[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 175 (Tuesday, October 24, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5126-S5127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tech Hubs

  Mr. President, now, on tech hubs, yesterday was a really exciting 
day, thanks to two words: ``tech hubs.'' I spent the day traveling 
across Upstate New York, sharing the great news that the Buffalo-
Rochester-Syracuse and the Binghamton region just won prestigious tech 
hub designation that I created in our CHIPS and Science Act. This 
announcement means one thing: More good-paying, long-lasting jobs are 
coming to Upstate New York, an area that has seen so many companies 
leave over the last three or four decades.
  Yesterday's tech hubs celebration was something I have been working 
hard toward for a very long time. When I was writing the tech hubs 
program with Senator Young into our bipartisan Endless Frontiers Act, 
and then into the CHIPS and Science Act, I had Upstate New York in 
mind, and, now, thanks to this new designation, communities and 
cities across Upstate New York are facing an awakening. The region is 
now primed to become a global hub for workforce training, innovation, 
and semiconductor manufacturing.

  But it is not just Upstate New York that is affected. It is a 
metaphor for the whole country. There are 2 tech hubs in New York and 
30 others around the country, from coast to coast, in red States and 
blue States. And when I talked about tech hubs for cities like 
Rochester and Buffalo and Syracuse and Binghamton, my colleague and 
friend on the Republican side, Todd Young, was talking about tech hubs 
in his State of Indiana, in places like Indianapolis, South Bend, and 
Fort Wayne.
  The whole idea is this. The tech industry has gravitated to a few 
large cities--my own city of New York, which has greatly benefitted, 
San Francisco, Boston, Austin, and Los Angeles--but there is a load of 
talent in the rest of the country. It is just that no one paid 
attention to these places. That is the idea of tech hubs.
  There were 400 applications for tech hubs across the country in the 
Department of Commerce, and I salute Secretary Raimondo, who was very 
careful in picking the places where it could actually work, and that is 
why there are 30.
  So this is a great thing, and it will spread. It will take advantage 
of the talent that already exists in the companies and universities and 
individuals and schools--in the heartland of the country, not just on 
the coasts--and give them a real chance to take part and create tens of 
thousands--millions--of good-paying jobs in every part of the country.
  So I was really proud of the tech hubs proposal, and it is going to 
continue. We are going to put more funding into it. We are going to do 
everything we can to help tech hubs grow and help America grow and stay 
No. 1 in the world, because when we invest in science and high-end 
manufacturing and research, everybody--everybody--benefits.
  So this is good news in red States and in blue States. Secretary 
Raimondo didn't look around and just say, ``Oh, we can only do blue 
States,'' like Donald Trump might have done. She has put them in all 
the places that there can be new help.
  So let's look at the contrast here, folks. While the House 
Republicans struggle to even select a Speaker, these tech hub 
announcements show that President Biden and Democrats are delivering, 
putting tens of thousands of people to work in good-paying jobs, 
opening new plants and factories, and securing American leadership in 
the technologies of tomorrow.
  Not in a very long time has the contrast between the parties been as 
glaring as today. When Democrats lead the way, Americans see more jobs, 
more manufacturing, lower costs. When Republicans are in charge--
rightwing Republicans, not all of them, but the rightwing seem to be 
running the show of these MAGA Republicans--it leads to paralysis, 
chaos, and extremism.
  No matter how the GOP impasse in the House is resolved, we will not 
change our focus as Democrats. We will create more jobs, work to lower 
costs, and do it on a bipartisan basis wherever we can.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.

[[Page S5127]]

  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 ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.