House Democrats have passed the COMPETES Act, marking an important step for a top Biden administration priority. But Republicans say the bill is too easy on China.
The $350 billion COMPETES Act would allot $52 billion for domestic semiconductor production funding to boost domestic manufacturing. It passed the House Friday by a vote of 222-210. A Senate version of the bill, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, passed in June.
Just before the vote, Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal joined other top House Democrats in Washington to tout the bill. The Ways and Means Chair from the 1st District says the bill will increase the country’s competition with China and boost the economy.
“One of the challenges that America has is that we still have the edge in terms of innovation and creativity in the world. The difficulty is that because you can do production just about anywhere now, they replicate our innovation with lower wages. So, keeping our competitive posture is essential," Neal said. "The COMPETES Act that you're witnessing today has done precisely that. It will bolster the economy, it will reinforce technological leadership and we can't be content with complacency."
Ahead of the near party-line vote, House Republicans blasted the legislation as a national security threat, calling it the “Concedes Act.” Republican New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik represents the 21st district.
“The Democrats’ Concedes Act comes with a $325 billion price tag and does absolutely nothing to sanction the Chinese Communist Party or hold them accountable for their malign actions. At a time when America is dealing with crisis after crisis caused by Democrats failed far-left agenda, (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi wants to cater to China by lining the CCP’s pockets with your American tax dollars," Stefanik said. "The America Concedes Act fails to address communist China's threat to our national security and fails to address one of our greatest threats of this generation."
The legislation would also establish a national Semiconductor Technology Center, which lawmakers in New York think belongs at the Albany NanoTech Complex.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was at the facility last month to tout the USICA bill and tour the facility with U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves.
“We've long had a history of manufacturing innovation in upstate New York and here in the Capital Region. We're the birthplace of IBM, which has played an instrumental role here at Albany NanoTech and we are home to some of the most shovel ready sites for chip investment in the country,” Schumer said. “When I wrote USICA, the United States Innovation and Competition Act, I included funding for the creation of the first National Semiconductor Technology Center in the country and guess what was on my mind when I wrote that: a six letter word, A-L-B-A-N-Y.”
On a virtual press conference Saturday, Capital Region Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko says funding to improve the nation’s supply chain will directly benefit New York companies like GlobalFoundries, which has two locations in New York and one in Vermont.
“It's also important, I think, to groups like Global Foundries to have that commitment made with the chip funding. That amount of money, the $54 billion that will go towards the chip industry will enable us to further expand, making us the largest manufacturer of such of chips in the world. So, as they make plans to expand, this is about making certain that there are the financial resources in a very competitive sweepstakes for our American industry.
The Democrat talked about the legislation’s next steps.
“We will now merge these two bills, most likely through a conferencing between the two houses," he said. "So, that will be significant. We're hoping that can be done in as few as 30 days, but it will be important to highlight the differences, develop a single package that will then go forward to underpin these very critical industries and the very important challenges to America and her economy."
