AUSTIN, Texas — Congress is notorious for moving slowly, even on issues with bipartisan support.
"It takes longer than it should, even things that are obviously good for the country like this," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said. "There is some momentum now, and we're all just going to have to step up and lead and get it to the president's desk."
Raimondo has voiced her support for what she calls the "Bipartisan Innovation Act." That piece of legislation has gone through many other names: CHIPS Act funding, Endless Frontier Act, America COMPETES Act, and the United States Innovation and Competition Act.
"You need a scorecard to keep up with all the different names," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. "We'll figure out what the final name is when we pass it."
Cornyn joked they also call it the "China bill" on Capitol Hill. Cornyn and Congressman Michael McCaul have championed semiconductor manufacturing bills in the Senate and House over the past two years. Both versions have received bipartisan support, but have fallen short of reaching President Joe Biden's desk.
"A lot of this has to do with our competition with China," Cornyn added.
"It's about allowing America to compete on a global stage," Raimondo said. "You know, to compete with the rest of the world as it relates to research and development, technology, manufacturing, semiconductor production. It really is a kind of a once-in-a-generation bill."
The bill, like previous iterations, aims to provide tax breaks and benefits to companies that manufacture semiconductors and bring new facilities online domestically. Lawmakers say the pandemic exposed just how vulnerable the U.S. is because of the nationwide chip shortage, which experts added won't end soon.
Political leaders hope this legislation encourages more manufacturers to open up new fabs to produce more semiconductors as a long-term solution.
"COVID has put a big spotlight on how unprepared we are and how fragile our supply chains are, and no more so than in the semiconductor supply chain," Raimondo said.
This legislation stems from the CHIPS for America Act passed in 2020. The bill that would have provided the funding was part of the National Defense Act of 2021, then became part of Endless Frontier introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), which then got folded into this legislation after sitting in the House since the summer of 2021.
This past Monday, the bill – called the "America COMPETES Act" in the House and the "United States Innovation and Competition Act" in the Senate – passed the Senate with some revisions. In the next couple of weeks, select members of both chambers will meet to hash out differences in their respective versions of the bill.
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