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The Senate voted 68 to 32 on Tuesday to approve a sweeping global competition law focused on China, overcoming objections from Republicans who threatened to block a bipartisan $200 billion+ package.
Why it matters: Supporters of the bill cite the measure as evidence that the deeply divided Senate can still operate on a bipartisan basis, despite last-minute chaos that forced Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DNY) to delay final passage for weeks.
It is also a sign of the broad consensus emerging about the need to outmaneuver China on the global stage, including by revitalizing manufacturing and research in the United States and cracking down on economic abuses in Beijing. years, describing its passage as “a moment in history that will be seen by future generations as a turning point for American leadership in… the twenty-first century.”
How We Got Here: The basis for US innovation and competition law is a broad, bipartisan proposal by Schumer and Senator Todd Young (R-I) that would allow new funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and establish the New Technology Directorate.
In February, Schumer asked both Democratic committee chairs and top Republicans to work on other measures that could be included in a broader package to boost US technology, manufacturing and research to better compete with China. Dozens of committees have voted, the Senate has voted on dozens of amendments from Republicans, Democrats and partisans over the past several weeks, and the bill has the support of President Biden, whose administration has made curbing China’s influence through a coalition of allies one of its members. priorities.
Details: The centerpiece of the legislation is $50 billion in emergency funding for the Department of Commerce to boost domestic semiconductor production, in light of a global chip shortage.
It also includes billions of dollars in additional funding for research and development at the Department of Energy, the Pentagon and NASA, including in the areas of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, and 5G. The bill would provide $10 billion over five years for the Department of Commerce to establish regional technology center programs, requiring projects Federally funded infrastructure to use certain materials manufactured in the United States
What they say: “All over the world, authoritarian governments smell blood in the water,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor.
He continued, “They believe that conflicting democracies like ours cannot come together and invest in national priorities the way a top-down, authoritarian government can.” “They tempt us to fail so that they can seize the mantle of global economic leadership and own innovations.”
Next step: It’s not clear what the bill’s path will be in the House of Representatives, as Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Mix (DNY) introduced his China competition bill.
🎧) Dive in: Rep. Ro Khanna on the massive bill to compete with China
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