During his second State of the Union address last night, President Joe Biden (D) mentioned the fact that the United States is responsible for so many of the world’s greatest, revolutionary inventions, yet a lot of them are now produced overseas.
For instance, the President mentioned semiconductors, which, in 1990, the U.S. had a market share nearly 40%.
Now, it sits at about 12%. Because of this Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) joined Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in a bipartisan fashion to legislation to ramp up domestic production of the product.
The bill, known as the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chain Act, looks to invest towards developing “strategies to attract investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturers and supply chains,” according to the Scott press release.
“As Communist China’s influence in the semiconductor market continues to grow and some corporations in the industry, like Intel, put profits over American national security interests, it is beyond time to boost domestic production. The Chips and Science Act did nothing to strengthen American manufacturers while propping up business in Communist China—that is unacceptable. Now more than ever, we must be laser focused on producing American-made semiconductors and the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act is a good place to start,” stated Scott.
Not only would an investment in the industry create more jobs in the United States, but it would also reduce the dependency on foreign nations for the product which is used in our everyday daily lives. While Democrats and Republicans might disagree on whether the CHIPS and Science Act has been successful or not, it seems they both agree on the fact that this bill would be good for the American people.
“We need to build on the CHIPS and Science Act to continue advancing efforts that will lower the cost of goods and strengthen our economic competitiveness, supply chains and national security,” said Senator Peters, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “That’s why I’m reintroducing this bipartisan bill that would do just that by encouraging investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturers as well as their suppliers – lessening our dependence on foreign producers for these critical technologies and creating good-paying jobs here at home.”
Companion legislation was introduced by Representatives Greg Pence (R-IN) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA).
