they have saved up for years to buy but are having a 
hard time finding on the market as of late.
  Just last month, Senator John Cornyn and I chaired a Finance Trade 
Subcommittee hearing, and it was a hearing on supply chain resiliency. 
We did it in order to take a look at what is causing supply chain 
backlogs and hurting American consumers.
  We heard that day from the experts about the need for greater 
investments in semiconductor manufacturing here at home and about the 
vulnerabilities we face when companies thousands and thousands of miles 
away--maybe on the other side of the world--can determine the economic 
success of entire American industries. Because our manufacturing sector 
relies on this technology, we are beholden to the companies that 
produce semiconductors and we are hamstrung--hamstrung--by the delays 
that slow these companies down.
  That is increasingly a problem when America's share of global chips 
production drops from 37 percent--37 percent--in 1990 to just 12 
percent today or when more than 75 percent of chips are manufactured in 
Asia on the other side of the world. This reliance on foreign 
manufacturers makes our economic and our national security vulnerable 
to geopolitical shocks from halfway around the planet.
  And that is a problem for companies in my State of Delaware and your 
State of Nevada, Madam President. But one of the companies that I would 
mention from our State is Hologic, and they are located in Newark, DE, 
near the University of Delaware, the northern part of our State. They 
rely on a reliable stream of chips to produce mammography machines. For 
Hologic, a shortage of chips means not just slower production of new 
mammography machines but a struggle to replace and repair old machines 
that women across our country rely on for vital preventive care to 
detect breast cancer.
  After more than 2 years of this pandemic and cancer screenings all 
too often delayed for months, that means more clinics and doctors' 
offices with outdated equipment will offer limited screenings, and that 
means more women in States like mine and like yours across America will 
have to put screenings that could save their lives on the back burner.
  That is just one very serious, real-world example of why these 
investments are critical to families and they are critical to 
businesses up and down the ``First State'' and across the United 
States. So, Madam President, we can and we should take action to 
address some of the weaknesses in our economy and to compete with 
countries like China in the process.
  That is why I am proud to support the CHIPS and Science Act. It is a 
much needed investment for the manufacturing of semiconductors and the 
development of other critical technologies in our country, and it will 
provide tax incentives to make our tech sector the envy of the world 
once again.
  By investing in American-made chips, we can reduce costs of 
technology for Americans, improve supply chain reliability, and we can 
create new opportunities and jobs for a lot of American workers.
  And by investing in the National Science Foundation and the American 
innovation hubs, we have an opportunity to jump-start American 
innovation and growth once again.
  This legislation will make life a bit easier for businesses and 
consumers across America, from car dealerships in Delaware, on the east 
coast, and in your State of Nevada, out there in the middle of the 
great West--from car dealerships in Delaware that don't have enough 
inventory to meet customer demands to manufacturers struggling to 
access critical parts and inputs.
  As Secretary of Commerce Raimondo and the Defense Secretary have made 
clear over the last couple of weeks, including in a briefing that they 
held with us, this bill will bolster both our economic and our national 
security--but not only that. To not act, to not invest in American jobs 
and manufacturing, as Secretary Raimondo described it, would cause--her 
words--``irreparable harm to the United States economy and the United 
States military operations''--because when America isn't in the 
driver's seat, someone else is taking the wheel, and Americans may well 
fall behind as a result.
  So we have not just an opportunity, I think we have an obligation to 
American consumers and to our Nation's workforce to invest right here 
at home. The action we are taking should be the beginning rather than 
the end of our efforts to strengthen, once again, American economic 
competitiveness.
  There were many bipartisan ideas on the table through the debate over 
this legislation, some ideas that didn't make it into the final bill. 
Many of them are worthy of our future consideration. And as the 
chairman of the Finance Subcommittee on International Trade that I lead 
with Senator Cornyn, I will continue advocating for greater economic 
engagement with our allies across the globe and especially--
especially--in the Asia-Pacific.
  There is more we can do. I will say that again. There is more we can 
do--and must do--to strengthen supply chain resiliency, combat unfair 
trade practices, and support the American worker and innovation.
  I was proud to vote in favor of the CHIPS and Science Act because, 
first and foremost, I serve the people of the ``First State.'' And 
yesterday's vote will mean investments that create jobs

[[Page S3770]]

for Delaware workers and States around us. We have a lot of people in 
other States who work in Delaware even though they live in Pennsylvania 
or New Jersey or in Maryland.
  Yesterday's vote will mean support for the technology that keeps our 
loved ones healthy and safe, and it will also mean more affordable 
goods, delivered faster, to families in the ``First State'' and every 
other State.
  I want to commend the House of Representatives for the action that 
they took today in passing this legislation. And when I leave here 
today, I am going to go out and get in that red sports car that I drive 
these days. And it has incredible music, just incredible music, as you 
probably know. Most cars have that these days. And I think that, first, 
I am going to head for the Delaware State Fair, which I love. The first 
time I ran for office, that was sort of like where I announced it a 
million years ago.
  I will probably pick out some music to listen to, and the first song, 
I think, is a Willie Nelson song. It is a Willie Nelson song: ``On the 
Road Again.'' And I am going to get on the road again and head for the 
``First State,'' for the Delaware State Fair, and look forward to 
meeting a lot of people.
  I wish you a great weekend. To my colleague Dan Sullivan from Alaska, 
the marine colonel who is about to take the floor, have at it. Danny, 
it is all yours.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I want to compliment my colleague from 
Delaware, whom I enjoy working with very much on the EPW Committee.
  Normally at this time, the end of the week, I talk about the Alaskan 
of the Week. So stay tuned for next week when we continue that series. 
It has been going on for 6 years.