The Senate on Wednesday passed an expansive $280 billion bill aimed at building up America's manufacturing and technological edge to counter China.
The legislation reflected a remarkable and rare consensus in a divided Congress that wanted to forge a long-term strategy to address the nation's intensifying rivalry with Beijing. Federal money will be invested into cutting-edge technologies and innovations to bolster the nation's industrial, technological and military strength.
Seventeen Republicans voted in favor of the measure. The bipartisan support illustrated how commercial and military competition with Beijing, as well as the promise of thousands of new American jobs, has dramatically changed longstanding party orthodoxies.
The majority leader of the Senate said in an interview that no country can afford to sit on the sidelines. It is a sea change that will stay.
The legislation is expected to pass in the House. The package could be signed by President Biden as soon as this week.
The bill would give subsidies and tax credits to companies that make chips in the US. $200 billion is added for scientific research into artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing and other technologies.
The bill would pour $10 billion into the Department of Commerce and give chips subsidies to companies that apply. The brainchild of Mr. Young and Mr. Schumer, the hubs would aim to link together research universities with private industry in an effort to create Silicon Valley-like centers for technology innovation.
Billions of dollars would be directed to the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation to promote both basic research and research and development into advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, as well as work force development programs, in an effort to build a labor pool for emerging industries.
With little precedent in recent American history, the effort has raised many questions about how the Biden administration and Congress would implement and oversee a major initiative involving hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.
The legislation was the culmination of years of work by Mr. Schumer and Senator Young. Mr. Young worked with Democrats on foreign policy.
The Senate support was made possible by a combination of factors, including a global Semiconductor shortage, heavy lobbying from the chip industry, and Mr. Young's persistence in urging his colleagues to support the bill.
The legislation was seen as a critical step to strengthen America's chip manufacturing abilities as the nation has become perilously reliant on foreign countries for advanced chips.
Mr. Schumer said it was easy to get votes from Democrats who were less opposed to spending. Seventeen Republicans, including McConnell, came in and said, "This is one expenditure we should make."
The legislation was known in Washington as a carousel of lofty sounding names. It is a research and development bill, a near-term jobs bill, a manufacturing bill and a Semiconductor bill all in one.
The initial version of the act was written by Mr. Schumer and Mr. Young.
"New frontiers of the mind are before us, and if they are pioneered with the same vision, boldness, and drive with which we have waged this war," Mr. Roosevelt wrote at the time.
When the share of modern manufacturing capacity in the United States has plummeted to 12 percent, it is considered a critical step to strengthen America's chip abilities. The nation has become more reliant on foreign countries as a result of the chip shortage.
Tens of thousands of jobs were expected to be created by the subsidies for chip companies, with manufacturers promising to build new factories or expand existing plants in Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Idaho and New York. Several chip companies said they would make business decisions in the coming weeks if they received assurances that the money would come soon.
The bill wants to create research and development jobs in the future. The work force development grants and other programs are intended to build up the supply of workers by concentrating them in once-booming industrial hubs.
Mr. Young described the legislation as an effort to equip American workers hurt by globalization with jobs in cutting-edge fields that will help reduce the nation's dependence on China.
Mr. Young said that these technologies are important to national security. We are giving rank-and-file Americans an opportunity, as it relates to chip manufacturing, to play a meaningful role, not only in supporting their families, but also harness our creativity, talents, and hard work, to win the 21st century.
An estimated tens of thousands of jobs are expected to be created as a result of the bill.
In recent months, chip manufacturers threatened to build plants in foreign countries such as Germany or Singapore if Congress didn't give them federal money to stay in the U.S.
In an effort to curtail advanced chip manufacturing in nations that present a national security concern, the legislation prohibits chip manufacturers from expanding existing factories or building new ones in countries such as China and Russia.
If companies don't follow the restrictions, the Department of Commerce will take back the funds.
Those efforts were a reason for the legislation to be passed quickly. The executives of such companies were particularly incensed by the accusation that they were shaking down Congress made by the senator.
The companies took government money and used it to send good-paying jobs abroad. These companies are in line to get a massive taxpayer handout because of the bad behavior they did.
The bill was doomed to either collapse or be slimmed down several times. The $52 billion in subsidies for chip companies is the most commercially and politically urgent measure.
The bill seemed to be in trouble after Mr. McConnell said he would not allow it to go forward if Senate Democrats continued to advance their social policy and tax plan.
Mr. Young asked Mr. McConnell to rethink.
Mr. Young said that Mr. McConnell saw the importance of funding the chips legislation.
With Mr. McConnell uncertain about his position, Mr. Schumer moved to force a quick vote on the bill.
The last-minute effort by Mr. Young was to get enough Republicans to support the bill. Mr. Young and his allies spent a lot of time on the phone trying to convince Republicans that the bill was important to national security.
Mr. Schumer gave a speech at the lunch.
According to Mr. Schumer, the bill will have one of the greatest and most far-reaching effects on America. A lot of your grandsons will be in good paying jobs because of the vote you're taking.
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