Conference Committee Meeting on Bipartisan Innovation and Competition Legislation (S. Hrg. 117-846)
Summary
Transcript of S. Hrg. 117-846, the May 12, 2022 conference committee meeting on bipartisan innovation and competition legislation, published for the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Statements came from Senators Cantwell, Wicker, Baldwin and Hickenlooper and from Representatives including Johnson, Lucas, Pallone, Rodgers and Lofgren. The record includes a Wall Street Journal editorial titled "The Be More Like China Act" and a Forbes article on measures for immigrants in STEM fields. A closing statement mentions an amendment calling for full U.S. ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and urges resolving the differences between the two proposals.
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[Senate Hearing 117-846]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-846
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEETING
ON BIPARTISAN INNOVATION
AND COMPETITION LEGISLATION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MAY 12, 2022
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
54-928 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Ranking
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii ROY BLUNT, Missouri
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada MIKE LEE, Utah
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia Virginia
RICK SCOTT, Florida
CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
Lila Helms, Staff Director
Melissa Porter, Deputy Staff Director
George Greenwell, Policy Coordinator and Security Manager
John Keast, Republican Staff Director
Crystal Tully, Republican Deputy Staff Director
Steven Wall, General Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on May 12, 2022..................................... 1
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 1
Statement of Senator Wicker...................................... 2
Statement of Representative Johnson.............................. 3
Statement of Representative Lucas................................ 4
Statement of Representative Pallone.............................. 4
Statement of Representative Rodgers.............................. 5
Statement of Senator Baldwin..................................... 6
Statement of Senator Hickenlooper................................ 7
Statement of Representative Lofgren.............................. 7
Article dated February 2, 2022 from the Wall Street Journal
entitled, ``The Be More Like China Act'' by The Editorial
Board...................................................... 8
Article dated February 7, 2022 from Forbes entitled, ``House
Passes Bill With More Measures For Immigrants In STEM
Fields''by Stuart Anderson, Senior Contributor............. 10
Statement of Representative Bonamici............................. 12
Statement of Representative Stevens.............................. 13
Statement of Representative Bowman............................... 14
Statement of Representative Foster............................... 14
Statement of Representative Weber................................ 15
Statement of Representative Waltz................................ 16
Statement of Representative Garcia............................... 16
Statement of Representative Eshoo................................ 17
Statement of Representative Babin................................ 18
Statement of Representative Rochester............................ 18
Statement of Representative Schakowsky........................... 19
Statement of Representative Matsui............................... 20
Statement of Representative Tonko................................ 20
Statement of Representative Soto................................. 21
Statement of Representative Bucshon.............................. 22
Statement of Representative Carter............................... 22
Statement of Representative Duncan............................... 23
Statement of Representative Crenshaw............................. 24
Statement of Senator Menendez.................................... 25
Statement of Senator Risch....................................... 26
Statement of Representative Meeks................................ 27
Statement of Representative McCaul............................... 27
Statement of Representative Deutch............................... 28
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Statement of Representative Bass................................. 29
Statement of Representative Houlahan............................. 30
Statement of Representative Jacobs............................... 31
Statement of Representative Chabot............................... 32
Statement of Representative Wagner............................... 32
Statement of Representative Green................................ 33
Statement of Representative Kim.................................. 34
Statement of Senator Wyden....................................... 35
Statement of Senator Crapo....................................... 35
Statement of Representative Neal................................. 36
Statement of Representative Brady................................ 37
Statement of Senator Warner...................................... 38
Statement of Senator Cornyn...................................... 39
Statement of Representative Blumenauer........................... 40
Statement of Representative Davis................................ 40
Statement of Representative DelBene.............................. 41
Statement of Representative Chu.................................. 42
Statement of Representative Kildee............................... 42
Statement of Representative Gomez................................ 43
Statement of Representative Smith................................ 44
Statement of Representative LaHood............................... 44
Statement of Representative Miller............................... 45
Statement of Senator Brown....................................... 46
Statement of Representative Waters............................... 47
Statement of Representative Garcia............................... 48
Statement of Senator Murray...................................... 48
Statement of Senator Burr........................................ 50
Statement of Representative Foxx................................. 50
Statement of Representative Morelle.............................. 51
Statement of Senator Peters...................................... 51
Statement of Senator Portman..................................... 52
Statement of Representative Maloney.............................. 53
Statement of Representative Comer................................ 54
Statement of Representative Demings.............................. 55
Statement of Representative Titus................................ 55
Statement of Representative Khanna............................... 56
Statement of Senator Tester...................................... 57
Statement of Senator Moran....................................... 58
Statement of Representative Bost................................. 59
Statement of Representative Pappas............................... 59
Statement of Senator Grassley.................................... 60
Statement of Representative Scanlon.............................. 61
Statement of Senator Barrasso.................................... 62
Statement of Representative Grijalva............................. 62
Statement of Senator Heinrich.................................... 63
Statement of Senator Kelly....................................... 64
Statement of Representative McEachin............................. 65
Statement of Senator Capito...................................... 65
Statement of Representative Crawford............................. 66
Statement of Representative Malinowski........................... 67
Statement of Representative Herrell.............................. 68
Statement of Representative Norcross............................. 69
Statement of Senator Young....................................... 69
Statement of Representative Moore................................ 70
Statement of Representative Escobar.............................. 71
Statement of Representative Fitzgerald........................... 72
Statement of Representative Davids............................... 73
Statement of Senator Warnock..................................... 73
Appendix
Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), prepared statement............ 75
Rep. Guest (MS-03), prepared statement........................... 76
Hon. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, House Judiciary Committee,
prepared statement............................................. 76
Representative Tiffany, prepared statement....................... 77
Chair Peter A. DeFazio, prepared statement....................... 77
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman, Small Business Committee,
prepared statement............................................. 78
Chairman Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott (VA-3), House Committee on
Education and Labor, prepared statement........................ 80
Representative Joaquin Castro, prepared statement................ 81
Congressman Ami Bera, prepared statement......................... 81
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEETING
ON BIPARTISAN INNOVATION
AND COMPETITION LEGISLATION
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Conference Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:01
a.m., in room SR-325, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon.
Maria Cantwell, Chairwoman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Cantwell [presiding], Murray, Wyden,
Menendez, Brown, Tester, Warner, Baldwin, Heinrich, Peters,
Hickenlooper, Warnock, Wicker, Grassley, Crapo, Cornyn, Burr,
Barrasso, Risch, Moran, Portman, Capito, Young, and House
Representatives.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL, U.S. SENATOR FROM
WASHINGTON
The Chair. The Conference Committee on the disagreeing
votes of two House and Senate amendments to H.R. 4521, the
United States Innovation and Competition Act, will come to
order. Before I get into the discussion of the process of this
meeting and opening statement, I would like to start by
offering a welcome to Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson of
Texas. She is unable to join us here today because of travel
and medical reasons, but she will be joining us electronically.
So welcome to you, Congresswoman Johnson. I would also like
to take a moment to welcome all members present and to discuss
the format of today's meeting. Each member will have 2 minutes
to provide an opening statement. The order of recognition,
which has been shared with member offices, should ensure
different bill priorities are discussed together.
Given that there are 107 members on the Conference
committee, a historic number for a bill that isn't an annual
must-pass legislation, I will have to strictly enforce those 2
minutes so we can get through the Conference, hopefully by 2:15
p.m. today, when I know there are a series of House votes
scheduled.
If any member is unable to speak before 2:15 p.m., please
notify us and we will try to reconvene after those House votes
at 4 p.m. And with that, I recognize myself for an opening
statement. Today is a historic day. Historic because it is one
of the largest Conference committees in the last 10 years for a
bill that, as I said, is not must-pass legislation, but it is
also historic in that we are responding to a supply chain
crisis brought upon by a 100 year event of the COVID pandemic,
a war in Europe, and another historic reason.
I believe this is a Sputnik moment where it is clear that
Americans--that we are falling behind on innovation, and we
can't risk falling further behind. We know that R&D is less
than 1 percent of our gross domestic product invested in
Federal research, compared to 2 percent in the 60s. That 2
percent kept us competitive with innovations from DARPA, NASA,
DOE, NSF, and helped us to win the cold war. But today, we are
losing ground in a number of areas, semiconductors, artificial
intelligence, pharmaceuticals, the energy revolution.
But we are a great Nation, and time and time again, we have
proven that we can rise to this challenge. If we could come
together in 12 days and pass a bipartisan Cares Act to restore
our economy during the COVID crisis, I am pretty sure we can
resolve the issues between us on these two bills. I look
forward to working with my colleagues, Senator Wicker, who
feels passionately about Federal research dollars in areas of
the country defined by EPSCoR.
With Congresswoman Johnson who has fought so hard on STEM
education and NASA and making sure that we get an
authorization. With Chairman Pallone who has been a big
advocate for strengthening supply chain. My colleague,
Representative McMorris Rodgers, who I know wants to talk about
mineral issues and supply chain. And with all our House and
Senate members who are here today to represent their particular
views and perspective on these issues.
So let's roll up our sleeves, strengthen America's supply
chain, help drive down costs for Americans, and reinvigorate
manufacturing here at home. That is what we need to do to help
for the next years of global leadership and to build things
right here in the United States of America. I will now turn to
my colleague, Senator Roger Wicker.
STATEMENT OF HON. ROGER WICKER, U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI
Senator Wicker. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I noticed that
2 minute clock didn't move at all during your remarks. I hope
it is that slow during mine. The 21st century will be shaped
largely by the results of the strategic competition between the
United States and China. This Conference committee can help
place the United States into an advantageous position by
reconciling the differences during the Senate-passed U.S.
Innovation and Competition Act and the House-passed America
COMPETES Act.
I applaud the regular order process the Senate followed to
pass USICA nearly one year ago. Senator Cantwell and I helped
shepherd the Science and Technology Division of USICA, known as
the Endless Frontier Act through the Commerce Committee with a
24 to 4 vote from the Committee.
In total, the Senate considered over 1,000 amendments and
adopted over 100 of them into USICA, including more than 20
separately introduced bills. After improving this legislation
for over 2 weeks, the Senate passed this bill by 68 to 32 vote,
with 19 Republican Senators voting in support. The Conference
committee should appreciate the bipartisan process followed by
the Senate to craft USICA.
I hope we can avoid partisan or controversial disputes
because there are significant areas of agreement between the
two bills, including funding the CHIPS Act, providing a program
to incentivize semiconductor R&D and manufacturing in the
United States, establishing a new directorate at the NSF to
drive innovation in key technology focus areas such as AI and
robotics, protecting U.S. R&D and intellectual property from
theft and the malign influence of foreign competitors, and
ensuring a fairer national distribution of R&D funding,
especially through the NSF.
On that subject, let me reiterate my support for the Senate
provisions to strengthen the EPSCoR program and to establish
regional technology hubs at the Department of Commerce. In
2019, six states plus the District of Columbia received nearly
half of the total Federal R&D expenditures. We need bold steps
outlined in the Senate bill to take advantage of the talent,
expertise, and capabilities found throughout the United States.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you. We will now go remotely to
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON
Ms. Johnson. Well, thank you so very much to you, Chairman
Cantwell, and to Mr. Wicker. It is an honor to join my
colleagues this morning to officially convene the first meeting
of the Conference committee on H.R. 4521, the Bipartisan
Innovation and Competitiveness Legislation. I am here virtually
today as I recover from my knee surgery, but I hope to be with
you in person very soon.
It is time for us to revitalize Federal support for the
kinds of research and development initiatives that have long
made the U.S. a beacon of excellence in science and innovation.
As Chairwoman of the Committee on Science, Space and
Technology, I am especially proud of the bipartisan Science
committee bill that are included in this House-passed America
COMPETES Act.
These provisions were built with rigorous input from the
scientific community, industry, academia, and other
stakeholders on what we need most to succeed in the 21st
century. With this legislation, we can usher in a bold and
prosperous future for American science and innovation and
maintain our international competitiveness.
We can build clean energy solutions, address the climate
crisis, reinforce our National Security, enhance our
semiconductor research and manufacturing capability, create
jobs and so much more. We can also take historic and much
needed action to build a strong and diverse STEM work force.
Enact legislation that will ensure that we are able to make use
of all of the brain power and talent we have in this great
Nation.
Our work here is critical to ensuring the U.S. has the
resources to compete globally for many years to come. I look
forward to a productive Conference process, and I am confident
we will come out with a strong bipartisan innovation bill to
deliver to President Biden's desk. Thank you, and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Congresswoman Johnson. Next,
Congressman Frank Lucas.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN FRANK LUCAS
Mr. Lucas. Thank you, Chair Cantwell. We are here today to
begin the process of reconciling competitive legislation from
the House and the Senate. It h is been nearly a year since we
passed the bills at the core of this legislation, and it's long
past time that we begin work conferencing it.
We are facing a generational threat from the Chinese
Communist Party. Their goal is to make Chinese businesses and
the Chinese economy stronger than ours and to capitalize on
advanced technologies to undermine our cybersecurity and our
military strength. We need to take this threat seriously and
pass strong policy now.
I have been very clear about my priorities in this
legislation. It needs to be strategic and focused on the areas
that will have the most impact. That means targeting basic
research into critical technologies, building out America's
STEM work force, and protecting our investments from threat--
theft by China. In short, it means focusing on the thoughtful,
bipartisan legislation passed by Republicans and Democrats on
the House Science committee.
Unfortunately, that legislation was sandwiched into a
massive list of unrelated provisions that the Speaker threw
together in the COMPETES Act at the last minute. That made our
task--that makes our task here even more difficult because we
are starting with a controversial partisan product.
To have a successful Conference, we will need to focus only
on the bipartisan policies that have been thoroughly discussed
and vetted. In terms of process, from years of experience on
farm bills, I know that the best way to make progress is by
having the true four corners engagement between the minority
and majority of the relevant House and Senate committees.
Finding bipartisan consensus will take time, but it is worth
the effort.
Artificial deadlines and interference by leadership only
complicates the discussions and jeopardizes the whole process.
We can't afford that. The Chinese Communist Party is an active
and growing threat to our economy and National Security. This
bill must focus on addressing that threat. It cannot be a yard
sale of policies that have failed other legislative vehicles. I
look forward to working with the Chairs, the Ranking Members of
the Committee.
I am committed in good faith toward a bill that strengthens
American science and technology and protects our threats from
Chinese leadership, communist leadership in China. Yield back
the balance of my time, Chair.
The Chair. Now we will turn to the Chairman of the Energy
and Commerce Committee, Congressman Frank Pallone.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN FRANK PALLONE
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I am confident
this Conference committee will take bicameral action to secure
the future of American manufacturing and ensure we lead the
21st century global economy. As Chairman of the House Energy
and Commerce committee, I would like to highlight several
important provisions in the House passed America COMPETES Act
that I strongly support and believe should be included in any
final agreement in order to achieve our goals.
The COMPETES Act authorizes $46 billion to support supply
chain resilience and manufacturing of critical goods right here
in the United States. Earlier this week, a coalition of 134
manufacturing associations wrote to Congress in support of
these provisions, writing, that is, and I am quoting, ``will
play an essential role in strengthening supply chains crucial
for consumers and ensuring Americans quality of life and
economic prosperity for decades to come.''
Now, the COMPETES Act also invests $52 billion to
incentivize private sector investments in the critically
important semiconductor industry, chips. Everything from
military equipment to medical devices to home appliance depends
on semiconductors, and it is vital that we will be able to
manufacture them here at home. The bill also invests $3 billion
to support domestic solar manufacturing so we can aggressively
counter China's control of the solar market that jeopardizes
our long term energy security interests.
And the COMPETES Act also increases our domestic drug
manufacturing base by expanding the use of advanced and
continuous manufacturing practices and invests in replenishing
domestic reserves of critical medical supplies, so we are
prepared for future public health emergencies.
The COMPETES Act will help innovate our wireless supply
chain and network security and ensure that next generation
mobile wireless networks and technologies are safe and secure
from foreign adversaries, including by investing $1.5 billion
in the public wireless supply chain innovation fund. So, Madam
Chair, we have an opportunity to ensure that America can
outcompete the rest of the world, and I look forward to working
with each of you to make that a reality.
But I want to say Chair Cantwell that, you know, you have
worked with me in the House and Senate bipartisan leaders on
many issues in the past where we have had success, and so I
expect that the same is going to happen again with you as the
Chair. Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you, Chairman Pallone. Now to the House
Ranking Member on E and C, Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN McMORRIS RODGERS
Ms. Rodgers. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. China is
the greatest threat facing America. The CCP tries to compete
with the U.S. and other economies using any means necessary.
That includes cheating, stealing, coercion, and slave labor,
and using their centrally controlled economy to pick winners
and losers through massive Government subsidies, and handouts
that benefit the ruling party's political allies. Can you hold
on 1 second? Thank you.
OK. Thank you. There we go. They do not adhere to free
market principles or the highest labor and environmental
standards that we have here in the United States of America.
This is not the model for America. We cannot beat the CCP at
their own game. The U.S. succeeds when they reward hard work,
creative thinking, risk taking and innovation, and ensure that
a company's success isn't contingent on the approval,
direction, or spending by the Federal Government.
American competitiveness has suffered because of increased
regulatory barriers, canceled permits for critical mining and
infrastructure projects, and record taxpayer spending of money,
causing inflation, supply chain issues, uncertainty for
businesses. Now is not the time to burden American families
with more spending or more inflation. It is important for
companies that support more spending to keep this in mind and
understand that they will also be hurt by the negative
consequences of any anti-competitive tax and spend approach.
Businesses need certainty.
Without it, they will go elsewhere. Innovation will be
stalled, and America's global competitive edge will suffer. No
amount of Government handouts, subsidies, and financial
incentives will make up for the damage of regulatory and
permitting barriers.
To win the future, we need a reliable, regulatory and
permitting environment that unleashes innovation, secure supply
chains, and ensures America's companies are retaining and
expanding jobs here at home in the United States of America.
Lifting these burdens must be central to this legislation if we
want to secure American leadership and beat China. Thank you. I
yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Next, we will hear from Senator Tammy
Baldwin from the Commerce Committee.
STATEMENT OF HON. TAMMY BALDWIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM WISCONSIN
Senator Baldwin. Thank you. And I want to begin by thanking
you, Chair Cantwell, for your leadership first at the Commerce
committee, shepherding this legislation through a marathon
markup, I remember well, and now as chair of this Conference
committee.
Passing this legislation will help us build a made in
America economy by investing in innovation, creating jobs,
strengthening our supply chains, lowering costs for businesses
and manufacturers, and reducing prices for working families.
The Senate and the House have both passed ambitious
legislation.
Now we as conferees, must work together to deliver an
agreement. During the last few years, we have seen how supply
chain disruptions can cause problems throughout the economy. In
particular, the shortage of semiconductors has caused
production delays, putting a strain on manufacturers and
driving up prices.
With more ``Made in America'' chips, our equipment
manufacturers, and I would note particularly in the agriculture
sector, will have better access to the inputs they need to meet
increased demand, and our farmers will have the tools they need
to bring their products to market. It has become clear that we
can no longer rely exclusively on critical products being
manufactured abroad.
Both the House and Senate bills include provisions to make
our supply chain more resilient and housed here at home rather
than outsourced abroad. I expect the final agreement to reflect
this as a top priority. Last, the final agreement must make
strong investments in research and development.
Wisconsin is a prime candidate for becoming a technology
hub because we have world class research universities and a
workforce with literally centuries of manufacturing experience,
all of which position the state well for growth in both
traditional and emerging industries. I look forward to working
with all of my fellow conferees to come to an agreement on this
vital legislation.
The Chair. Thank you. Senator Hickenlooper from the
Commerce Committee.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HICKENLOOPER, U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO
Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you, Chair Cantwell, and
Senator Wicker, and all the conferees. Honored to serve with
you on this bipartisan Innovation and Competition Conference.
During the height of World War II, President Roosevelt wrote,
``new frontiers of the mind are before us. We are a similar
point in our Nation's history. We have no choice but to
reaffirm our commitment to science or fall irrevocably behind
our rivals.''
This work on the Conference committee is going to help
stimulate and revitalize our efforts around renewable energy,
artificial intelligence, quantum computing, I can go down that
list. It is going to help unleash American innovation. It is
going to strengthen our supply chains and ultimately reduce
costs for consumers.
I think the key agencies in Colorado that are going to help
drive this are the National Institute for Standards and
Technology and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory up in
Golden, among a number of other agencies. But these are similar
agencies from all across the country. We need to also ensure
that every American is prepared to contribute to our national
goals in research and innovation.
Our success depends on American ingenuity. That is why I
look forward to working on this bill, including the Regional
Technology Hub Program, which will expand workforce education,
train new and diverse entrepreneurs, accelerate technology
commercialization, and really seriously help grow rural
economies.
This is a rare opportunity to reinvigorate our economy and
cut the red tape that has been holding back American
innovation, from helping STEM PhDs get visas so they can stay
right here in America after school to modernizing our banking
laws so that the cannabis industry isn't operating in all cash
darkness. Our economy needs to be supported and to help us meet
this moment in the past--as it has in the past and as it can
again today. And we have to make changes to keep up with the
world.
Fifty years from today, we will look back on this time as
the great transition, when we modernized our economy and made
real strides in our transition to a clean energy economy. I
look forward to working with all of you in this bipartisan
victory for American people.
The Chair. Thank you. Next, we will hear from Congresswoman
Zoe Lofgren from the House Science and Space committee.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN ZOE LOFGREN
Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much, Senator. I want to thank
the House and Senate leadership, as well as our respective
committees, for getting us to this milestone. The investments
contained in the America COMPETES Act could hardly be more
urgent. The bill will increase domestic manufacturing, invest
in research and innovation, strengthen our supply chains, lower
prices for all, and create good paying jobs in America.
This is good for the economy and good for working families.
The House Science committee divisions of the COMPETES Act
include multiple bipartisan innovation bills. The proposals
offer a strategic and sustainable plan to grow American
science, innovation, and technology, and include incentives to
encourage domestic manufacturing of critical technologies.
However, this ambitious agenda is incomplete without
adequate numbers of scientists and engineers to preserve our
global leadership for generations to come. Our human capital
gap is one of the most vulnerable parts of our supply chain.
But provisions in the COMPETES Act would address this.
While increasing STEM scholarships for U.S. students, the
bill simultaneously draws the world's best and brightest STEM
doctoral recipients and company founders to the United States.
And there are articles from the Wall Street Journal and Forbes
celebrating this provision of the bills, and I would, at the
appropriate time, ask unanimous consent to make them part of
the record.
The Chair. Without objection.
[The information referred to follows:]
Wall Street Journal
OPINION | REVIEW & OUTLOOK
The Be More Like China Act
The House competition bill is industrial policy mixed with welfare.
By The Editorial Board--Feb. 2, 2022 6:15 pm ET
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
PHOTO: AL DRAGO/BLOOMBERG NEWS
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Chinese President
Xi Jinping should feel honored by the 2,900-page bill House Democrats
claim will make the U.S. more competitive. To counter China, Democrats
think America must copy Beijing's industrial policy.
Last summer the Senate passed a $250 billion bill with $54 billion
in handouts for the U.S. semiconductor industry and much more for
government science bureaucracies. Now with Build Back Better stalled,
House Democrats are rushing through their own version that leaves no
liberal special interest behind.
Democrats say the $52 billion for chip makers will ease supply-
chain problems. Sorry, but building a foundry takes years. Chip makers
expect shortages for years no matter how much governments subsidize
them. The White House laments that the U.S. manufactures only 12
percent of the world's chips, down from 37 percent in 1990. But most
chips are commodities, so manufacturing has naturally shifted to lower-
cost Asia. The U.S. still leads in chip design (52 percent) and chip-
making equipment (50 percent). China is years behind the U.S. in both.
Some rightly worry that China could invade Taiwan and seize its
foundries, which have a near monopoly on advanced chips, including for
U.S. military weapons. But the Pentagon is already providing incentives
to make advanced chips in the U.S., and Taiwan's TSMC is building a $12
billion plant in Arizona.
The $52 billion in handouts will trigger a global race to the
subsidy bottom--ironic given the White House's complaints about
international tax competition. The European Union's internal markets
commissioner, Thierry Breton, said last week that it's planning a
``commensurate'' subsidy package.
Then cometh lobbying by politicians and businesses. Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer is pressing the House to pass the bill so chip
makers can get subsidies to build in upstate New York. The Commerce
Department would get $45 billion to make and procure ``critical
goods,'' which isn't defined but no doubt will include lithium ion
batteries and other green technologies. Every trade association will
want its products designated ``critical.''
When government allocates capital, it creates economic
inefficiencies and market distortions. See how Beijing directed
investment toward real estate to boost GDP. Now it's trying to keep its
tumbling property market from collapsing the economy, even as it
subsidizes inefficient state-owned companies as well as new technology.
As much as cheap capital, businesses need regulatory certainty and
skilled workers. Yet the Biden Administration is mounting a regulatory
assault on business, while progressives dumb down math and science with
a woke curriculum. In 2019 only 22 percent of 12th graders rate
proficient in science. The House bill would exempt foreign recipients
of doctoral STEM degrees from the visa cap, creates new visas for
entrepreneurs and provides ``temporary protected status'' for Hong Kong
residents. That about ends the list of useful provisions.
Congress could counter China by granting trade promotion authority
to negotiate new trade deals. Donald Trump's biggest strategic blunder
vis-a-vis China was pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but
new trade authority isn't in the bill.
It does include a huge expansion of trade adjustment assistance
(TAA). Workers putatively harmed by trade receive government assistance
while they are ``retrained,'' often by unions. TAA recipients would get
higher benefits plus a $2,000 per-child allowance. And TAA would be
expanded to public employees. Are government jobs outsourced? Older
workers who belonged to a union would get an 80 percent tax credit for
health-insurance premiums. This is Build Back Better for unions.
The bill would also create a diplomatic climate corp within the
Foreign Service to promote the left's green agenda, plus give $8
billion to the United Nation's Green Climate Fund.
There's plenty more green pork, including $3 billion for domestic
solar manufacturing and grants for promoting ``well-managed but less
known'' seafood species.
Plaintiff attorneys also get a special perk: Platforms like Amazon
and eBay could be held liable for selling counterfeit products, many of
which come from China. The House bill is even longer than Build Back
Better, so these are merely some of the lowlights.
House Democrats hope to pass the bill this week, and then go to
conference with the Senate. That's where Republicans will have more
leverage if they also aren't beguiled by Chinese industrial policy and
more green subsidies.
______
House Passes Bill With More Measures For Immigrants In STEM Fields
forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2022/02/07/house-passes-bill-with-more-
measures-for-immigrants-in-stem-fields
By Stuart Anderson, Senior Contributor--Feb 7, 2022, 12:11am EST
Amendments to a recently passed House bill will expand immigration
opportunities for foreign-born scientists and engineers. If retained
during negotiations with the Senate, the measures in the bill could
become the most significant on legal immigration to pass Congress in
more than 30 years.
Supporters of the provisions will argue that no bill promoting
innovation can justify not including improved ways to attract and
retain foreign-born talent. More than 70 percent of the full-time
graduate students at U.S. universities in electrical engineering,
industrial engineering and computer and information sciences are
foreign nationals. Members of Congress have recognized that other
countries are doing a better job than the United States attracting and
retaining such talent.
House Bill: On February 4, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives
passed the America COMPETES Act 222 to 210 with only one Republican
vote. In June 2021, the Senate passed a similar bill. There are enough
differences between the two bills to make final passage uncertain.
Significant Immigration Provisions: On January 25, 2022, the House
Rules Committee added Rep. Zoe Lofgren's (D-CA) LIKE Act to create an
immigrant startup visa and also an exemption from annual green card
limits and backlogs for foreign nationals with a Ph.D. in STEM
(science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Because of the
potential to provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs and top
researchers around the world, these two additions, in the long run,
might produce more innovations in the United States than all the other
sections of the nearly 3,000-page bill. Both measures fund additional
scholarships for U.S. students in STEM fields by charging $1,000
supplemental fees for those receiving a green card or status under the
legislation.
As discussed here, the bill creates a temporary visa for foreign-
born entrepreneurs who qualify and ``Allows the founder to apply for
and receive lawful permanent residence if the startup entity meets
certain additional benchmarks.'' The lack of a startup visa
disadvantages the U.S. compared to other nations like Canada in
retaining and attracting foreign-born entrepreneurs. The absence of a
startup visa and the per-country limit caused Jyoti Bansal to wait 7
years for a green card before he could start AppDynamics, which grew to
employ over 2,000 people and was valued at $3.7 billion when Cisco
acquired it in 2017.
Exempting individuals with Ph.D.s in STEM fields from annual green
card limits would relieve many from long wait times for permanent
residence and (indirectly) reduce the decades-long waits for other
highly skilled immigrants. The provision would allow U.S. employers to
gain a significant competitive edge by offering the chance at permanent
residence to outstanding researchers from around the world, including
those early in their careers and engaging in cutting-edge work. (See
here.)
Katalin Kariko, who produced the underlying research breakthrough
that made messenger RNA possible for life-saving vaccines, could have
benefited from a special green card provision for Ph.D.s. Kariko earned
her Ph.D. in Hungary and toiled for years in America, first as a
postdoctoral researcher, before her work became recognized as life-
saving.
Approximately 56 percent of postdoctoral researchers work on
temporary visas, with many in biological sciences, medical sciences,
engineering and research and development. The new measure would allow
many more an opportunity to stay in and contribute to the United
States.
``The America COMPETES Act also helps build our domestic STEM
workforce and encourages start-up companies to establish roots here,''
Rep. Lofgren said in a statement. ``Individuals who earn STEM doctoral
degrees from top research universities in the U.S. will be able to
quickly obtain permanent residence and founders of start-up companies
will have a chance to grow their companies here. These measures will
help ensure that America is once again the number one destination for
the best and brightest innovators and the next generation of
entrepreneurs worldwide.''
Does The House GOP Understand Its Position On Immigration Aligns
With The Chinese Communist Party's Leadership?: If the Chinese
Communist Party lobbied in Congress, it likely would have applauded a
statement issued by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that
called for removing the bill's provision to bring more Ph.D.s in STEM
fields to the United States.
Analysts who have studied China and its technology plans understand
that the country's leadership fears a more open U.S. immigration system
able to attract high-level science and engineering talent. It would
welcome removing from the bill measures to attract STEM talent to
America.
``Chinese leaders understand the extent to which the United States
benefits from international talent inflows,'' writes Remco Zwetsloot in
a report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ``They
therefore celebrate America's flawed immigration system and fear
reforms that would improve U.S. talent attraction and retention.
Commenting on
U.S. retention of Chinese STEM students, the head of the CCP's
Central Talent Work Coordination Group has complained that `the number
of top talents lost in China ranks first in the world.' ''
Zwetsloot cites a Chinese artificial intelligence white paper that
found U.S. immigration restrictions ``have provided China opportunities
to bolster its ranks of high-end talent.'' Moreover, ``The deputy
editor of China Daily USA, a government newspaper, said that expansion
of the U.S. employment-based immigration system `would pose a huge
challenge for China, which has been making great efforts to attract and
retain talent.' ''
The evidence indicates removing the provision to provide more green
cards for Ph.D.s in STEM fields would please the leaders of China and
hurt the ability of U.S. companies to compete globally.
Ross Amendment Adds Health Professions: An amendment at the Rules
Committee sponsored by Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) added ``health
professions and related programs'' to the STEM fields for which Ph.D.s
are eligible under the bill to be exempt from the annual limit on
employment-based green cards. The bill already covered physicians with
a medical residency.
In a press statement, Rep. Ross elaborated on who would be added
under ``health professions and related programs'' in her amendment by
including a link to the Classification of Instructional Programs
covered: ``Expand the bill's green card cap exemption for individuals
with doctorates in STEM fields to include individuals with doctorates
in these health care fields.''
Foster Amendment Adds Dual Intent For Many International Students:
An amendment sponsored by Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) provides
international students on F visas in STEM fields with ``dual intent.''
That means a consular officer no longer will need to be convinced a
student in a STEM field will not seek permanent residence in the United
States. The Biden administration recently reversed restrictive guidance
in the Foreign Affairs Manual--added during the Trump administration--
that would have a similar effect to the Foster amendment. However, a
law is more difficult than guidance for a new administration to change.
Manning Amendment Expands Eligibility For STEM Green Card
Exemption: An amendment sponsored by Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) expanded
the exemption from the annual numerical limit for green cards for
Ph.D.s in STEM fields to include individuals with a master's degree
``in the case of an alien who works in a critical industry.''
What is a critical industry? ``The term `critical industry' means
an industry that is critical for the national security or economic
security of the United States, considering key technology focus areas
and critical infrastructure,'' according to the America COMPETES Act.
The term ``critical infrastructure'' under 42 U.S.C. 5195c ``means
systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United
States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets
would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic
security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those
matters.''
In sum, like most new laws, regulation will define the scope of the
provision, but it is likely to include several technology specialties.
E-4 Visas For Specialty Occupation Professionals From South Korea:
An amendment by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) would add South Korea as a
country from which the United States can accept, on a reciprocal basis,
specialty occupation professionals in a new E-4 status. The annual
limit is 15,000, though the experience with Australia is far fewer
visas likely would be used each year.
The bill also includes immigration and human rights measures for
Uyghurs and residents of Hong Kong.
Challenges in the Senate: Before the House-passed immigration
provisions become law, they must overcome three challenges in the
Senate. First, the bill will require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster,
meaning a compromise with Republicans in the Senate is necessary.
The Senate's version of the bill passed 68-32 in June 2021, so
there has been bipartisan support for the legislation. ``Sen. Todd C.
Young (R-Ind.), who was a lead proponent of the Senate bill, said the
House measure would have to undergo large changes for a deal to be
struck,'' reported the Washington Post. ``[Commerce Secretary Gina]
Raimondo said that the most contentious of the numerous partisan
disagreements over the House package concerned its trade-policy
changes,'' according to the Wall Street Journal.
Second, it is unclear if there are Senate Republicans who will
oppose the House-passed immigration provisions, but given Rep.
McCarthy's statements, that is a possibility. Third, it is unknown
whether Senate Democrats will fight to keep the immigration measures.
In the past year, most of the immigration energy among Senate Democrats
has focused on legalizing individuals here without lawful status.
An optimist would say the time has come for change. The year 1990
was the last time Congress passed legislation that included legal
immigration reforms as significant as startup visas for immigrant
entrepreneurs and a smooth path to permanent residence for the world's
top scientists and engineers. A pessimist would take the opposite
position: If it's a good provision on immigration, it likely won't
become law. Members of Congress have the rest of the year to prove the
pessimists wrong.
Ms. Lofgren. This is a matter of National Security. The
businesses and individuals will not wait for Congress to act.
They will look toward our global competitors who have already
jumpstarted innovation and economic growth to make themselves
more desirable destinations for international talent and
investment.
Inaction is not an option. As conferees, we have a
responsibility to ensure that the policies and investments
reflected in the final package are aligned with our Nation's
long term interests, and I am optimistic that we can work
together to accomplish that. And I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you very much. My Northwest colleague,
Congresswoman Susan Bonamici.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN SUSAN BONAMICI
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you, Senator Cantwell, Chair Cantwell.
It is an honor to be part of this Conference committee, and I
thank Chair Johnson and Speaker Pelosi for their leadership.
Through the Bipartisan Innovation Act, we can and will
reinvigorate our scientific enterprise, invest in American
workers, uplift clean energy research and development, and
restore U.S. leadership in domestic manufacturing.
As the representative of the Silicon Forest in Northwest
Oregon, I strongly support bringing the semiconductor supply
chain onshore. By passing $52 billion in funding for
semiconductor manufacturing and R&D, we will move this
important goal forward. Whenever possible, I encourage my
colleagues to remember the inextricable link between U.S.
competitiveness and climate change.
The House passed version of this bill, the COMPETES Act,
includes many important climate provisions I have worked on as
a member of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
This includes the Regional Clean Energy Innovation Program,
modeled in part after legislation I introduced to help cutting
edge clean technologies achieve commercialization by leveraging
regional capabilities and markets.
The House passed version also includes three bipartisan
bills I introduced in the House, the Blue Carbon for our Planet
Act, Cost Research Act, and Blue Globe Act. These bills will
strengthen coastal acidification research and monitoring,
expand efforts to map and conserve blue carbon ecosystems, and
enhance ocean data collection.
And I thank Senators Murkowski and Whitehouse for their
motion to instruct on these three bills, which will bolster the
blue economy, and for their leadership as my Oceans Caucus
counterparts. I also urge this Conference committee to address
workforce challenges, in part by including the House passed
National Apprenticeship Act in our final bill.
This legislation will create about 1 million new registered
apprenticeships, a powerful tool to improve career pathways and
transform the lives of working Americans. Strengthening our
Nation's workforce is paramount to competing on the global
stage. We may have difficult conversations ahead, but I know we
agree more than we disagree.
And I am committed to working with everyone in this room to
get this important legislation across the finish line to help
the people we are all honored to represent. I look forward to
working with members of this Conference committee to advance
competitiveness legislation that uplifts American workers,
addresses climate change, and importantly, puts the U.S. at the
forefront of innovation and manufacturing. Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you. Congresswoman--I am so sorry,
Congresswoman Haley Stevens.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN HALEY STEVENS
Ms. Stevens. What an honor to be with all of you here today
for the first Conference meeting of the Bipartisan Innovation
and Competitiveness legislation. As Chair of the subcommittee
on Research and Technology within the House committee on
Science, Space and Technology, I am proud of the Science
committee's bipartisan provisions that will contribute to this
package.
I am especially supportive of the spirit of my NIST for the
Future Act, which is a bipartisan and comprehensive
reauthorization for the agency to support U.S. competitiveness
through research technology standards and support for U.S.
manufacturing.
As a conferee, I will work to ensure investments that will
spur innovation, create jobs, and build a strong and diverse
STEM work force. Since Oakland County, Michigan sent me to
Congress, I have been laser focused on championing our
innovation economy through electric vehicle and autonomous
vehicle technology, representing the largest concentration of
automotive supplier jobs in our country.
Every day I wake up to local headlines about the chips
shortage hurting workers and small manufacturers who yesterday,
just yesterday MEMA said are on shakier ground than they were
during the Great Recession when GM and Chrysler were facing
liquidation. My top priority here is to get this bill done and
pass the CHIPS legislation immediately.
Michigan and its wide ranging economy is counting on us,
and I stand ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle, as well as both chambers of this Congress to see
this through. As we expect to celebrate America's 246th
birthday on July 4th, my goal is to also be celebrating a
signed bipartisan Innovation and Competitiveness package.
This bill is an investment in our people. It reflects our
ability to retire, think deeper, and invent solutions not only
to today's problems, but solutions for tomorrow's as well.
Thank you so much and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Support your passion. We now will
hear from Congressman Jamaal Bowman. So, Jamal, thank you.
Welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JAMAAL BOWMAN
Mr. Bowman. Thank you, Chair Johnson and Speaker Pelosi,
for giving me the opportunity to participate in this Conference
committee. And thank you to Chair Cantwell for convening us
here today. You know, prior to coming to Congress, I had the
pleasure of being an educator for over 20 years.
I worked in K-12 schools in the Bronx and parts of
Manhattan that served our most vulnerable and most needy
students who lived in communities that had been redlined by the
U.S. Congress many decades ago. These are kids and communities
that have been underinvested and under-resourced for their
entire lives. So despite how brilliant they were, because they
didn't have access and opportunity to the resources that other
kids in other communities have, they begin to internalize that
they do not matter, and they do not have access to the American
dream.
As we seek to compete with other nations, we have to look
in the mirror and ask ourselves, are we investing equitably in
the children of our country and are we investing equitably in
the communities of our nation? Because without equity, we do
not have a democracy.
Without equity, we cannot compete with any other Nation
that we are concerned about. If we invest equitably, a rising
tide lifts all boats and gives every American the opportunity
to be a part of the American dream. Our kids are creative,
dynamic and innovative.
When we talk about STEM education, we have to talk about a
K-12 pipeline that creates opportunities for all children. I
also want to mention the expanding role of NSF in this agenda
will be essential. But as Chair of the Energy subcommittee on
House Science, I am eager to see the Department of Energy play
a central role as well.
That is why the House bill includes legislation like the
Department of Energy Science for the Future Act, the first ever
comprehensive authorization of DOE's Office of Science. This
legislation enables paradigm shifting research from discovering
the basic building blocks of matter to the development of
revolutionary clean energy technologies like next generation
batteries and nuclear fusion. I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Now, Congressman Bill Foster.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN BILL FOSTER
Mr. Foster. Thank you. I would like to thank our Chairwoman
for convening this meeting and to say how proud I am to be part
of the House Science committee's delegation to the Conference.
I was very involved in the Dodd-Frank Conference committee a
decade ago, where I ended up being 10 for 10 in getting my own
amendments into the House passed version, of which 7 survived
the final Conference in the Senate.
I found that the transparency of conferencing to be a very
useful mechanism to focus on the essential elements while
stripping out extraneous and counterproductive provisions. And
the Dodd-Frank bill has stood the test of time.
And as Congress's token Ph.D. physicist with decades long
career in our national labs, my focus will be unlocking in an
expansion of our Nation's effort in basic research, while
avoiding measures that risk diluting investment in peer
reviewed, competitively awarded basic research, unless new
funding is actually appropriated for these new missions.
And we must avoid Congressional micromanaging of scientific
priorities and leave that to the experts. And also, as someone
who has a teenager who started a high tech manufacturing
company that now provides over 1,200 good manufacturing jobs
and has kept those jobs in the Midwest, all the while competing
successfully with offshore manufacturers and dealing with
offshore supply chain issues for over four decades, I hope that
we settle on a realistic and workable set of proposals in the
tech transfer area.
And finally, as perhaps Congress's only chip designer and
someone who has managed teams of chip designers, some of the
most brilliant of which were born abroad, the House proposals
for expanding and expediting immigration for individuals with
high tech STEM skills will be near the top of my list. Lots to
work on here. Let's get moving and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. I think so far the most mentioned
word has been STEM, so I think we are all in agreement on that.
Congressman Randy Weber, welcome. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN RANDY WEBER
Mr. Weber. Thank you, Chair Cantwell and Chairwoman Johnson
and my colleagues for calling this Conference so that we can
resolve the differences between the House's COMPETES Act and
the Senate's USICA. How Science produced the DOE Science for
the Future Act, legislation that represents the first
Department of Energy Office of Science Reauthorization, which
passed the House by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 351 to
68.
Unfortunately, this good legislation was crammed alongside
billions of dollars in partisan spending on controversial
international climate slush funds, anti-competitive, pro-union
mandates, and skewed trade provisions just to name a few. If
Democrats were serious about addressing climate change, this
Conference must pare back the partisan provision from the
COMPETES Act and focus on the bipartisan energy legislation
that was carefully negotiated between Republicans and
Democrats.
And let's focus on investing in the innovative technologies
that are actually going to reduce our emissions. Basic science
research is the most effective way to encourage the development
of new technologies. The House Science committee has already
passed more than a dozen bills to responsibly invest in
America's research and development capabilities over the next
decade.
Prioritizing investment in American innovation to develop
the next generation of clean energy, produce and export clean
and affordable technology will ensure the United States remains
the global leader in energy. That is how we compete and how we
win.
This great legislative body and the Federal Government
cannot duplicate a non-market economy by forcing mandates and
regulations. We must arm our dynamic private sector with the
tools necessary to commercially--commercialize sustainable,
affordable, and clean energy solutions. And I will yield back,
Chair Cantwell.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you very much. Congressman
Michael Waltz.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL WALTZ
Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Chairwoman. And I think we all agree
that China is absolutely stealing its way to the top through
theft, outright theft of our technology through cyber, through
malign M&A activity, and through outright theft of our academic
institutions and our research institutions. I also sit on the
Armed Services committee.
What I don't think we, all of my colleagues appreciate is
the extent and scale to which the Chinese Communist Party is
passing this science and technology that they are stealing from
us to their military. It is called their civil fusion program,
their China 2025 program. It is a massive, massive undertaking.
And I think historians are going to look back at this moment
and say, what did you do to protect our intellectual property?
A key provision of the House bill was the National Science
Foundation. That is responsible for about 40 percent of the
grants that go to our research institutions and universities.
They have received 1,000 percent increase in referrals from the
FBI for grant fraud. Do you know how big their security office
is? One woman, one person. We have to change that.
But some of the things that we included in the NSF for the
Futures Act and that we included within a bipartisan manner,
prohibiting malign foreign talents programs such as thousand
talents, requiring annual training for research grantees,
providing NSF, the National Science Foundation, and
universities with new tools to combat foreign threats,
prohibiting funding from going to Chinese State owned
enterprises, and supporting domestic critical minerals
development.
We have--we cannot responsibly pass this legislation, make
these investments, and then watch it flow right out of the back
door to our greatest adversary. I thank my colleagues for their
work on this and I yield.
The Chair. Thank you. Next will be Congressman Mike Garcia.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MIKE GARCIA
Mr. Garcia. Thank you, Madam Chair. It is an honor to be a
part of this very important process. I am going to start by
saying something that may be controversial to some, but China
is not our friend. These aren't good people leading the Chinese
communist regime. They are conducting one of the largest
genocides that our globe has seen, especially since the
Holocaust. We can't do anything that appeases them and
ultimately should not pass anything that enables them. If we do
that, we are doing it wrong. And I do look forward to putting
party politics aside through this process.
And if we get to the right legislation, we should treat
this as a must pass. The Chinese Communist Party is actively
attempting to supplant the United States as the driving force
in science and technology. To achieve this, the CCP has
actually targeted American basic research at our universities
and our businesses, and they have embarked on a systemic
campaign to steal American intellectual property.
The economic injury of this process in this campaign to
steal our IP is roughly $400 billion to $600 billion per year.
And they orchestrate cyber-attacks which threaten to cripple
American businesses and infrastructure in parallel. In June
2021, the House SST committee passed multiple bipartisan
measures to invest in American innovation, to counter Chinese
cyber-attacks, and to improve intellectual property security
throughout the research enterprise.
Unfortunately, nearly a year was wasted in delaying
conferencing the House and Senate passed bills. And to make
matters worse, when the House finally did act, the Speaker
chose to put poison pills into the good work of the SST bill by
including unrelated and frankly harmful provisions that
actually diminish our competitive--competitiveness with China
and enable China, funneling more money into slush funds like
the U.N. Climate Change Fund, and adding sense of language
provisions which actually don't protect us from this very
existential Chinese threat.
So I look forward to this process. I think we need to do a
little bit better on this front, that we need to, as a Nation,
recognize China as the existential threat that it is, and not
adopt an appeasement or enabling strategy. And this is very
important. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you. And for those of you who are
following our process, that concludes our comments from our
House Science, Space and Technology members. There were a few
who were absent, I think, due to illness, but they if they come
back, we will hear from them. But we are now going to turn to
the House Energy and Commerce members to hear from their
sections' relevant pieces of legislation. And first,
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. Congresswoman.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN ANNA ESHOO
Ms. Eshoo. Thank you very much, Chairwoman Cantwell,
Chairwoman Johnson, Senator Wicker, all of my colleagues that
are part of this Conference. It is an honor to be an honoree.
The House passed America COMPETES Act is very important
legislation to bolster our economic competitiveness, protect
our National Security, and ensure the United States remains a
global leader in science and technology.
I want to focus on three specific areas of priority,
semiconductors, the drug supply chain, and cybersecurity. My
Silicon Valley Congressional district takes its name from the
material used to make semiconductors. But today, very, very few
semiconductors are made in the Valley or anywhere in the United
States. Our reliance on foreign made semiconductors is an
economic and National Security risk, and it is why this
legislation's $52 billion in funding for the CHIPS Act is so
important.
The House bill includes provisions that I authored to
expand the eligibility of chips programs to include
manufacturers of semiconductor equipment and evaluate the role
of Government purchasing. We should all be highly concerned
about our Nation's overreliance on the foreign production of
critical drugs and medical products. The House bill includes my
legislation, giving the FDA authority to collect additional
information on drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients that
are manufactured overseas.
Finally, on cybersecurity, the House bill includes four
bipartisan bills that I authored to improve cyber preparedness
among small businesses, nonprofits, local Governments, and the
general public. I would just say, last, that our challenges
really present opportunities for us. America is waiting. Let's
get on it. Let's get this done. And when we do, we will ensure
our Nation's global economic competitiveness. Thank you, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The Chair. Thank you. Just as I closed out Science and
Technology, you must have heard that. I must have been--
trajectory out to the hall. Congressman Babin showed up. So if
you would like to make your comment, sir.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN BRIAN BABIN
Mr. Babin. Thank you. It is Babin.
The Chair. Babin. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Babin. Thank you very much. Good being with you all
today. Hopefully make some progress on this very important
bill. Unfortunately, we have a lot of work to do because
instead of focusing on common sense solutions to our problems,
we seem to be seeing that Speaker Pelosi has championed a bill
that concedes to China and actually makes us less competitive
with them and less protected from them.
The House Concedes Act lets the CCP off the hook for
failing to contain COVID-19. It fails to ban funding to CCP
tide organizations. It fails to punish the CCP for its blatant
human rights abuses. And it fails to strengthen our competitive
edge over China. Instead of putting us in a strategic position
to succeed, this bill allows the CCP to continue its
misinformation campaign to steal scientific technology from us
and bolster its economic advantages.
As the Ranking Member of the Space and Aeronautics
subcommittee, I have a front row seat to watch China
continuously pour huge investments into its space program. The
U.S. still has a significant advantage over the rest of the
world, but when it comes to space--but if we fail to maintain
continuity of purpose on our programs, or if we fall victim to
partisan gamesmanship, that leadership will erode over a
relatively short time period. Whoever leads in space sets the
rules, and I, for one, don't want the Chinese Communist Party
setting those rules.
This highlights the need for us to get a NASA authorization
done. However, House priorities must be reflected in that final
bill. We have successfully collaborated on this in the past,
and I highly encourage my colleagues, every one of you here
today, to work toward that again. And so with that, I want to
end by emphasizing this opportunity that we have here today to
correct these major issues in this legislation. So I want to
thank you and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. We are going now to Congresswoman
Lisa Blunt, Rochester.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN LISA BLUNT
Ms. Blunt. Thank you, Chair Cantwell. Thank you to the
Speaker and to my generous E and C colleagues and everyone here
for your contributions to the historic and vital package. Our
American spirit, history, and heritage is one of being
pioneers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. But over the decades
and due to the pandemic, we have witnessed long developing
weaknesses in our infrastructure and supply chains, resulting
in shortages and increasing cost.
Through the bipartisan infrastructure law, we addressed our
aging infrastructure and broadband, and now it is time to
address our national competitiveness and security. From COVID
masks being sold for over $100 a piece, or nurses wearing trash
bags because they don't have the gowns, or delays in getting a
car, or no baby formula on the shelves in our supermarkets,
these shortages and supply chain disruptions have a ripple
effect in every facet of our economy, contributing to rising
cost and inflation.
This competition package is about our health, our wealth,
and our National Security, and I am proud to have led the
bipartisan supply chain resilience subtitle in the America
COMPETES Act to protect us from facing these threats again, a
focus on jobs, research, manufacturing, and quality of life.
And if we can make it in America, let's make it in America.
These supply chain provisions have the support of over 150
organizations, from labor to industry.
And as the bipartisan Future of Work Caucus chair, with
this package, we have an opportunity to propel our country into
a prosperous future. Let's get it done. Thank you, Madam Chair,
and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. We will now turn to the subcommittee
chair of Consumer on E and C, Congresswoman Schakowsky.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN JAN SCHAKOWSKY
Ms. Schakowsky. Thank you so much. I am really proud to be
here with my fellow conferees and to represent the Energy and
Commerce committee and the subcommittee on Consumer Protection
and Commerce, which I am proud to chair. The legislation that
we are considering today must strengthen supply chains, protect
consumers, bolster American manufacturing, and invest in our
scientific and technological leadership.
We can defend consumers and legitimate businesses from
unsafe and counterfeit products by passing--by including my
bipartisan Informed Consumers Act, which is included right now
in the America COMPETES Act. I call on my colleagues to make
critical investments in American manufacturing by creating
regional technology hubs across the country and a program
championed by Representative Bowman.
Finally, this legislation must bolster supply chains. We
know that we are continuing to see these vital shortages from
everything from cars to baby food. I ask for your support for
the--to include the bipartisan supply chain resilience subtitle
championed by my colleague Representative Blunt Rochester.
I look forward to working with all of you on the Conference
committee to enhance American leadership and the benefits for
American workers as well as consumers. And I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you so much. Next, we will hear from
Congresswoman Doris Matsui.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN DORIS MATSUI
Ms. Matsui. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I am
very--it is a pleasure to join you all here to kick off the
critical work that we were doing Conference in COMPETES and
USICA. For me, like you, this meeting is a culmination of many
months of hard work. Almost 2 years ago, I joined a bipartisan
group in the House and the Senate to introduce the Chips for
America Act. This bill establish a road map for reassessing or
reasserting American leadership in the strategically important
semiconductor industry.
Since then, two things have happened. The Chips Act was
signed into law as part of the 2021 defense bill, and the need
to fund it has only grown more severe as a global semiconductor
shortage has dragged on. Thankfully, both COMPETES and USICA
includes the full $52 billion we need to comprehensively
implement the CHIPS Act. This funding is about more than any
one specific technology or industry. It is about securing a
fundamental building block of the 21st century economy.
But there is more than--there is more that we can do. As an
original co-sponsor of the FABS Act, I believe we have a unique
opportunity to lay the groundwork for generational leadership
in the semiconductor innovation and job creation. I want to
work with you to do just that. I have also been a strong
advocate for modernizing our telecommunications networks
through Open RAN.
This exciting technology will help diversify our supply
chains and create new opportunities for American companies to
enter the market and compete. In March, I led a bipartisan,
bicameral letter signed by 147 Members of Congress urging the
leadership of our respective chambers to begin this Conference
process immediately.
Well, we have begun, and I am excited to work with all of
you to continue our bipartisan process and secure America's
position as a global pacesetter for innovation. And thank you,
Madam Chair, and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you so much. We will next turn to
Congressman Paul Tanaka.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN PAUL TANAKA
Mr. Tanaka. Thank you, Chair Cantwell. The landmark
innovation package that we are considering today will indeed
transform our ability to compete abroad while securing good
jobs here at home. A $52 billion investment in the Chips for
America Act is essential to expanding America's semiconductor
manufacturing capabilities.
New York's capital region has so much to gain from strong
investments in semiconductor manufacturing, which provides
thousands of jobs in our region and is uniquely poised to lead
the Nation in advancements in the emerging field, which is why
I have led the fight to get this critical initiative funded in
the House.
The funding will also allow us to stand up the National
Semiconductor Technology Center, which I am working to host in
New York's capital region, and the bipartisan Micro Act
included in the House bill will complement chips by
accelerating early stage microelectronics research at the
Department of Energy to feed into these national semiconductor
technology center concepts and manufacturing facilities.
These investments must be accompanied by efforts to better
attract and retain qualified workers from across the globe,
while supporting greater domestic STEM education and workforce
development. DOE is critical to this effort, and our national
labs must be well-represented in a final Conference agreement.
In addition to R&D, DOE can play a role, key role in improving
domestic manufacturing.
Provisions like my Flex Tech legislation included as an
amendment in the House would establish a program for States to
support manufacturers by funding energy studies and the
implementation of recommendations from those studies. Many
States already have successful programs to support industrial
energy efficiency, and this provision would build on those
efforts.
We also know that the solar industry is currently involved
in a major tariff case, and I fear these types of cases will
only continue until we invest throughout the entire domestic
solar supply chain. We should enact the provision included in
the House passed bill to reclaim solar manufacturing. Finally,
an amendment based on my Restoring Offshore Wind Opportunities
Act was included in the House bill to overturn the arbitrary
leasing ban set to go into effect this summer in North and
South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Blocking offshore wind development not only hurts our clean
energy goals, but also undermines America's offshore
businesses, which are working to create high quality jobs and
ensure America's leadership in this emerging global industry.
With that, I look forward to this Conference reaching agreement
on a package that prioritizes these issues, supports microchip
manufacturing, supply chain crisis done domestically as a
response, and trade policy that will reform and emphasize
American workers.
The Chair. Thank you. Congressman Darren Soto.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN DARREN SOTO
Mr. Soto. Thank you, Madam Chair. Members, the pandemic has
revealed a chilling reality, America no longer manufactures
many of the goods essential to our great Nation. From
microchips to telecom, to PPE and pharmaceuticals, batteries,
solar, even cranes at our ports, and electrical equipment for
our utilities, Americans now rely on manufacturing halfway
across the world. This has made us vulnerable.
Supply chains have raised prices because of the pandemic,
and the loss of these factories have cost us jobs. To make
matters worse, we rely on economic rivals like China who spy on
us and don't share our democratic values for these essential
goods. I have hope, though, these challenges are not
insurmountable. Many prior Congresses and both parties have
promised to bring jobs back from overseas.
Many Congresses have promised to kickstart a manufacturing
renaissance and to harness the hard work and ingenuity of our
greatest resource, the American people. They have promised, but
they have never delivered. Like with the bipartisan
infrastructure package, this Congress will act. In central
Florida, we make microchips in aerospace, space and voting
manufacturing.
The CHIPS Act will be essential to help with that, and the
provisions should be expanded and eligibility to both large and
small firms, and there should be both grants and loans.
Critical industries and critical goods--this 100 day supply
chain report that was issued on June 8th of 2021 lays out
several key areas, from pharmaceutical products and essential
ingredients to critical minerals and rare earth elements to
high capacity batteries.
The time for excuses and partisan gridlock is over. The
Congress must act and must act now to boost manufacturing,
lower costs, and to help us succeed in the 21st century
economy. And I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Congressman Larry Bucshon.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN LARRY BUCSHON
Mr. Bucshon. Thank you, Madam Chair. The goal of this
legislation shouldn't be about leveling the playing field with
China or trying to beat them at their own game. It should be
about making sure that the Chinese Communist Party never has
the opportunity to play on the same field as the United States.
The United States is the home of innovation and ingenuity.
It is a land where hard workers, critical thinkers, and risk
takers are rewarded. Sadly, American competitiveness is
suffering through more regulatory barriers, canceled permits
for critical mining and infrastructure projects, and supply
chain woes that are crippling Main Street.
These are the real problems, not the lack of Government
funding. It troubles me that our own Government, the Government
of free market principles and competitiveness, is resulting to
picking winners and losers through Government subsidies, rather
than promoting innovation and allowing for competitiveness.
There isn't a corner of America that isn't feeling the
hardships from the supply chain woes and the high cost of
living. Inflation is an all-time high.
Gas prices are at an all-time high, and Hoosiers in my
district are faced with the unthinkable decision to forgo
everyday goods just to be able to pay their energy bills. If we
truly want to stay competitive, let's focus on maximizing the
use of the abundant resources we have here at home.
Let's focus on America. America ensures that the Chinese
Communist Party is never playing on the same field as us by
embracing innovation, unleashing domestic energy production,
and creating a reliable regulatory and permitting environment,
not through Government subsidies and wasteful spending.
Lifting these barriers must be central to this legislation
if we want to build off of our storied history of global
competitiveness and secure American leadership. Thank you. I
yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Next, Congressman Buddy Carter.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN BUDDY CARTER
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I would
like to reiterate what Representative Garcia said earlier in
this meeting, but I will take it just a step further. China is
not our friend. They are not our adversary. They are our enemy.
And everyone on this Conference committee needs to keep that in
mind as we go through this process. From genocide against
Uyghur Muslims to COVID-19, the world is less safe under
China's influence. In addition to promoting the ideals of
freedom and democracy, the United States must stop relying on
this foreign adversary for manufacturing.
In the first Congressional district of Georgia that I have
the honor and privilege representing, we have two major
seaports, the Port of Savannah, the Port of Brunswick.
Brunswick is the number two roll on, roll off port in the
country. Right now we have a backlog of cars and trucks because
they don't have the necessary chips to be brought to market. We
should be doing our best to make sure those chips are made
here.
Make no mistake, I intend to fight for increased domestic
manufacturing in this Conference, along with finding ways to
reduce the barriers to growth that come from unnecessary
permitting and burdensome regulations. In addition to chip
manufacturing, I intend to highlight issues such as ensuring
that Americans have a constant stockpile of essential
medicines.
As a pharmacist, that is very important to me. It is very
important for us to have pharmaceutical independence, just as
it is important for us to have energy independence for our
National Security. Identifying long standing emergency
challenges related to wildlife poaching and trafficking is also
something I want to concentrate on, elements of the Inform Act
and tariffs, along with holding China accountable, accountable
on COVID origins.
Energy and Commerce Republicans have been investigating
COVID origins for over a year now, and it seems more and more
likely and probable that it originated in a lab leak at the
Wuhan Institute of Virology. This bill, this bill that I am
sponsoring, H.R. 5270, would prohibit gain of function research
for 5 years.
This language should be included in any final bill. Gain of
function research is nothing more than intellectual arrogance,
and it should not be allowed anywhere. Madam Chair, in
addition, we also need to hold China accountable for their role
in the pandemic and ensure our medical supply chains are
secure.
A lot is at stake here. I hope all of us will be mindful of
that. I thank Leader McCarthy for giving Georgians a voice on
this important issue. And I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Congressman Jeff Duncan.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JEFF DUNCAN
Mr. Duncan. Madam Chair, thank you for convening this
important Conference on this critical topic today. But let's be
clear, if we want to compete with China, so much of the House
legislation is just silly virtuous signaling. This nonsense has
absolutely nothing to do with competing with China and
everything to do with pointing to the left wing base and
saying, see, we are fighting for you.
And then you want to be able to tell the American people,
see, we can fight against China, too. Well, guess what? We
Republicans don't have that problem. We have been fighting
consistently against China for years under President Trump
while Hunter was cutting deals with the Chinese Communist Party
and making sure that the big guy got his cut. If you actually
want to fight China, these bills aren't going to get that done
as currently written.
If you want to get serious about American competitiveness,
you have got to get serious about one of the most important
legacies of the Trump Administration that the Biden
Administration has been fighting against from day one, and that
is reestablishing American energy dominance.
What works for America and against China and Russia is
pushing policies that get Americans working on energy again,
revitalizing and modernizing nuclear power, an area that China
is kicking our rear ends in, getting the next generation
nuclear power, exploration and production, exports of oil and
natural gas, whether on Federal or private land, offshore,
onshore, and the OCS.
And using hydraulic fracturing to maximize production. I
would note that Senator Barrasso had a successful motion to
instruct on opening OCS for Federal leases again. That is a
good starting point out of this bill. You want more chip
manufacturers to come to the U.S.? They need a reliable,
affordable, 24/7, 365 baseload power supply and a nonunion
workforce that is affordably trained just like any other
manufacturer, and currently as constructed, this legislation
fails on both of these points.
I am here today because I want this to be a serious
negotiation that actually focuses on the problems at hand for
our manufacturers, including semiconductors. If you are serious
about that, let's work together to make America more
competitive in the real world, not in the Ivy League,
intellectual centers of the left. Ditch the Marxist, socialist
policy dreams and the wacky green new deal environmental
policies and let's get serious.
Republicans stand ready with actual policy solutions that
will make this a better bill and move us toward the goal of
beating China. For that to happen, the Democrats on this
committee are going to have to abandon their overregulating tax
and spend big Government agenda. With that, I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Congressman Dan Crenshaw.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN DAN CRENSHAW
Mr. Crenshaw. Thank you to the Chair and Ranking Member for
the time today and appreciate the opportunity to serve on this
very important Conference committee. And the conferees have
been charged with a multitude of tasks to improve America's
position vis a vis China. This is a good and noble objective,
and I want to make sure we accomplish it, especially with
respect to one of our most important goals, a vastly expanded
domestic supply chain for semiconductor chips.
Now, it should be said that if we get this wrong, we will
only exacerbate already high inflation. If we spend the
proposed $52 billion on semiconductors but also fail to
increase their domestic supply, we will still fail to compete
with China all while putting inflationary pressures on our
economy. I think we need to avoid that, and we avoid it by
looking at the chip shortage holistically and specifically
taking into account the materials necessary to make chips in
the first place.
Making chips requires materials that are hard to produce
and expensive to come by. According to the White House in their
review of supply chains, it takes hundreds of fluoro chemicals
and dozens of different gases, and in this review, they go on
to say what I haven't heard mentioned here today, which is that
looming EPA regulations are the biggest barrier to making
semiconductors here at home.
Without addressing these regulations, which threaten to
derail any attempt to increase domestic production of chips,
all this provision will accomplish is driving up inflation
without actually reducing shortages. So I sincerely hope that
we will address this extremely important issue and thus ensure
the success of this bill. And I look forward to working with my
colleagues and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. That concludes our Energy and
Commerce colleagues. I want to thank all our House colleagues
for coming, both from Science and Technology and Energy and
Commerce committee. We are going to take a short recess while
the room is reset for the Senate Finance and House finance
colleagues.
[Recess.]
The Chair. The Conference committee will reconvene. This
next session, we are going to hear from members from both the
Senate Foreign Relations committee and the House Foreign
Relations committee on sections of the bill dealing with their
priorities. I would like to now call on the distinguished
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, my dear
friend, Senator Bob Menendez.
STATEMENT OF HON. BOB MENENDEZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW JERSEY
Mr. Menendez. Thank you, Madam Chair. Today's Conference
addresses one of the most significant pieces of legislation I
believe the Congress will deal with, an unprecedented
bipartisan effort to mobilize all United States strategic,
economic, and diplomatic tools to enable the U.S. Government to
compete effectively with the People's Republic of China and the
challenges it poses to our National Security and to our economy
in the coming decades.
I think we all share a common view that we are entering a
new and more competitive era with China, and that the United
States must develop and deploy policy and strategy that is
equal to the enormity and urgency of the challenge.
China today, led by the Communist Party and propelled by Xi
Jinping's hyper nationalism, is unlike any challenge that we
have faced as a Nation before. So this is a moment that demands
a strong strategic response that can begin to rebuild American
leadership and invest in our ability to outcompete the PRC in
the generation ahead. That is what this legislation does.
Last year, I authored the Strategic Competition Act with
Senator Risch, which we move through the Senate Foreign
Relations committee by an overwhelming bipartisan margin, and
which was then incorporated into the Senate U.S. Innovation and
Competition Act, which advances concrete cooperation with
alliances and partnerships, restores American leadership of
international and regional organizations, addresses China's
predatory economic practices and malign influence campaigns,
emphasizes that--our economic strength and innovation in
technology and digital connectivity, and grounds U.S. policy in
our Nation's values and highest aspirations.
In addition to these provisions from the Strategic
Competition Act, I also look forward to working with our House
colleagues to establish an Inspector General at the Office of
the U.S. Trade Representative. USTR carries out decisions
affecting every worker, business, and consumer in this country,
but is currently operating without one of the most effective
guardrails we have against overreach.
This powerful fix would bring a more transparent,
accountable, and effective trade policy, and it received the
unanimous bipartisan support of the Senate to vote last week.
Inclusion of these provisions, I believe, are essential to
ensure that our efforts here create and provide a durable and
enduring framework for U.S. strategic competition with China in
the years ahead.
And I look forward to working with my colleagues in the
House and the Senate on both sides of the aisle to arrive at a
successful Conference. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I know that our
colleague, Senator Risch, is on his way and we will call on
him. Oh, well, here, speak of--here he is, our colleague from
the Northwest. Senator Risch, we have a seat right next to
Senator Menendez. I don't know if you want a minute or two or
if you are ready to give your comments now, but we welcome you
to the Conference committee.
STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES RISCH,
U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO
Mr. Risch. Well, thank you very much. And I am ready----
The Chair. Proceed.
Mr. Risch. And I am used to sitting next to Senator
Menendez, so thank you for sitting me here. It is very nice.
Well, good morning, colleagues. I have been involved with this
bill since its inception as an author of the Strategic Act way
back in 2020. It has come a long, circuitous route since then.
And then I was involved in the Strategic Competition Act in
2021. My message has remained the same from the beginning. To
effectively compete against China, we need a bill that is
concrete, is actionable, and is truly bipartisan. If we are
going to achieve that, this bill must do several things.
First, to counter the insidious influence of the Chinese
Communist Party and their influence in our open society,
including at our universities, which I worked closely with,
with Senator Menendez as we developed language in that regard,
it needs to strengthen our security posture and alliances in
the Indo-Pacific, and it needs to push back on China's
anticompetitive economic behavior.
I will work in good faith toward a strong, concrete,
bipartisan, actionable bill. However, I have a lot of concerns
about the bill passed by the House. There was no Republican
input. The bill doesn't really seem to be about China. I will
not accept any bill that weakens us just for the sake of saying
that we did something.
China is the greatest challenge we face today. It is not a
Republican or Democrat issue, it is an American issue. And I
look forward to working with all of you, many of you, as we
take this task on. Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Risch. We will now
turn to our House colleagues. Again, welcome. Thank you for
making it over here to participate in the Conference. And now
the distinguished Chairman of the House committee, Congressman
Gregory Meeks.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN GREGORY MEEKS
Mr. Meeks. Thank you, Senator, and Representative Eddie
Bernice Johnson. And I want to thank you for the opportunity to
speak today. You know, last year, President Biden declared that
we are in a competition with China and other countries to win
the 21st century. We are in a competition to safeguard the
international system that America helped build, and we are in a
competition to save democracy and human rights from the agents
of violence and authoritarianism.
The fact is that we have increasingly seen the People's
Republic of China commit genocide, manipulate international
organizations, break international law, steal our technology,
and use its economic and military sway to bully and coerce. Xi
Jinping thinks he can get away with all of this because he is
betting that America is in terminal decline and that our
democracy cannot get its act together. Over the coming weeks,
this Conference committee will be further proof that he is
wrong.
In front of us are two bills that lay out a comprehensive
blueprint to position the United States to win this
competition. And I am confident that we can get a strong
package if all of us are willing to negotiate in good faith.
You know, I often hear my colleagues declare that China is an
urgent challenge. Well, it is time for us to put our money
where our mouths are. America COMPETES has dozens of provisions
that are not in the Senate bill that will strengthen our
ability to compete with China.
This includes provisions to provide refugee protection for
the Uyghurs and Hong Konger, to support Taiwan, strengthen our
supply chains, and demonstrate U.S. leadership on global
challenges like climate change. The last thing the PCR wants is
for us to send a bill to the President's desk.
Let's come together as Americans to show Beijing and the
world that America's best days are ahead of us. I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Chairman. Next, we will hear from the
Ranking Member of the House Foreign Relations Committee,
Congressman McCaul.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL McCAUL
Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me just say that
the Chinese Communist Party poses the greatest generational
threat to the United States and our allies, and the alliance
with Mr. Putin demonstrates this. And this is not a partisan
issue, it is an American issue. And this, Madam Chair, has to
pass with both sides of the aisle supportive.
This could be the most important legislation passed in this
Congress and is desperately needed. I don't always says this,
but I think the Senate did a pretty good job. They came up with
a bipartisan bill. I am disappointed to say that did not happen
in the House. We--what we produced out of the House is a very
partisan bill. That is the challenge of this Conference
committee, to make this a truly bipartisan bill. And I just
want to touch on a few key areas in the 1-minute I have left.
I introduced the Chips for America Act with George--Matsui,
Senator Cornyn, with Senator Warner, broad based support on
both sides of the aisle, bicameral. This will bring
manufacturing of our advanced semiconductor chips out of the
vulnerable area of Asia into the United States and also protect
our most--our National Security and our most advanced weapons
systems that we rely on these chips for.
I think that is really a crowning centerpiece of this
legislation. I hope, Madam Chair, at a minimum, we can get that
done for the Nation. I know the White House is supportive. I
know of both sides of the aisle in the Senate and House are as
well. I would like to see export controls being used here. Too
often we have given them our technology. They have stolen it
from us, and now we see that we are selling it to them.
And when we saw the hypersonic launched out of China,
around the world hitting with precision, that was built on the
backbone of American technology. Madam Chair, I believe that
needs to stop, and I look forward to working with you and the
Senate on this truly what I hope will be a bipartisan exercise.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you and Congresswoman Matsui
for that legislation. We will next turn to Congressman Ted
Deutch.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN TED DEUTCH
Mr. Deutch. Thanks, Chair Cantwell, distinguished members
of the Conference committee. Honored to be a conferee for the
America COMPETES Act, a vital piece of legislation that will
strengthen our supply chains, make transformational investments
in research, innovation and domestic manufacturing, that will
advance American competitiveness in the 21st century.
Competing with China requires a strong defense of our
values, and I am proud that the America COMPETES Act includes
in our legislation the Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act,
which expedites refugee processing for persecuted Uyghurs by
designating them Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian
concern. It also recognizes that China is committing crimes
against humanity in its persecution of the Uyghurs and other
Muslim ethnic minorities in China.
And the America COMPETES Act includes several additional
provisions related to the treatment of Uyghurs in China,
including further sanctions and export controls imposed for
human rights abuses and surveillance in Xinjiang. I am eager to
work with my colleagues in the Committee to ensure these
important provisions are included in the final package.
Additionally, defending the United States against China
means defending our people. The America COMPETES Act is an
essential tool in the fight against the scourge of opioid
trafficking. It will help us confront the underlying drivers of
the overdose epidemic, the trafficking of fentanyl to the
United States, and its precursor chemical--its chemical
precursors to Mexico from China, by requiring the Secretary of
State, Secretary of Treasury, Attorney General all to submit
reports to Congress describing our Nation's efforts to gain
commitments from the Chinese government to combat fentanyl
production and trafficking.
As many here know, I lost my nephew Eli to a tragic
accidental overdose when he unknowingly took a legal supplement
that was laced with fentanyl. This tragic story has been
repeated too many times nationwide. More than 107,000 Americans
died of drug overdoses last year. These are our neighbors, our
relatives, our kids. More must be done to end this tragic
epidemic. And ensuring these provisions to confront China on
the export of these precursor chemicals is an important step in
this fight.
I appreciate the time, and I look forward to participate in
this Conference committee and working swiftly to deliver this
legislation to the President's desk.
[The prepared statement of Representative Deutch follows:]
Prepared Statement of Rep. Ted Deutch
Chair Cantwell, distinguished members of the conference committee,
I am honored to be a conferee for the America COMPETES Act, a vital
piece of legislation that will strengthen our supply chains and make
transformational investments in research, innovation, and domestic
manufacturing that will advance American competitiveness in the 21st
century.
Competing with China requires a strong defense of our values, and I
am proud that the America COMPETES Act includes our legislation, the
Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act, which expedites refugee processing
for persecuted Uyghurs by designating them as Priority 2 refugees of
special humanitarian concern. It also recognizes that China is
committing crimes against humanity in its persecution of the Uyghurs
and other Muslim ethnic minorities in China. The America COMPETES Act
includes several additional provisions related to the treatment of
Uyghur's in China, including further sanctions and export controls
imposed for human rights abuses and surveillance in Xinjiang. I am
eager to work with my colleagues on the committee to ensure these
important provisions are included in the final package.
Additionally, defending the United States against China means
defending our people. The America COMPETES Act is an essential tool in
the fight against the scourge of opioid trafficking. It will help us
confront the underlying drivers of the overdose epidemic--the
trafficking of fentanyl to the U.S. and its chemical precursors to
Mexico from China--by requiring that the Secretary of State, the
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney General all to submit
reports to Congress that describe our Nation's efforts to gain
commitments from the Chinese and Latin American governments to combat
fentanyl production and trafficking. I lost my nephew, Eli, to a tragic
accidental overdose when he unknowingly took a legal supplement that
was laced with fentanyl. This tragic story has been repeated too many
times nationwide--more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses
last year. These are our neighbors, our relatives, our kids. More must
be done to end this tragic epidemic and ensuring these provisions to
confront China on the export of these precursor chemicals become law is
an important step in this fight.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to participating in the
conference committee and working to swiftly deliver this important
piece of legislation to the President's desk.
The Chair. Thank you, Congressman Deutch. And we are sorry
for your family's loss, so very much sympathies to you. Next,
we will hear from Congresswoman Karen Bass.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN KAREN BASS
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Madam Chair. As Chair of the House
Foreign Affairs committee on Africa, I did want to mention the
Young African Leaders Initiative in this bill to counter not
just China, but Russia, particularly in Africa, in continued
support for global health. I want to highlight provisions of
Division D from the Foreign Affairs committee bill, a few
provisions and their daily impact on the lives of those
residing in California's 37th Congressional District that I
have the honor of representing.
By modernizing the global supply chain and its
diversification, we will strengthen our ports and the logistic
economy located nearby. The Port of Los Angeles and Port of
Long Beach combine to make our ports complex the largest in the
Western Hemisphere, handling roughly 40 percent of all inbound
containers for the entire United States. By investing now and
improving these supply networks, not only will we support U.S.
based manufacturers, but nationwide supply chain.
By including provisions to help curtail the flow of illicit
fentanyl into the United States from both Latin America and
China, we can investigate crime organizations and save lives
here at home. According to a Pew study released in January
2022, more Americans died from overdose in 2020 than any
previous year on record.
By focusing not only on China, but with improving American
leadership in Asia, and with our allies partners in the region,
we continue to benefit from the economic impacts of trade and
tourism. The Port of Los Angeles moved record cargo volumes
last year amid an import surge at the U.S. worldwide container
supply chain snarls.
However, as we move forward in this effort to compete with
China and the threats from China, we must make sure that we
don't contribute to anti-Asian discrimination, racism, and
attacks that too many Asian Americans feel, and they are
worried about being a victim of racial attacks.
My colleagues, we have a historic opportunity to enact into
law a far reaching bill that will impact our country and its
ability to not just compete but lead in the 21st century
economy.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you very much for your
statement. I know we were just joined by Congresswoman
Houlahan. Are you ready to give your statement?
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN CHRISSY HOULAHAN
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you.
The Chair. Proceed.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. And as a member of both the Armed
Services committee and the House Foreign Affairs committee, I
have been very fortunate to be able to play an active role in
the United States approach to China over the last 3 years. The
appointments have provided me ample opportunity to use my
personal, professional experience working in manufacturing and
overcoming supply chain challenges on a weekly, if not daily
basis.
In fact, last year I served on the House Armed Services
committee's Defense Critical Supply Chain Task Force, and we
were successful in leading an effort to include recommendations
from our report in last year's NDAA. For these and so many
other reasons, I am truly honored to be part of this Conference
and a conferee on the USICA, America COMPETES Act, and our
Conference process.
Like all of you, my constituents are feeling the burden of
supply chain issues and inflation that stems from an
overreliance on imports from China. It is well past time that
we as Members of Congress enact meaningful reform to return
good manufacturing jobs to America and to make sure that we
aren't dependent on nefarious actors for critical supplies.
I am also honored to be here on behalf of the House Foreign
Affairs committee, and I was proud to vote to pass the Ensuring
American Global Leadership and Engagement or EAGLE Act out of
our committee last year. This legislation does a number of
things, including helping U.S. companies address supply chain
issues related to China, providing financing to developing
countries to counter their dependehnce on China, increasing the
U.S. presence in the Indo-Pacific, and establishing an
interagency working group to counter Chinese cyber aggression
in Africa.
Last, it authorizes activities to promote democracy in Hong
Kong. This legislation is particularly important, as we know
all China--that China is closely watching the conflict in
Ukraine and applying it to their aims in Taiwan. I also want to
quickly mention an amendment that I was thrilled to have
included in the COMPETES Act, which is the Strengthening Supply
Chains for Servicemembers Security Act.
We saw during the early days of COVID the dangers that come
from having critical supply chains based in unreliable
countries. In closing, I want to thank Chairman Meeks for his
support in appointing me to this committee, and I look forward
to working with you all to produce a bill that reestablishes
our country as a global manufacturing leader and a strong
defender of democracy in the face of autocratic intentions.
Thank you, and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN SARAH JACOBS
Ms. Jacobs. Well, thank you, Chair Cantwell and members of
the Conference committee. Thank you to Speaker Pelosi, and also
thank you to Chairman Meeks for your leadership on the foreign
affairs piece of this legislation.
I am excited to be with you all this afternoon because the
America COMPETES Act is so important for our country, our
domestic priorities, and our global leadership. As we have seen
so clearly from the war in Ukraine, so much of our power and
our National Security stems from being able to muster
international coalitions. And to be able to do that, we need to
double down on leading with our values.
That is why it is so important to get the COMPETES Act
across the finish line into the President's desk. Our
competitive edge in the global competition with China is the
commitment to our values, and we need to restore our
credibility and reputation as a country that upholds those
values in everything we do abroad and keeps our promises in the
international community.
That is the best way to ensure that the real source of our
power, our alliances, our partnerships, our ability to get
other countries to join with us remains intact as we engage in
this competition. And a big part of this is upholding our
promise at the U.N. and fully funding our peacekeeping
operations so that we are not letting other low income
countries bear that burden, which creates a crack in our
alliances that we know the Chinese government is already
working to exploit.
That is why I was so glad to see my bill to lift the cap on
peacekeeping dues and ensure we are paying our fair share
included. We also have to ensure that the source of our
strength, our values are infused in everything we do and not
let short term security considerations override our longer term
strategic objectives.
I am grateful that my amendment to ensure that human rights
spending in our security assistance to partners abroad was also
included. The America COMPETES Act recognizes that our strength
abroad ultimately comes from our strength at home. I look
forward to working with this Conference and my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to create a final package that reflects
the best of America on the world stage. Thank you, and I yield
back.
The Chair. Thank you very much. Next, we will turn to
Congressman Chabot.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN STEVE CHABOT
Mr. Shabot. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. As Ranking Member
of the Asian Pacific subcommittee, it is my belief that this
century will be defined by how we counter the Chinese Communist
Party and its clear ambitions for not just regional but global
hegemony. On every front, the Chinese Communist Party is
aggressively challenging the free world and our belief that
open societies, free markets, and the rule of law are the way
to a prosperous and equitable civilization.
The CCP's ambitions have thrust us into what amounts to a
new cold war, and a new arms race that we did not start and do
not want, but which we must win. If we rise to the challenge,
freedom and democracy will continue to flourish. If we fail,
the CCP will replace the post-World War II order with a new
global order that revolves around Beijing.
As for the legislation being considered, while there are
worthwhile provisions such as the CHIPS funding, which I
strongly support, neither chambers' legislation really does the
hard things that we need to do if we honestly believe our own
rhetoric. For instance, neither bill has meaningful export
control provisions.
The outbound investment provisions are a mess in the House
bill and are completely lacking from the Senate's bill. And
neither bill really tackles research security. Let's face it,
we aren't going to win the competition against the CCP by
having the State Department write more reports, or by dumping
taxpayer money into a U.N. climate slush fund that actually
gives money to China.
By wide margins, the American people view China as a major
threat. We should have the will to act on their convictions and
the clear facts. After decades of inaction, this Conference
presents the opportunity to reevaluate and dramatically improve
our basic approach toward engagement with China. The question
is, will we take it? I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, sir, for that. Congresswoman Ann
Wagner, welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN ANN WAGNER
Ms. Wagner. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am honored to serve
as a conferee alongside so many of my colleagues. The United
States competition with China is a generational challenge, and
I believe this may be one of the most consequential legislative
initiatives that we will work on in our time in Congress.
Unfortunately, I have to say, the House version of this
legislation absolutely does not reflect the gravity of this
challenge. Republicans were not engaged in the drafting
process, and the resulting bill consists overwhelmingly of non-
substantive findings and reports, except for an outrageous $8
billion authorization for a Green Climate Fund. It contains no
export controls, as many of my colleagues have brought up, nor
does it include guardrails to ensure that funding is not used
to subsidize the Chinese Communist Party.
The final legislation must codify tough export controls to
prevent the CCP from using American products to gain an edge.
And it must impose robust and meaningful accountability
measures for China's egregious human rights violations. We
should also include a provision that I was proud to sponsor to
reduce the number of Chinese military researchers who slip
through the cracks in our visa system, protecting critical
research from being used to fuel China's military
modernization.
Researchers affiliated with the Chinese military, the
People's Liberation Army, the PLA, use U.S. universities and
research institutes to spy on cutting edge research, train
personnel, and improve military capabilities. This is a
colossal security risk. University staff who largely rely on
the U.S. Government to identify or deny the visas of students
sponsored by or affiliated with the PLA, need the United States
to step up its efforts to catch PLA spies before they enter
American soil.
This provision would require the United States to publish a
list of research, engineering, and scientific institutions
affiliated or funded by the PLA and ensure that the list is
available to American education and research institutions. I
look forward to working with my fellow conferees to strengthen
this important bill, and I again thank the Chair very much, and
the Ranking Member for his confidence, and our Chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs committee. And I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Congressman Mark Green, welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MARK GREEN
Mr. Green. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the
opportunity to be here today, and of course, thank Leader
McCarthy and Ranking Member McCaul for the opportunity. It is
disappointing that the Foreign Affairs committee majority,
which is traditionally a very bipartisan committee, did not
work to secure an agreement with Republicans on the foreign
affairs portion of this bill.
As a result, we have a weaker product and a long road ahead
of us. The COMPETES Act contains a ton of reports, census of
Congress, and a green slush fund, but it isn't tough on China.
Critical National Security provisions are missing. For example,
the bill contains zero export controls, as had been said, and
no guardrails to ensure that taxpayer money does not benefit
the Chinese Communist Party.
It doesn't confront the CCP's rampant environmental
destruction and debt trap diplomacy through their Belt and Road
Initiative. And it fails to hold the CCP accountable for
covering up the first cases and spread of COVID-19. That has to
change. Additionally, as Ranking Member of the Western
Hemisphere subcommittee, I would be remiss if I did not mention
the need to counter China's malign activities in Latin America
and the Caribbean.
That is why I introduced, with Chairman Sires and the
support of members of the State Department, the bipartisan
Western Hemisphere Nurturing Act, which would reduce our supply
chains dependence on Chinese manufacturing while fostering
economic prosperity among our Southern neighbors. I encourage
all of my House colleagues to co-sponsor this critical piece of
legislation.
As conferees, we have the real opportunity to enact
legislation to confront the Chinese Communist Party head on.
But we all know that if this legislation is to pass both
chambers and be signed into law, it must be bipartisan. I hope
the majority will work with Republicans on this initiative.
Thank you, and I yield.
The Chair. Thank you. Next, Congresswoman Yong Kim.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN YONG KIM
Ms. Kim. Thank you, Chairwoman. And I would like to give a
big shout out and thanks to our Ranking Member McCaul for
appointing me to this Conference committee. And I want to--I
really want to thank you for the opportunity for me to address
you today on the Conference process for the China competition
bills. With inflationary risks rising daily, we can't afford to
spend billions on controversial partisan priorities. We must be
targeted and focused on our approach.
Instead of focusing on the targeted, bipartisan investments
in basic research that would help America excel in competition
against China, the COMPETES Act is filled with priorities that
did not enjoy bipartisan support. Whoever leads in the next
generation of science and technology will set the rules of the
road across scientific fields for decades to come. As much as
85 percent of America's long term economic growth is due to
advances in science and technology, and we cannot take that
continued growth for granted.
Competing with China in the next generation requires
targeted investments in basic research and emerging
technologies, investments in our STEM work force, fully funding
the CHIPS Act, and to increase our semiconductor manufacturing
capacity, smart foreign policy approaches that hold the CCP
accountable for its human rights violations and genocide of
Uyghurs, and closer ties with our allies in the Indo-Pacific
region.
The CCP has made it clear, its goal is to become the
world's top economic and military superpower by 2025, and has
shown it will undermine human rights, freedom, and decency in
pursuit of this quest for the world dominance. Xi Jinping is
watching us and hopes that we are unsuccessful in producing a
bipartisan, bicameral bill that improves our ability to compete
with them globally.
We must send a strong message that the United States will
continue to lead on the world stage and will counter this
aggression. So I look forward to working with my colleagues
from both sides of the aisle to ensure we increase our
competitiveness and be less reliant on adversaries like China
for our supplies of critical technologies. Thank you, and I
yield back.
The Chair. Thank you so much. That concludes the segment on
hearing from the Senate Foreign Relations committee and House
Foreign Relations committee. We will take a few minute recess
while we reset for the Senate Finance committee and the House
Ways and Means committee, which I see many of our colleagues
are here. So just give us a few minutes to reset the room and
we will welcome you up.
[Recess.]
The Chair. The bipartisan committee on Innovation and
Competition will reconvene. We are now being joined by our
distinguished colleagues from the Senate Finance committee and
from our House colleagues from Ways and Means. We want to
welcome you and thank you for being here to make remarks about
this section of the legislation before us. I will now turn to
the distinguished chair of the Finance committee for his
remarks, Senator Ron Wyden.
STATEMENT OF HON. RON WYDEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON
Senator Wyden. Thank you, Senator Cantwell. And so all of
you get a Northwest perspective on this. I think the Pacific
Northwest and the country is very well-served by having Chair
Cantwell using her considerable abilities on these hugely
consequential issues, and we look forward to your leadership,
Senator Cantwell. I am just going to make a couple of quick
points over my couple of minutes.
First, I strongly believe that our workers can outcompete
anybody, anywhere as long as we have a level playing field. And
so that is job number one. At the same time, our factories and
workers are being sidelined by a lack of semiconductors, and it
is absolutely critical that this Conference make certain that
those chips are manufactured in the United States of America.
Absolutely essential. I think it is also worth noting that
these shattered supply chains for semiconductors and other
crucial materials have directly hit Americans in their
pocketbook for many months and have been a significant factor
in inflation, and is yet another reason, Chair Cantwell, why it
is so important that we manufacture in this country domestic
semiconductors. Last point I will make very quickly, is I think
we all understand we have a big challenge with respect to
international trade.
I think many of my colleagues from the Pacific Northwest,
something like one out of three jobs in the Northwest, revolves
around international trade. The trade jobs often pay better
than do the non-trade jobs. So it is absolutely key that we get
trade right. That means we have got to go after blatant trade
rip offs that undercut our jobs and our consumers.
And it is particularly important to shed light on
repressive censorship by China, Russia, and other Governments
that hurt Internet users, trample on human rights, and makes it
tough for American exporters to compete. For a lot of us, we
have been through these kinds of challenges--Conferences.
I am looking at my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
This one is going to be big by anybody's past history of these
issues. I look forward to working with you and our colleagues,
Madam Chair, and particularly a Ranking Member Senator Crapo,
who shares my concern about semiconductors.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Senator Crapo, welcome.
STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE CRAPO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO
Senator Crapo. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I share Senator
Wyden's feelings about confidence in your leadership on this
issue. It is critical, and I look forward to building a strong
resolve to make America stronger and more competitive, and to
resolve these issues. We began this Congress working together
in the Senate to produce a bipartisan bill to improve American
competitiveness against China.
The Senate's bill, and particularly its trade title,
succeeded in that respect. Passing, as Senator Wyden likes to
say, with nail biting margin of 91 to 4. What didn't work in
this Congress was the partisan battles we had over
reconciliation and a number of other issues. So as we begin to
work in this Conference, let's return to that bipartisanship.
On my end, I am open to add, modify, and subtract from the
Senate trade title, if such changes enjoy support from the four
corners in the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means
committee and broad support from the conferees. Because of the
limited time today, I am not going to comment on specifics of
the trade title at this time, but I appreciated Senator Wyden
raising semiconductors.
In the spirit of bipartisanship, there are some key tax
proposals that haven't been included in the bill yet, that have
been raised by members from both sides in our committees of
jurisdiction that could meet that bipartisan standard. I am
referring to the R&D expensing provisions under Section 174,
and the FABS Act, the Fabricating American Build Semiconductors
Act, which could be significant in achieving the very
objectives that Senator Wyden and talked about in terms of
making sure that our semiconductors are manufactured here in
the United States.
Each of these provisions incentivize innovation and
sophisticated manufacturing, which we should all agree, will
make us more competitive against China. My goal is not to get
out of Conference with the bare minimum of support, but to
expand bipartisan support on those elements that will further
American competitiveness.
The Senate and House were able to do that when we worked
together on the Russia trade legislation that passed the Senate
100 to 0 and passed the House 420 to 3. I thank Senator Wyden
and Congressman Neal and Brady for the way they all work
together with us on that issue. I am willing to work in this
Conference toward the same thresholds for our China
legislation.
We all want to improve our competitiveness against China,
but we need to be mindful particularly because of high
inflation, that unnecessary spending will also make us less
competitive. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you for your important remarks
and for your important leadership. We are now joined by the
distinguished Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee,
Congressman Richard Neal.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN RICHARD NEAL
Mr. Neal. Thank you, Chair Cantwell and Chair Johnson, for
calling this important meeting. I am delighted to be joined by
my friend, Mr. Brady, the Ranking Member on the Ways and Means
committee as well, and actually to participate in what I think
is going to be a real Conference.
The Congress I came to actually did this with great
regularity, and it was a great subject of open debate but real
negotiation. Refraining from saying things in public that we
would have trouble walking back. Understanding that in line
with negotiation, it genuinely is give and take. I think while
we are in broad agreement on principle, as is always the case
in negotiations, it is the specifics that sometimes divide us.
But I also am pleased that this Conference is taking place.
A reminder, I think, to our friends in the media as well.
If we were holding this Conference about a year and a half ago,
we would have all been told what a great job the Chinese had
done of managing COVID. And now we find that if management of
COVID is arresting people in the streets who dare to protest
the lockdown procedures that have taken place, we might come to
a different conclusion.
This is not about being anti-Chinese. This is about
addressing a serious international trade issue. Again, upon
arrival in Congress, trade was a very bipartisan consideration.
All sides found agreement and accommodation in advancing the
principles of trade. But it is also a broad acknowledgment
today that China presents a key and defining challenge in our
time.
We have spent the past few decades attempting to
incorporate China into the global trading and international
economic system, hoping that they would eventually play by the
same rules that the rest of the world would play by. They would
continue to move toward democracy, support human rights at home
with the understanding that more choices in the marketplace
would invite more choices in the polling place. Unfortunately,
that has not happened.
Instead, they have become more emboldened in the use of
non-market and anti-competitive trade practices. They have
taken a step backward on human rights. And they continue to
deploy economic coercive tactics against allies and our own
American businesses' interests. Now, there is growing concern
regarding China's support of Russia's unprecedented invasion of
Ukraine.
This Conference is an opportunity for both parties in both
chambers to come together to directly respond to this
challenge. I am committed to working in a bipartisan, bicameral
fashion to deliver a strong bill that supports American
workers, manufacturers, and businesses, while confronting
unfair international trade practices head on.
So let's take advantage of the moment. I think that we all
need to be rowing the boat in the same direction. And let's
reward American innovators in a competitive international
marketplace, shore up our supply chains, and propel the United
States to a prosperous, secure future for generations to come.
And those of you who have worked with me over the years,
you know that what I just said is entirely sincere. I want to
work with both chambers and both parties to get a really good
piece of legislation. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you, Chairman Neal. Next, welcome to the
Ranking Member from the House Ways and Means committee,
Congressman Kevin Brady.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN KEVIN BRADY
Senator Brady. Thank you, Chair Cantwell and members of the
Conference committee. The litmus test for this Conference is
twofold, will the final bill significantly counter China's
economic aggression, and does it confront China's predatory
trade practices? If not, there is no reason to advance it.
In trade, while portions of the Senate bill are bipartisan,
the House version is not. I will do my best to find common
ground and work closely with someone who I respect and have a
good track record with finding common ground, Chairman Neal. If
we are serious about countering China's economic aggression
around the globe, America must begin to lead on trade, pursuing
strategic trade agreements that strengthen reliable supply
chains and opens new customers for Made in America products and
services.
Without trade agreements and trade promotion authority,
there is no need for TAA. GSP And MTB should have been extended
last year with bipartisan support. We must be cautious about
extreme ideological proposals that make it harder for
developing countries to qualify for GSP.
U.S. manufacturing companies and their workers shouldn't
lose out to foreign competitors due to tariffs on select parts,
equipment, or materials not available in America today. Trade
remedy and investment provisions work best when they are fully
and carefully vetted in both chambers of Congress.
Serious concerns exist, and I hope they can be addressed.
We should avoid stoking President Biden's inflation further,
harming small businesses fighting to succeed in international
commerce or distracting U.S. Customs from deterrence of illegal
trade in major shipments through hasty changes and reasonable
de minimis limits.
Finally, I see no need for a tax title in this Conference
report, especially one favoring a single industry. If at all,
we should confront the brazen Made in China 2025 plan for
industrial and technological dominance by unleashing all of
America's innovation and economic might across myriad
industries.
With that, I too look forward to working with Chairman
Wyden, Senator Crame--Crapo, Chair Cantwell, and others in this
Conference committee.
The Chair. Thank you. We will now hear from the author of--
--
[Technical problems.]
STATEMENT OF HON. MARK WARNER,
U.S. SENATOR VIRGINIA
Senator Warner. Thank you, Chair Cantwell. Thank you for
your great work on this, and to our colleagues in both the
House and the Senate. This CHIPS legislation came about because
John Cornyn and I both serve on the Intelligence committee, and
we hear the complete story of China's remarkable level of
investment in cutting edge technologies. And let me echo what
Chair Neal said, our beef is with the Communist Party of China
and Xi Jinping's leadership, but not with the Chinese people or
the Chinese diaspora around the world.
We have seen America's supply of semiconductors fall from
about 33 percent, manufacturing down to single digits. We have
almost seen the exact converse take place in terms of China's
investments. My fear, as well is that what we are seeing in
semiconductors and the need for us to make investments, we may
need similar type approaches in artificial intelligence,
quantum computing, synthetic biology.
We need to maintain America and the West's leadership in
cutting edge technologies. I am concerned and think there needs
to be a real sense of urgency around getting this job done. I
personally believe that regardless of announcements made by
Intel or TSMC or Samsung or others, there will be no American
manufacturing fab built at all, regardless of the
announcements, unless we complete this legislation and the
CHIPS component.
I would add we also need, and we may have to wrestle with
this one a little bit, I do think we need a tax title, the FABS
component. Again, Senator Cornyn, I have worked with Senator
Crapo and Senator Wyden on this issue. I would point out as
well, last comment, that we have to do this to stay competitive
with China. But one of the great ironies is that we came up
with this idea roughly about a year ago, and on a relative
basis, the Senate moved fairly quickly.
The Europeans at that point did not even have a plan in
place. Europeans took our plan, and when European bureaucracy
moves quicker than America, we know we need to kind of take a
deep breath. And I know Intel, we received close to =8 billion
euros of German support for their facility that they have
announced in Germany before they see a single dime from any
American investments.
So we need to get this done. I appreciate Chair Cantwell's
great work and let's work together to make it happen.
The Chair. Thank you. Now the other author of the CHIPS
legislation, Senator John Cornyn.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN CORNYN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM TEXAS
Senator Cornyn. Thanks, Madam Chairman. And I know you have
been anxiously awaiting this day and so have I. COVID-19
exposed supply chain vulnerabilities from PPE to
semiconductors. But if you start focusing on our dependency on
foreign sources of semiconductors, these advanced micro
circuits that basically run everything with an on and off
switch, it is truly shocking the extent to which the United
States is dependent on importing these advanced semiconductors
from Asia, primarily.
90 percent of the advanced semiconductors in the world are
made in Asia. About 63 percent of that 90 percent are made in
one place, Taiwan. And given the explicit threats of the
Chinese Communist Party made against Taiwan, it is not unlikely
that we could see one of three things either be because of a
pandemic, because of a natural disaster, or because of an
invasion of Taiwan, we might see the United States access to
these advanced semiconductors that run everything, from our
cell phones to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, in jeopardy.
Right now, we are seeing what the impact of the sanctions
that the United States has imposed against Russia on imports of
advanced technology, what impact that is having. Secretary
Raimondo has spoken quite well on that. So this is money that
will be well spent. For some of us, it is a little bit outside
of our ordinary comfort zone.
But the competition we are having with China is unlike any
we have experienced throughout our history, and we have to
begin to close these vulnerable supply chains. So I agree with
my dance partner, Senator Warner. We--there is a sense of
urgency. If we don't do this and don't do it quickly, the
companies from Micron to Intel to Samsung and others will be
making these investments somewhere, but it won't be here in the
United States.
And they have a huge demand for their product. It is
growing exponentially. And if we don't do something about it in
the immediate future, I think it will be a missed opportunity,
and that vulnerability that I just described will continue.
Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you. Next, we will hear from my Northwest
colleague, Congressman Earl Blumenauer.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN EARL BLUMENAUER
Mr. Blumenauer. Thank you, Madam Chair. This Congress has a
chance to deal with several longstanding policy challenges,
investing in the semiconductor manufacturing including legacy
chips, providing cannabis businesses with access to banking,
and responding to the challenges of the United States American
trading relationship. It is critical that the Safe Banking Act
be retained in the final Congress.
You saw, Madam Chair, three people killed in one week in
your state. The Safe Banking Act is an issue of public and
workers safety. It has passed the House six times. I hope we
work together to retain it because it is a matter of life and
death. I am proud that this--of the strong trade title in the
America COMPETES Act, which confronts China head on and
supports American workers and manufacturing, not just talking
about it.
I will measure each provision in the trade title by two
metrics, is it tough on China and does it support American
workers. I note the recent vote on the motion to recommit
suggests to me that there is some flexibility in our--with our
Senate colleagues. The trade provision in the COMPETES Act is
pro-worker and responsive to the challenges of China trading
relationship. Workers businesses will benefit from a
dramatically improved trade adjustment assistance. Without our
action, it disappears entirely in July.
Workers and communities deserve better. And we get tough on
China by closing that de minimis loophole on goods from China,
eliminating finished products from the trade bill. Taken
together, these changes restore the programs back to their
original intent, supporting American workers and domestic
manufacturers, not undercutting American suppliers to Chinese
benefit.
At its core, this Conference committee must contain a trade
title that meets workers' needs and bolsters America's ability
to compete with China and the rest of the world. Thank you,
Madam Chair, and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Congressman Davis.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN DANNY K. DAVIS
Mr. Davis. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to be a
part of this Conference reconciliation process, which is
designed to strengthen manufacturing opportunities in the U.S.
and reduce our reliance on goods made in other countries, and
especially China. When we compare the two bills, we find
strengths and weaknesses. We find more strengths in one and
more weaknesses in the other.
We find worker protections in one and the absence of worker
protections in the other. I believe that as we proceed to merge
the two, I think it is in the best interests of the U.S. trade
and manufacturing policies to preserve, protect, and promote
the reestablishment of manufacturing and job creating
opportunities back to the front line in urban communities where
people are hurting for job training and work opportunities.
It is my belief that the COMPETES Act of 2022 does a better
and more effective job of doing just that. I thank you and
yield back the balance of my time.
The Chair. Thank you, Congressman. Welcome to my Northwest
colleague, Congresswoman Susan DelBene.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN SUSAN DelBene
Ms. DelBene. Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I want to thank
Chair Cantwell, my colleague from Washington State, for her
leadership on this important Conference committee. And I also
want to thank Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Neal for appointing
me to serve on the Committee. I think we have a unique
opportunity to work together, not just as Democrats and
Republicans, but as one Congress to deliver for workers, for
families, and for the American economy.
As the Chair of the 98 member New Democrat Coalition, I am
also very laser focused on reaching an agreement that invests
in American jobs, growth, and resilient supply chains that will
address the real concerns that Americans have about inflation
and our economic future. This includes making more computer
chips right here in the U.S., which are critical for many
sectors of manufacturing in Washington State, including medical
devices, trucks, and new technologies to power the increasingly
digital economy.
We also have an opportunity to ensure that no community is
left behind, and I support preserving the RECOMPETE Pilot
Program to provide resources to economically distressed
communities. It is a key priority. As a leader on the Ways and
Means committee, I am also focused on reducing barriers to
trade, leveling the playing field for American workers, forging
new trade rules for the digital economy, and building stronger
ties with like-minded countries to counter unfair trade abuses
from China and others.
These investments are critical to putting America on the
path to be a global leader in the 21st century. And all the
work that has gone into these proposals so far means nothing
until we get legislation to the President's desk. And so, as
others have stated, we must show a sense of urgency in our work
here.
We don't break ground on new factories, hire more American
workers, and build more products here at home until we get this
done. The American people want governance to work again, and
that is our charge in this committee. Thank you, Madam Chair. I
yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. I am going to turn the gavel over to
my colleague from Oregon while I run to the floor to vote, but
next will be Congresswoman Judy Chu.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN JUDY CHU
Ms. Chu. Thank you. As chair of the Congressional Asian
Pacific American Caucus, I would like to speak about the unique
impact the bipartisan Innovation Act has on the Asian-American
community. As we continue this Conference process it is
imperative to keep in mind that the language we use to talk
about this bill matters.
Anti-Asian hate is still rising. Alarmingly, a recent
survey found that over the past few years, Americans have
become more, not less likely to suspect that Asian-Americans
are more loyal to the countries they or their families
immigrated from than the United States. The cost of this
suspicion is the lives that have been lost to anti-Asian hate.
There have been more than 11,000 incidents of anti-Asian hate
since March 2020 and hate crimes against Asian communities have
increased 339 percent.
As leaders, it is our responsibility to do everything we
can to stop anti-Asian hate. That starts with changing our
rhetoric. We are here today to discuss a bill that will
transform the American economy and improve the lives of
countless Americans, and we support that 100 percent. Framing
it as an American leadership bill rather than the China
competition bill reduces the risk of hate against our
communities here at home.
Second, there are four provisions in the Senate passed
version of the bill that open the door to racial profiling of
Asian Americans from within our own Government. These
provisions would essentially empower Government agencies to
investigate individuals, organizations, or businesses just
because they have economic, social, cultural, or family ties to
China.
These policies are blatantly discriminatory, and I look
forward to working with all of you to ensure that our concerns
are addressed in the final bill. Thank you, and I look forward
to working with all of you throughout the Conference process.
Senator Wyden. I thank my colleague. Next three in order
will be Congressman Kildee, Congressman Gomez, and Congressman
Smith.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN DAN KILDEE
Mr. Kildee. Thank you, Senator Wyden. And my thanks to
Chair Cantwell and especially to Speaker Pelosi and Chairman
Richie Neal for naming me as a member of this really important
Conference committee. With this committee, we have an
incredible opportunity to work together, Democrats and
Republicans, to increase America's competitiveness in the
world, particularly with China.
And I believe we have an obligation to move beyond
conversation and to deliver, to get a bipartisan compromise
bill to the President's desk. There are so many aspects of this
legislation that are important, strengthening domestic supply
chains to lower costs for families, investing in the domestic
production of critical components like semiconductors, to bring
more manufacturing back to America and ensuring that we have a
robust trade agenda, including a Trade Adjustment Assistance
for Communities Program, to help those places that have been
left behind by past trade deals.
Right now, in my hometown of Flint, thousands of cars sit
unfinished, finished except for chips. These chips were
invented here in America, and for many years they were made
here too. But now the dependence and shortage of foreign made
chips is resulting in Michigan workers being laid off,
furloughed, facing work stoppages, and it is costing the
automotive industry billions of dollars in lost sales.
As conferees, we must prioritize investments to boost
domestic manufacturing of semiconductors, including investment
specifically for chips used in automobiles. And I have--as I
have mentioned, perhaps a time or two, we must prioritize a
robust Trade Adjustment Assistance for Communities Program.
I represent mid-Michigan, as I said, which includes many
smaller, older industrial communities that have been hurt by
past deals. As a member of the Ways and Means committee, I have
worked with my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to
replace outdated trade deals like NAFTA with stronger
agreements like the USMCA.
But our trade deals can only be truly fair when every
community, especially those that have suffered chronic economic
hardship and job loss due to trade, can compete for the new
economic investments and the jobs that this opportunity offers.
Included in the House passed version of our bill is my
legislation, TAA for Communities, a program that will help
qualifying communities create and execute locally driven,
market based economic development plans.
So I look forward to working with every member of this
important committee, Democrats and Republicans, from the House
and the Senate, to get this job done for the American people. I
yield back.
Senator Wyden. Congressman Kildee, I have enjoyed working
with you in the past and look forward to continuing. Next is
Congressman Gomez.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JIMMY GOMEZ
Mr. Gomez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have a historic
opportunity to level the playing field against unfair trade
practices and uplift working families in Los Angeles and across
the country. I am proud of the trade provisions in the COMPETES
Act put forth by the House Ways and Means committee under the
leadership of Chairman Neal.
In particular, modernizing and reauthorizing the Trade
Adjustment Assistance Program to better support workers and
communities who are adversely affected by trade. The House
COMPETES Act makes key improvements to TAA by establishing a
childcare allowance for parents, increasing benefits for
workers using the health care tax credit, expanding eligibility
to all workers impacted by trade, ensuring TAA serves workers
who are non-native English Speakers, and requiring outreach to
historically underserved communities, like many which I
represent.
Reauthorizing TAA to meet the needs of today's workforce
that is still recovering from the pandemic is critical because
the program expires by June. I urge my colleagues to
reauthorize and strengthen the GSP program, which includes
improved labor and environmental criteria that will promote a
more equitable, sustainable, and accessible economy.
Our trade policy must reflect our Nation's values and align
with the standards of recent preference programs. I also urge
my fellow conferees in the House and the Senate to continue to
put forth a worker centric trade paradigm that we started under
USMCA and support provisions that empower American workers and
promote better wages at home. With that, I yield back. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Wyden. Thank you, Congressman. Next is Adrian
Smith.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN ADRIAN SMITH
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and appreciate this
opportunity. I think it is certainly timely that we are
discussing these issues. We know we need to be more
competitive. I appreciate the point made that we want to show
leadership in the world. And I think we have the opportunity to
do so.
I am concerned about the House version and that it was not
bipartisan in nature, so I am glad we can use this process to
course correct. I do believe that we need to prioritize things
like GSP and MTB. And I think it is a mistake to actually
narrow the eligibility and add more red tape, especially in the
middle of this supply chain crisis that we know we are feeling.
I appreciate the concerns about de minimis. I appreciate them
enough that I would hope we could work on vetting that.
And as I hear from the front lines of our economy, we need
to be very cautious as we move forward. I don't want unintended
consequences to be the result. So, trade adjustment assistance,
I realize the role of TAA.
Again, and in the midst of a worker shortage, I don't think
we should delink a TAA from what has traditionally been an
opportunity to move that forward with trade agreements, and I
hope that we can work together on that. If there is some
interest in airdropping a tax title into the package, I hope
that we work together ensure that we can resolve the existing
disagreements before we would consider that.
And above all, I hope that we can focus on a broad based
approach to our supply chains. Yes, chips are--we are short on
those. We see that in a lot of places. But manufacturing plants
in my district with half a million dollar combines parked on
the parking lot, you mentioned autos, I am sensitive to that,
it is more than just chips where those parts are short.
So I hope that we can come together to finalize a product.
Yes, we want to hold China accountable, but we want to show
leadership on this and broad based opportunities for our supply
chains to recover. Thank you. I yield back.
Senator Wyden. Thank you, Congressman. The next three will
be LaHood, Miller, and Senator Brown.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN DARIN LaHOOD
Mr. LaHood. Thank you, Senator Wyden. And I want to
acknowledge Senator Cantwell for her leadership and my fellow
conferees. Also want to thank Ranking Member Brady and Leader
McCarthy for selecting me to be part of the Conference
committee. As we embark on this important effort to counter the
threat of China, we must work to ensure policies that protect
our National Security, secure our supply chains, and ensure a
robust and ambitious trade agenda.
Our constituents are relying on us to craft policies that
support U.S. jobs and economic opportunities here at home. And
a key part of doing this is opening markets for our companies
and workers around the world. The Ways and Means committee,
under the leadership of Ranking Member Brady--and I hope that
conversations around the trade title reflect the ongoing need
for U.S. leadership in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China
and protect market access to U.S. products.
The United States must lead and set high standards through
free trade agreements. We must also create binding norms in the
region to promote high standard digital trade. It is my hope
that we will not be bogged down in this Conference committee by
political agendas. Unfortunately, the partisan set of policies
that were part of the House bill, as it related to the trade
title of the COMPETES Act, really do nothing to advance our
goal, which is sending a strong message to China.
We must hold China accountable to the trade commitments it
has made, both at the WTO and in bilateral negotiations with
the United States. And we must continue to enforce agreed upon
norms and standards required to interact in a free and fair
global marketplace. It is incumbent upon us to show China and
other adversaries around the world that we will continue to
invest in our National Security, economic security, and trade
commitments.
Moving forward in this Conference committee, I hope we have
a transparent, productive, bipartisan process that represents
the best interests of America and the American people. Thank
you, and I yield back.
Senator Wyden. Thank you, Congressman. Next will be
Congresswoman Miller.
[Technical problems.]
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN MARY MILLER
Ms. Miller. Now can you hear it? Thank you, Senator Wyden,
Chairman Neal, and Ranking Member Brady. It is such an honor to
serve as a conferee as we work to resolve the differences
between these two pieces of legislation. For our constituents,
we must set our sights on ambitious and constructive policy.
We must work in a bipartisan manner to craft a final bill
that holds China accountable for its predatory trade practices,
strengthens American competitiveness, and opens new markets for
American companies and their workers. The partisan America
COMPETES Act falls short of this goal in every way.
Rather than leveling the playing field for American goods
and services, and strengthening our small businesses, this
legislation hamstrings hardworking Americans with more red
tape. COMPETES is a concession and capitulation to China. It
will burden innovative American companies with more Government
bureaucracy, making it harder to compete against these Chinese
counterparts.
The trade title contained in USICA was negotiated in a
bipartisan manner, helps reauthorize key trade programs, GSP,
MTB, and holds China accountable for its use of forced labor
and censorship. Our constituents and markets need strong trade
policy. I hope that we start our discussions with the Senate
trade title as our baseline. We are at a critical juncture in
our relationship with China.
While holding China accountable to its phase one
commitments, we must also chart a path forward for our long
term engagement with this critical trading partner. As I will--
again, I am honored to be part of this Conference committee,
and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Congresswoman Miller. That concludes
the Senate Finance and Ways and Means participation in the
Conference. We will now turn to our colleagues from the
Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and the House
committee on Financial Services. And I would like to call on
the Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Sherrod Brown.
STATEMENT OF HON. SHERROD BROWN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OHIO
Senator Brown. Thank you, Chair Cantwell and Chair Neal. On
Banking and Housing, we have heard from economic experts about
our supply chains and other issues we need this legislation to
address. I want to thank Ranking Member Toomey and Chair Waters
for their work to negotiate a strong, final bill that brings
more of these supply chains back home. Pretty simple, we need
to make more in America.
For generations, Ohio was a global leader in manufacturing
and innovation, the lifeblood of our communities. Beginning in
the 70s and 80s, we stopped making things in America. Corporate
America wanted cheap labor wherever they could find it. They
lobbied Congress all too successfully for tax breaks and bad
trade deals as they hopscotched the globe to search for lower
and lower wages.
Ohio paid the price for years in the form of lost jobs and
lost opportunity. Now the whole country pays the price higher,
higher prices, supply chain delays, losing entire high tech
industries to China. Look where we have ended up. Ohio invented
the light bulb, yet today, 99 percent of LED bulbs are made in
China. America invented the semiconductors, 75 percent of them
are made in East Asia. It is why our work is so important on
this committee.
We need bipartisan legislation that puts American workers
and American innovation first. We know competitors like China
spend billions propping up State owned enterprises, investing
in R&D.
China has gotten pretty good at taking our ideas,
monetizing them, and using them to compete against American
workers. They pay workers less, giving them fewer rights. It is
why we included new sanctions on those who steal our trade
secrets. It is why we need Brown, Portman Level the Playing
Field Act to crack down on China's cheating.
This bill is our opportunity to fight back, to finally
begin to fix decades of mistakes, and only it is our
opportunity to bury the term Rust Belt, that we are burying it
in Columbus, Ms. Miller's hometown with Battelle and Intel's
10,000 semiconductor jobs. We are burying it in Dayton with
aerospace. We are burying it in Toledo with the largest solar
manufacturer in the country.
We are burying it in Cincinnati, with advancing
manufacturing partners, chips that President Biden announced on
Friday. And we are burying it in Cleveland with NASA. It is
time for our whole country to bury the term Rust Belt. It is
past time to send a final make it in America bill to the
President's desk. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you, Senator Brown. Thank you for your
leadership on Banking. We will now turn to the House committee
on Financial Services, Chairwoman Maxine Waters.
STATEMENT OF CHAIRWOMAN MAXINE WATERS
Ms. Waters. Thank you very much, Chair Cantwell. And of
course, my friend, Chairman Sherrod Brown. I am honored to
serve as a Conference committee member of the America COMPETES
Act of 2022. With this legislation, we will strengthen the
competitiveness, safety, and security of American businesses,
combat illicit finance, and counter the anti-competitive
actions taken by China.
My colleagues on the Financial Services committee and I
have authored several provisions within the America COMPETES
Act that are essential to achieving these goals. These include
provisions to empower U.S. interest in multilateral development
banks, to respond to China's predatory loan arrangements, and
to provide debt relief to developing countries, in part as a
counter to Chinese influence.
Our House passed proposals also strengthen anti-money
laundering authorities at the Treasury Department and improve
the United States response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further,
the bipartisan House support for the Safe Banking Act is
evident in its inclusion in America COMPETES, and I urge my
fellow conferees to support its inclusion in the final
Conference report.
I recently led a Co-Del to the Caribbean and saw firsthand
the aggressive tactics that China is pursuing to spread its
influence in this region. America must do more to counter these
efforts, and we must actively engage with allies and neighbors
to do so.
America COMPETES and its wide range of proposals move our
Nation in the right direction, improving our competitiveness
and fortifying our goal and our response at home and abroad.
Thank you very much. I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Chairwoman. And thank you to both you
and to Senator Brown for your leadership, and to mentioning--
several members have mentioned the Safe Banking Act as part of
their testimony today, so we appreciate that very much. I know
we have a few colleagues from this segment that aren't here at
this moment. We will entertain comments from them if they
arrive.
But we will take a short recess to reconvene in 10 minutes
to start on the next section of the Conference, and that will
be to hear from members of the Education, Homeland Security and
Veterans Issues. So we will recess for a short 10 minutes.
[Recess.]
The Chair. OK. Yes, we will hear from Congresswoman Garcia.
Thank you. Welcome, Congresswoman Garcia. Thank you for making
it over here to the Senate. We appreciate you coming over here
and being part of this session. You know, we have had a few
people that have their own schedules for today, so we very much
welcome you and welcome your participation.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN SYLVIA GARCIA
Ms. Garcia. Thank you so much. And I do apologize. I have
had multiple hearings to kind of bounce around and I feel like
a ping pong today. But it is so good to be here and to be a
part of this Conference committee. It is the first time I have
done this, so I am eager to learn. And obviously you have
already heard from our Financial Services Chair, Maxine Waters.
And not having heard her remarks, I am sure they were
great, and I associate myself with all of them. I look forward
to working on the issues related to the COMPETES Act that are
particular to Financial Services. I know that we have been
working really hard to stay on those priorities and to make
sure that we have a good package as an ultimate result.
I also would like to mention that I do have a bill that was
included, H.R. 987 about funding maritime career and education
programs that is a part of the T&I portion, but it is something
that I worked on this session and last session. As you know, we
are having a supply chain issue and certainly making sure that
we prepare for the next generation of maritime workers to
continue working in and around our maritime areas, the docks,
to ships to make sure that supply chains can be maintained and
grow.
So that would be the focus of anything that I do here
together with Chairwoman Waters. And I certainly look forward
to all our sessions.
The Chair. Well, thank you, Congresswoman. Thank you for
that important mission of the supply chain as it relates to the
maritime sector and workforce issues. So, something that I care
greatly about and my State cares greatly about. And obviously
we can see from where we are on the supply chain and the need
to have a skilled workforce is critically important, so thank
you very much for your comments this morning.
OK, so now we will take just a 5-minute recess and reset
the room for our next colleagues, some of them who have already
made it into the room, but we will reconvene in 5 minutes for
Education, Homeland and Veterans. Thank you.
[Recess.]
The Chair. The Conference committee on bipartisan
legislation on Innovation and Competition will reconvene. We
are going to hear from our colleagues now who are from the
Senate Health, Education and Labor and Pensions committee, and
House Education and Labor committees. So I would like to turn
to my colleague, the distinguished chair, and my dear friend of
the Senate committee, the HELP Chair, Senator Patty Murray.
STATEMENT OF HON. PATTY MURRAY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Senator Cantwell. I am
really delighted to be working with you on this committee, as
well as Senator Wicker and Senator Burr, Representative Scott,
Representative Fox, and really so, so many others to get this
really important legislation across the finish line for people
across our country.
Washington State families can't rely on foreign competitors
to bring down prices or strengthen our supply chains or provide
U.S. workers with good paying jobs and build a brighter future
for our country. We have to do this ourselves.
Which is why I am going to be pushing to make sure we draw
on the best ideas from both the House and Senate bills and pass
the strongest package we can to keep our country competitive on
the world stage. And it is clear to me that the bills we have
passed already give us a very strong bipartisan foundation to
start with when it comes to supporting students.
Both of these bills include important provisions to give K-
12 students, especially historically marginalized students,
better opportunities to pursue an interest in computer science
and other STEM fields.
And the House bill includes valuable steps to support those
pursuing an higher education, like letting students use Pell
Grants for high quality, shorter term education and training
programs, particularly for high skilled, high wage, and in-
demand fields. And providing better post-secondary outcome data
and improving transparency so students can get clear
information about things like completion rates, post-college
earnings.
And when it comes to supporting workers who are the
backbone of our economy, I want to make sure we pass a bill
that not only connects workers with high quality workforce
development opportunities that prepare them to compete in the
economy of the future, but creates good paying jobs in those
fields right here in the U.S. and of course, particularly in
the Pacific Northwest.
I am going to be fighting to make sure we keep stronger
worker protections in this package, as well as to take action
on many other ideas in these bills that can help spur economic
growth, like steps to strengthen our medical supply chain and
prevent undue foreign influence in biomedical research, two
issues that Senator Burr and I have also been working on to
address in our bipartisan Prevent Pandemics Act.
And I do want to take a second to be really clear on one
other item. I hope we can all come to an agreement to keep safe
banking in our final bill so that cannabis stores in States
like mine do not have to operate entirely in cash. This is
really a straightforward, bipartisan solution to a real public
safety threat that I strongly believe that we should all be
able to agree on.
Now, as Senator Cantwell knows well, Washington State is
already the home of premier research institutions, technology
and aerospace leaders, and growers and producers that are
constantly competing on the world stage.
And my focus on this committee is to make sure we maintain
our competitive edge, because a more competitive U.S. economy
means more good paying jobs for workers from Seattle to
Spokane, new markets for our producers and small businesses in
the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington, better opportunities
for students and workers who are interested in careers in STEM,
manufacturing, and other fields of the future, reliable supply
chains for semiconductors, medical products, and more, and will
lower costs for families in this country. So thank you, Madam
Chair.
The Chair. Thank you. We will now hear from the Ranking
Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
committee, Senator Richard Burr.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BURR,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH CARLINA
Senator Burr. Senator Cantwell, thank you for the
recognition. More importantly, thank you for sharing this
Conference. I would ask unanimous consent to enter my remarks
into the record.
The Chair. Without objection.
[The information referred to was unavailable at time of
printing.]
The Chair. Wow. That means extra attention to HELP
committee recommendations. Thank you. We will now turn. I don't
see our colleague here from the Chair of the House committee,
so I will turn to our Ranking Member, Congresswoman Virginia
Foxx.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN VIRGINIA FOXX
Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Senator Cantwell, very much. In its
current form, the House passed COMPETES Act does more to
hamstring our economy than to help America compete with China.
For example, this legislation is littered with language that
empowers big labor at the expense of workers and job creators.
These provisions strip America's economic engines of the
right to manage their own businesses. Further, mandating card
check opens workers up to harassment by union bosses. Secret
ballots allow workers to vote as they see fit without fear of
reprisal or harassment. COMPETES would also expand prevailing
wage requirements, which artificially inflate labor costs by
more than 20 percent.
This puts an even greater financial burden on taxpayers and
could hinder America's economic growth. In the education space,
this bill infringes on the privacy of every American college
student by creating a Federal database to track students
throughout their lives without their consent. This sounds like
an idea from the National
People's Congress, not the U.S. Congress.
It is hard to believe we are talking about this, given
reports this month about the Education Department providing
Facebook with the private personal information of students and
families without their knowledge. Sadly, this bill fails to
strengthen our workforce development system, it blocks pathways
to successful careers, and increases the control of Washington
bureaucrats over the work force.
These outdated swamp first ideas won't ensure our workforce
is ready to compete successfully in the 21st century. Moreover,
this legislation discriminates against career focused and
innovative online programs.
How does excluding an entire sector of post-secondary
education, the same sector that produces a majority of the
short term program graduates help America. Unless these
troubling provisions are addressed, America will be conceding
to not competing with China. Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you, Congresswoman. We will now turn to
Congressman Joe Morelle. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JOE MORELLE
Mr. Morelle. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am grateful for the
opportunity to be part of this historic effort. The legislation
being discussed will address two goals critical to America's
need to compete effectively with China, bolstering our National
Security and fostering our economic prosperity. I am honored to
join my colleagues in this effort that will reaffirm the United
States' leadership in research, innovation, and manufacturing
for decades to come.
I am excited for the work ahead and look forward to
securing these investments that will deliver economic
opportunities for my constituents back home in Rochester, New
York. I would like to express my gratitude to Chairman Scott
for his leadership on the Education and Labor committee, and
for the opportunity to join him in representing the Committee
during these negotiations.
If we are serious about ensuring American competitiveness
around the world, we need to strengthen our Nation's workforce
and provide a strong educational foundation to prepare
individuals for jobs in an ever changing, fast paced economy,
while also investing in research and critical manufacturing
infrastructure.
In addition to Chairman Scott, I want to extend a heartfelt
thank you to Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of the Science,
Space and Technology committee for her leadership and
partnership over the past several years as we have worked to
secure critical R&D investments. In early 2020, I introduced
the Innovations Centers Acceleration Act, legislation that will
make considerable investments in our Nation's innovation
efforts.
I am grateful that priorities embodied in the bill are
reflected in the America COMPETES Act. Regional technology and
innovation hubs will forge collaborative partnerships between
local Governments, colleges and universities, private
industries, and community based organizations to promote and
support regional innovation.
This means economic opportunities currently consolidated in
just a handful of metro areas will now be available to
communities across America, like my hometown of Rochester, that
hold significant, untapped potential. Not only will this
enhance our ability to be competitive globally, but also
strengthen our economy and create jobs at a pivotal moment in
our Nation's history.
Again, I am grateful to be a part of this process. When we
invest in our communities and in our people, we invest in the
future of our Nation. Thank you so much. I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Congressman Morelle. We will now hear
from members from the Senate Homeland Security, Government
Affairs Committee, the House Homeland Security committee, and
the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. First, I would
like to turn to the Chair of the Senate Committee, Senator Gary
Peters.
STATEMENT OF HON. GARY PETERS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN
Senator Peters. Well, thank you, Chair Cantwell, and thank
you for your leadership on this bill and your leadership of
this Conference committee. You know, I believe that you can't
be a great country if you don't actually make things. And a
strong economic competitiveness bill is really the key for us
to create good paying jobs, outcompete anyone on the global
stage, including the Chinese government, and continue to lead
in manufacturing, both in my home state in Michigan, as well as
all across the country.
The auto industry is a prime example, where we have seen
how our dependance on foreign manufacturers for semiconductor
chips has significantly hindered American auto production.
Workers have been temporarily laid off, families have struggled
to get by, and small manufacturers up and down the supply chain
have been dealing with great uncertainty. We must boost
domestic chip production to support our national needs by
funding the CHIPS Act with $52 billion.
We must also maintain the $2 billion investment in funding,
which Senator Stabenow and I fought for, that would be
dedicated to so-called mature chips that are essential for a
wide range of manufacturers, including in the defense industry,
as well as the auto industry. We also need to make our
semiconductor supply chains more resilient. I have proposed
bipartisan legislation, which was included in the House bill,
to clarify the CHIPS Act.
Incentives can be used to bolster domestic production of
the materials and manufacturing equipment actually necessary to
make those chips. Without these essential inputs, we can't grow
domestic chip manufacturing.
And finally, this bill is an important opportunity to
secure our position as the world leader in advanced research
and development, cutting edge technologies like artificial
intelligence and other innovations that strengthen our economic
competitiveness and create good jobs. I am certainly honored to
serve on this Conference committee, and I look forward to
working with everyone to get this bill signed into law as
quickly as possible.
The Chair. Thank you, Chairman Peters. Now we will hear
from the Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and
Government Affairs Committee in the Senate, Senator Rob
Portman.
STATEMENT OF HON. ROB PORTMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OHIO
Senator Portman. Thank you, Chair Cantwell. And thanks to
you and Ranking Member Wicker for your leadership on the
Conference. I hope we can get this done. I agree with Chairman
Peters on the importance, as an example, of the semiconductor
provisions here. If we don't do this, these companies are going
to go somewhere else. And that is what they are telling us, and
unfortunately it has been true over the years.
We are down to just 12 percent of the world's manufacturing
of semiconductors and virtually none of the high end ones. I am
also here to discuss some specific HSGAC provisions in USICA,
specifically the Safeguarding American Innovation Act, which
passed the Committee unanimously with the help of Chairman
Peters and others and was part of USICA--it was voted on as
part of the 68 votes we got for USICA.
It is a bipartisan compromise already with Senate Democrats
and Republicans and the White House. We have got to remember
that the goal of this overall effort, of course, is to improve
our country's competitiveness, especially with regard to China.
To do that, we must not only invest in research and innovation,
which I support, but we have got to protect that taxpayer
funded research and intellectual property from being stolen by
our competitors and used against us.
Given the current realities, without such protections, I
believe many on this report with significantly increased levels
of Federal funding for research would be a huge giveaway to
Beijing. Recently, FBI Director Wray said, and I quote, ``the
biggest threat we face as a country from a counterintelligence
perspective is from the People's Republic of China and
especially the Chinese Communist Party. They are targeting our
innovation, our trade secrets, our intellectual property on a
scale that is unprecedented in history.''
Senator Carper and I introduced the Safeguarding American
Innovation Act and insisted it be included in the HSGAC title
of USICA, after a yearlong PSI investigation that found how
China has used so-called ``talent programs'' to target
promising taxpayer funded research and researchers and obtain
valuable U.S. intellectual property.
We found American taxpayers have been unwittingly funding
the rise of China's military and economy over the past two
decades, while the Federal Government has done very little or
nothing to stop it. The legislation goes directly to the root
of the problem and makes punishable by law to knowingly fail to
disclose foreign funding on Federal grant applications.
It requires the Executive Branch to streamline and
coordinate grant making between the Federal agencies so there
is continuity, accountability, and coordination, it allows
State Department to deny visas to foreign researchers coming to
the United States to exploit the openness of our research
enterprise, and requires research institutions and universities
to do more, including telling State whether a foreign
researcher will have access to export controlled technologies.
Again, a vital component of any competitiveness bill is
this common sense extensively negotiated bipartisan bill, which
is already included in the Homeland Security title of USICA. I
urge this Conference to stand by that Senate approved language.
The Chair. Thank you. I think our Senate colleagues will
now hear from our House colleagues, a mix of two committees, on
these same policies, the House Homeland Security committee and
the House committee on Oversight and Reform. I will turn to my
colleague, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN CAROLYN MALONEY
Senator Maloney. It is very good to see my former classmate
in Congress, Chairwoman Cantwell and Chairman Chairwoman
Johnson, thank you for calling us here together. And it is my
honor to serve as a conferee on this, representing the
Oversight committee. We are in a fierce competition globally,
and we simply cannot afford to lose this competition.
Across our country, Americans are hurting from rising
prices caused by global supply chain disruptions and the
unprovoked war of Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine, and they
are counting on us to help. And to do that, we need to bring
key parts of our supply chain home by manufacturing things
domestically.
Certainly, we learned in the COVID crisis that we need to
buy America, develop America. We need to bring this
semiconductor business home. We have a historic opportunity by
passing the USICA, the America COMPETES, the bipartisan
Innovation Act. We have already seen progress under President
Biden. When he took office, the economy was down 2.9 million
jobs, the trade deficit had increased by 40 percent, and the
national debt was more than $1 trillion.
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan
infrastructure bill, we have created 8.4 million jobs so far.
And he is on track, our country is on track to cut the deficit
by $1.5 trillion. The Innovation Act builds on these two
advances along with the infrastructure bill. This step would
strengthen our competitiveness. It will strengthen our supply
chains, address inflation. This bill has key provisions to help
American workers compete and win in the global economy.
This means rebuilding American manufacturing, defending
American intellectual property from our adversaries, opening up
more pathways to good paying, innovative jobs. The America
COMPETES Act promotes scientific research and development,
advances the U.S. semiconductor industry, expands Buy America
requirements supporting U.S. supply chains, helps regulating
the Federal procurement and use of artificial intelligence, and
reauthorizing programs at NASA, National Science Foundation,
and supporting domestic manufacturing, strengthening our
overall economy.
I look forward to working with my colleagues toward these
goals. Some of this legislation went through our committee. We
have handed in a memo on specifics of that legislation, and I
yield back.
The Chair. Now we will turn to Congressman Comer. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JAMES COMER
Mr. Comer. Thank you.
The Chair. And you are the Ranking Member of the Committee.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Comer. Yes. Absolutely. Thank you, Senator Cantwell. I
appreciate being a part of this important Conference and look
forward to participating in a process that I hope will result
in a strong product for our Nation and our citizens. Let's be
clear, China is our enemy. The threat China poses to the United
States should not be taken lightly.
It is real, and it is critical that we be prepared to meet
everything that comes our way with a full arsenal of resources.
That is why I voted against the House version earlier this
year. Democrats said it would counter the influence of
communist China. It did not. It even failed to hold China
accountable for creating and then lying about COVID-19. The
Democrats bill also included provisions unrelated to
strengthening our hand against China.
In reality, the 2,900 page $325 billion House spending bill
put China first and America last. I do not understand how
Members of Congress could, in good conscience, who voted yes on
the House bill. That is why I am pleased we have this
opportunity today to work toward a better product that puts
America first.
Last, I also want to acknowledge the hard work by Senate
Republicans. The Senate bill includes a few provisions that
fall under the Oversight committee's jurisdiction, and my staff
has had productive conversations with Senate Republican staff
on how we could improve upon their very good work.
Hopefully, we can continue these productive conversations
during this Conference process. I look forward to working with
all of you. Thank you, and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Ranking Member. I now want to turn to
Congresswoman Val Demings. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN VAL DEMINGS
Ms. Demings. Good afternoon, and thank you, Senator
Cantwell. I am honored to be here today on behalf of the
Committee on Homeland Security under the leadership of Chairman
Bennie Thompson. We are blessed to live in the greatest Nation
on earth, and America's workers can compete, excel, and win in
any fair competition, but we know that competition is not
always fair.
And that is why we must step up, come together, to move our
Nation forward in a powerful and bold way. We already know we
will not always agree on everything, but I do believe we can
agree on how to give America the best opportunity to excel
through innovation and support of America's workers. We must
invest in our economy, solidify our leadership on a global
stage, and stand up to China.
I have full faith that together we can lower costs for
American families, secure our supply chains, and ensure good
pay and safe workplaces for American workers. As a member of
the Homeland Security committee, this effort must continue to
prioritize our National Security, cybersecurity and supply
chain security. I am proud that my domestic solar manufacturing
legislation is part of this critical economic initiative.
The solar industry is growing at the speed of light, but it
is the China Communist Party--the Chinese Communist Party,
reaping the rewards when it should be American families. The
solar initiative will take on the Chinese Communist Party and
their forced labor industry and will instead empower American
workers like those in my home state of Florida, the Sunshine
State.
There is a lot of good in both pieces of legislation and I
look forward to coming together to get the good work that is
possible done. Thank you, Chair Cantwell.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you. We have been joined by
Congresswoman Dina Titus. Are you ready to make your opening
statement? Thank you.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN DINA TITUS
Ms. Titus. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I want to thank
Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Thompson for selecting me along
with my colleagues, Congresswoman Demings and Congressman
Guest, as conferees to offer input as representatives of the
Homeland Security committee. I want to highlight several
critical pieces that should be included in any final agreement
reached with our Senate counterparts.
First, it is essential that we provide robust funding for
our domestic semiconductor industry to ensure we become a
competitive global leader in the chip production and
technological advancements. While leaders at the Commerce
Department are working hard on this issue, including through a
cooperative agreement signed with our Malaysian allies just
yesterday morning, we must do more to ensure we are not
beholden to other countries for production of these essential
products.
Chips touch every aspect of our daily lives, including
automobiles, medical devices, cell phones, and they are
critically important for my district in various aspects of
gaming. We wouldn't have slot machines without chips, and those
attract a lot of visitors to my district every year and a big
part of the economy. I am optimistic we will be able to come to
an agreement on the $50.2 billion in the Chips for America Fund
that is included in both pieces of the legislation.
Second, any final agreement must also include strong cyber
protections for our supply chains. A major piece of the puzzle
is ensuring that we have safeguards in place to procure
equipment from trusted suppliers and hold our Government
contractors to the highest cybersecurity standards.
In these efforts, we should do everything we can to engage
with our educational and research institutions to bolster the
cyber work force's incentives and training. This is the surest
way we can make certain that we are ready for the threats of
tomorrow. I look forward to working with you all to advance
these priorities and develop a final bill that reasserts our
position as a global leader in manufacturing, technology,
research, and innovation. Thank you very much.
The Chair. Thank you, Congresswoman. We will turn now to
Congressman Ro Khanna.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN RO KHANNA
Mr. Khanna. Thank you, Senator Cantwell. I want to start by
thanking Senator Schumer for his relentless leadership on this,
as well as Senator Young and Senator Portman and others who
made this truly bipartisan. For decades, we have made a mistake
in this country of shipping our production offshore to China,
to Mexico, millions of jobs lost.
We invented the semiconductor chip, and yet all of the
semiconductor production went offshore. We never invented the
automobile or jet engine, but we figured out how to do mass
production and that is what made us a superpower. So we need
to, as a bipartisan--on a bipartisan basis, get this bill to
the President's desk so America produces again, so we can
create jobs again in manufacturing.
And we need to, in this Conference, have the Level Playing
Field Act as part of it. I mean, why would we want to have
China dump goods when the whole point is to have manufacturing
in America? We need to make sure that the Supply Chain
Resiliency Act is part of it. We need to make sure that we are
making the steel here, not China.
And we need to make sure that the trade adjustment
assistance is part of it so that workers who have suffered
because of the policy mistakes of the last 40 years that
shipped their jobs offshore, get a fair chance and get the
opportunities that they deserve.
I am glad that finally there is a bipartisan consensus that
manufacturing matters, that production matters, and I am really
hopeful we can get this to the President's desk before Memorial
Day.
The Chair. Thank you. I want to thank all our security
colleagues from the House and Senate for participating. And I
just want to assure you, starting at 10 a.m., until whatever
time it is now, we have heard about chips all day, but it was
good to hear from the security experts about their view of
this, and appreciate all of you participating.
We will now turn to the Senate committee on Veterans
Affairs and the House committee on Veterans Affairs. And I
would first like to call on the Chairman of the Senate Veterans
Affairs committee, Chairman Jon Tester.
STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Tester. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. We
have an incredible opportunity in this Conference committee not
to score Republican points or score Democratic points, but
score points for America. We have an opportunity to create
jobs, grow our economy, strengthen our supply chain, jumpstart
the domestic semiconductor industry, and secure our Nation's
future for our kids and our grandkids.
And we can do this if we work for America, not for the
parties, and we don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
We have competitors around the world that are trying to push us
out of the way, namely China. China wants to replace us as the
world's economic superpower, and they have worked to create
unfair advantages in manufacturing, innovation, and in the
marketplace. It is time to put that to an end. We need to fix
our broken supply chain.
We need to make the crucial R&D investments necessary to
bring back good paying jobs, and the next generation of jobs
back to America. And this isn't just to urban America, is to
rural America too. There is incredible potential in rural
America--rural areas all across our country, and if we don't
harvest that potential, we are going to make a huge mistake.
In the past year, both the House and Senate have each
passed bipartisan legislation to do just that, protect
America's vital economic interests in the face of growing
threats, good paying--create good paying jobs, ensure our
National Security, and promote fair competition on the world
stage.
They will bolster our domestic semiconductor industry,
invest in research, design, and manufacturing so that we can
grow American businesses, develop new technology, and safeguard
our National Security. Our job on this committee is to work
together, work out our differences, keep an eye on the main
goal, and that is making sure we keep pace as the main economic
power in the world.
If we don't, we are simply handling the keys over to China.
I look forward to working with my Democratic friends and my
Republican friends on this Conference committee to negotiate a
bill that gets that job done.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Tester. Now we
will turn to the Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans Affairs
committee, my colleague, Senator Jerry Moran.
STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MORAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS
Senator Moran. Senator Cantwell--Chairman Cantwell, thank
you very much. I am pleased to be here for this participation
in this Conference committee. It has been a long time since we
have had a Conference committee, and I am glad to be a part of
one. And while I am the lead Republican on the Senate committee
on Veterans Affairs, I also serve as a senior member of the
Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee, the Committee
you chair.
But perhaps importantly for this Conference, I am the lead
Republican on the Senate Justice Science Appropriations
subcommittee, which of the implementing agencies for the
programs contained in this prospective legislation, including
the Department of Commerce, NASA, and the National Science
Foundation.
I am pleased we are starting the Conference process on our
chamber's respective competition innovation bills. This
committee is tasked with making certain our country is
outcompeting adversarial nations, including China, which we can
do by: authorizing necessary investments to remain at the
forefront of technological research and development,
appropriating funds to bring semiconductor manufacturing and
the downstream semiconductor ecosystem back to the U.S.,
increasing the transparency and resiliency of our supply
chains, and enlisting the intelligence and productivity of all
Americans, including those of us in Middle America, via the
EPSCoR program.
It is also important that we work to boost the
entrepreneurs and STEM work force, as well as pass the NASA
Authorization Act, which was included within the Senate
legislation. Over the past several years, I have worked to
ensure that NASA's missions have continued to progress forward
without NASA authorization.
However, we--when you can present a bipartisan
authorization, followed up with funding programs, it sends a
strong signal to the agency, to the industry, and to our global
partners that we remain committed in accomplishing our stated
missions. This is especially critical as our adversaries
continue to advance within the space domain.
Additionally, while the bills provide--the bills provide
for immediate funding for the CHIPS Act and wireless
development, the vast majority of programs include
authorizations of discretionary appropriations. For these
programs to have any effect, funding must be secured in a
future appropriation bill. One of the most critical aspects of
the Senate Competition bill was the bipartisan--and bipartisan
nature in which this legislation came together.
In that spirit, I am pleased to work with all of you, my
colleagues, and especially my colleague from Kansas,
Representative Sharice Davids, as part of this Conference
committee, and I look forward to working with all of you to see
that we accomplish the goals that we have set forth outlined by
many of the statements I have heard today. Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
Senator Tester. Next up, we have House Veterans Affairs
committee member Congressman Bost. Congressman Bost.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL BOST
Mr. Bost. Thank you, Chairman Tester. And I appreciate the
opportunity to speak about the Department of Veterans Affairs'
role with this legislation today. VA spends about $36 billion
every year in contracts, much of which was for medical
supplies, including personal protective equipment. Early in the
pandemic, when the worldwide shortages hit, VA was unprepared,
to say the least. The medical supply chain dried up. There were
shortages and rationing of material.
First, China cutoff exports, and later VA and many private
hospitals were completely reliant on China masks, gowns,
gloves, and other critical items. China is our greatest
geopolitical threat. That kind of reliance on Chinese supply
chain undermines our Nation's security and our economy--
economic security.
We should be caring for our veterans with materials that
are made by domestic manufacturers. They employ hundreds of
thousands of Americans, and they could employ even more. They
are the leading--they are leading the way in American
ingenuity. And I am glad to see that the VA included in some of
this legislation's provision. For instance, it includes
veterans in more STEM education programs. It also provides VA
on the new Manufacturing and Individual Innovation Council.
I still have some concerns with other aspects of this bill,
but these are the two good ideas, and I look forward to working
with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to improve this
legislation. And with that, Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Senator Tester. Next up, we have from the House Veterans
Affairs committee, Congressman Pappas. Congressman Pappas.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN CHRIS PAPPAS
Mr. Pappas. Thank you very much, Chairman Tester. I am
really glad to be able to join this Conference committee and to
get to work in a bipartisan fashion on crucial legislation that
is going to ensure that we make more of our goods here at home,
that we lower costs for families, and that we outcompete any
nation, including China. This work is of utmost importance to
my constituents and my small businesses in New Hampshire. And
during the development of the House bill, I submitted four
amendments that were included, and I hope to have retained.
Among them is the Homeland Procurement Reform Act, which
will support domestic manufacturing and our National Security
by ensuring that the Department of Homeland Security procures
as much protective gear as possible from U.S. manufacturers and
small businesses.
In addition to this key provision, I hope to work across
the aisle to retain the measures that would support rural
businesses and help them access export markets, improve access
and resiliency grants for our coastal communities, and expand
the STEM work force.
And to help address our supply chain crisis, we must ensure
that this final package makes significant investments in the
domestic production of semiconductor chips. Finally, as we
consider the portions of this bill that will impact our
veterans, I will work to ensure that this package addresses the
supply chain issues that VA faced in recent years, particularly
with regard to access to personal protective equipment and
other crucial medical supplies.
Our VA facilities must never again be unprepared for a
crisis like they were over the last 2 years, and this
legislation must ensure they have the resources to care for our
heroes. I am ready to work together, taking the best ideas from
Republicans and Democrats, to make sure that we build consensus
to get this done for the American people, because it is vital
that we get this bill negotiated, we get it passed and signed
into law, and secure America's global competitiveness in a way
that bolsters domestic manufacturing, strengthens our work
force, and supply chains.
So the future of our economy is at stake? Let's make this
century another American century. Let's get to work, work
through the differences, and get this done. I yield back.
Senator Tester. Next, we have the Ranking Member from the
Senate Judiciary committee, my good friend, Chuck Grassley.
Senator Grassley.
STATEMENT OF HON. CHUCK GRASSLEY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM IOWA
Senator Grassley. Thank you, Senator Tester. I am glad to
be here to discuss this important legislative effort to counter
China's threat to our economy and also to our National
Security. First, I would like to emphasize that this is a China
centered bill. It is not an immigration or climate bill.
Almost a year ago, USICA got 68 votes in the Senate because
we recognized that simple fact of China's competition and
threat. To pass, it has to stay that way. I note that the House
bill authored uses the word coral more than China. It waters
down language of genocide in the Xinjiang part of China. The
final bill must be laser focused on countering the Chinese
Communist Party. That doesn't mean adopting heavy handed
industrial policies to rival those industrial policies of
China.
We need to--very rigorous analysis to ensure objectives are
met and taxpayer funds aren't wasted. In particular, the House
bill includes a whole host of immigration provisions, many of
which are partisan and, or completely unrelated to countering
China. A number of the immigration provisions were amendments
put forward by Democrat House members. These were then added to
the House bill as part of a large amendment package. Then the
bill passed on an almost entirely party line vote.
I share the concerns of many of my colleagues with the
House bill's immigration provisions that were not in the Senate
bill. As a result, I will oppose the inclusion of any of the
House immigration provisions in the final bill produced by this
Congress. We need--in order to pass, we need a bill focused
squarely on China and not unrelated provisions. I yield.
Senator Tester. Next, we have from House Judiciary,
Congresswoman Scanlon. Congresswoman Scanlon
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN MARY GAY SCANLON
Ms. Scanlon. Thank you, Senator Tester, for hosting this
meeting of the COMPETES Act and USICA Conference committee. I
am honored to be here among colleagues to do the important work
of negotiating the final version of a bill which will make
critical new investments in research, innovation, and American
manufacturing. I am hopeful that the final product of our
negotiations will ensure America's ability to outcompete any
nation in the world now and for decades to come. I represent
Pennsylvania's fifth District in the Southeastern corner of our
Commonwealth.
Our district proudly hosts over 20 institutions of higher
education, the Philadelphia Port and airport, as well as rail
and interstate networks, and is a global hub for cutting edge
biotech and medical research and development. Our region knows
that America's economic dominance is dependent on our research
institutions being at the forefront of their respective fields,
our supply chains being strengthened to make more goods in
America, and American manufacturing being accelerated to
advance our global competitiveness while supporting strong
labor standards.
I am proud to have two amendments included in the COMPETES
Act. One would increase research capacity for STEM students.
The other would expand eligibility for regional innovation hub
programs, spurring research and workforce development
initiatives across the country. I would also like to echo the
comments of the Senator from Washington about the importance of
keeping the provisions of the Safe Banking Act in the final
version of this bill. As like Washington, the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania has also legalized the sale of marijuana for some
purposes.
Additionally, I was glad to see important priorities from
the Judiciary committee included in the final text of the
COMPETES Act. These provisions include the Shop Safe Act, which
would reduce the availability of harmful counterfeit products
sold through online platforms. It includes visa protections to
ensure that our country continues to attract talented doctoral
STEM graduates and entrepreneurs from around the world. And it
includes additional provisions to collect demographic
information at the USPTO and modernize the filing fee structure
for merger review at the Department of Justice.
Taken together, these priorities make critical improvements
and investments to our economy, and I look forward to working
with all of my colleagues to finalize the language that will be
sent to the President's desk. Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you very much for your participation. We
will now take a 10-minute break to reset for one of our last
segments. Obviously, we will accommodate any of our colleagues
who did not make it to this particular section on judiciary
issues, and anybody else, a few people who may still come later
today. But we will end with an Energy, Environment,
Infrastructure, Agriculture, Armed Services, and Business. And
that--we will reconvene at 1:25 p.m.
[Recess.]
The Chair. The Conference committee on Competition and
Innovation legislation will come back into order. Our final
speaking session, we will hear from members of the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources committee and the House Natural
Resources committee, the Science committee on Environment and
Public Works, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure
committee.
I welcome all our colleagues. We will also hear from House
Agriculture committee, House Armed Services committee, and the
House Small Business committee, and Senate Small Business
committee. So we will try to do these in specific segments.
First, I would like to call on the Ranking Member of the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources committee, my colleague, Senator
John Barrasso.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WYOMING
Senator Barrasso. Well, thanks so much, Madam Chair. You
know, this is--the gulf between the Senate and the House
versions of this is really as wide as the Grand Canyon. The
Senate's version is bipartisan. The House version is partisan
to the bone. The Senate authorizes $210 billion in spending.
The House authorizes close to $400 billion, almost twice as
much. The House purports to improve competition with China.
They claim that it reins in China's theft of our national--of
our Nation's intellectual property and research. But the vast
majority of the House's version has nothing to do with these
priorities. One provision provides cannabis businesses that
legally operate in a State access to the banking system. How on
earth does that have to do or what does it have to do with
China?
The House even provides China with a competitive advantage
over the United States. Unlike the Senate, the House does not
ban Federal funding for colleges and universities that host
Beijing's Confucius Institutes. The House supports the United
States implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. It
prioritizes climate change throughout our Nation's diplomatic
and military missions.
The House also spends billions of hard earned taxpayer
dollars on climate change programs around the world, none of
which will help us counter China. With inflation at 40 year
highs, energy prices at an all-time high, and a war in Ukraine,
Americans simply cannot afford another barrage of Democrat
policies.
People, they have already weakened our economy and
undermined our standing in the world. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you. I will now turn to the Chairman of
the House Natural Resources committee, Congressman Raul
Grijalva. Thank you so much for being here.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN RAUL GRIJALVA
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you, Madam Chair, and for holding this
meeting today. I would like to highlight the importance----
The Chair. Congressman, push your red button. There, thank
you.
Mr. Grijalva. Well, thank you again, Madam Chair. I would
like to highlight the importance of the Natural Resources
committee division of the COMPETES Act and urge my colleagues
to keep it intact through this whole Conference process. These
divisions contain important bipartisan provisions to improve
U.S. leadership and competitiveness globally, help us hold bad
actors accountable, secure America's long term economic
security, and protect ocean and marine life.
The House passed COMPETES Act includes parts of
subcommittee Chair Huffman and Congressman Graves Illegal
Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed our
committee by voice vote last year. As a top importer of seafood
globally, we have a moral responsibility to ensure that the
seafood we bring into this country does not come from slave
labor or illegal practices.
The COMPETES Act bill addresses these issues and should
remain. In addition, our provisions make critical investments
in the expansion of clean energy development on public lands
and waters and ends the ban on offshore wind leasing in the
South Atlantic. Also, the bill creates the Office of Education
Technology and the Bureau of Indian Education to make sure
tribal students have high speed Internet access and technology
to succeed in this day and age and compete in the competitive
global market.
Our section contains provisions to address wildlife
trafficking and disease threats from wildlife. We know the
COVID-19 pandemic originated from wildlife trade. Therefore, we
must make meaningful steps at home and abroad to ensure that
another disease from the wildlife trade does not wreck the type
of havoc that has wreaked upon this country through the COVID-
19 pandemic.
The Natural Resources Division is essential to achieving
the goal of better outcomes for workers, consumers, and the
U.S. on a global scale. I urge my colleagues to support these
provisions. I thank the Chair and yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Congressman Grijalva. I think people
probably think, well, wait a minute, what does food have to do
with it? I guarantee you the seafood provisions of this bill
had lively debate a year ago in the Senate Commerce committee,
and so thank you for mentioning those provisions. I think
Congresswoman Harrell is on her way. So for the time being, I
will turn to my colleague, Senator Martin Heinrich.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARTIN HEINRICH,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO
Mr. Heinrich. Thank you, Madam Chair. Our Nation's
scientific researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and
manufacturing workers remain the most innovative on the planet,
and that certainly won't be the case if we rest on our laurels.
In my home state of New Mexico, our national labs, research
universities, military installations, and private sector
companies are poised to develop and commercialize a number of
next generation technologies.
New Mexicans stand ready to lead the way in manufacturing
more semiconductors and other advanced technologies developed
in our national labs like quantum computing systems. I worked
with my colleagues in the Senate to secure a $17 billion
investment in research and development at our national labs, to
maintain our ability to develop and deploy these emerging
technologies. And I was also proud to partner with my
colleague, Senator Ben Ray Lujan, to secure a $30 billion
investment to modernize the infrastructure at our national
labs.
In that spirit, I think it is critical that we are also
investing in the infrastructure at our research universities,
including minority serving institutions, where we are training
the next generation of American innovators. The bill that we
advanced out of the Senate also included a $52 billion
investment to supercharge our domestic superconductor and
microelectronic manufacturing capabilities.
By ramping up the production of the chips that have become
key components in so many products, we will substantially lower
costs for the American families on purchases from smartphones
to cars and home appliances. Finally, I hope that we will
include the language from the First Three Act, which would help
to finance the development of new industrial technologies that
dramatically reduce our energy use. I look forward to getting
to work alongside all of you to advance American innovation and
economic competitiveness. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you very much. Next, we will hear from
Senator Mark Kelly. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARK KELLY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA
Senator Kelly. Thank you, Madam Chair. So for more than a
year now, my focus has been on securing critical funding to
support our Nation's semiconductor manufacturing, research, and
development capabilities, because these tiny microchips are in
everything, and right now there is a global shortage. This
means that consumer goods like cars, washing machines, your
cell phone are just more expensive.
And it threatens our National Security, with production
lines for advanced fighter jets and other weapon systems
delayed or reliant now on microchips that are made overseas.
That is why I began working more than a year ago with Senator
Cornyn and Senator Warner to negotiate a $52 billion deal to
fund the CHIPS Act programs. This will help build new microchip
production facilities here in the U.S., and many of those will
be in Arizona. And it will help us ensure that the next
generation of microchips are developed here in the United
States.
Our deal was included in both the Senate and House bill,
and it has received strong support from Republicans and
Democrats and is supported by business groups, including the
Chamber of Commerce and organized labor. And I am committed to
ensuring that we get this over the finish line. But while we
have been working to get this done, the chip shortage has
gotten worse.
So I also hope that this Conference committee can go
further to support microchip production. And I hope this
package includes a 25 percent permanent investment tax credit
to support semiconductor manufacturers and their suppliers who
choose to invest in the United States. And I hope that it can
include bipartisan legislation that I introduced with Senator
Blackburn to authorize a new microchip R&D program at the
Department of Energy.
And I hope it takes meaningful steps to ensure that we have
a strong workforce which can support our growing domestic
microchip industry now and into the future. Madam Chair, I
believe we have no time to waste, and I look forward to working
with my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, in both the
House and Senate to get this done. Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you, Senator Kelly. Now, Congressman
McEachin.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN DONALD McEACHIN
Mr. McEachin. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you for
allowing me to come before you today. I recognize my time today
here is brief, but I would like to emphasize the importance of
the Natural Resources Community's division of the COMPETES Act.
I strongly urge my colleagues to keep it intact as we move
through the Conference process.
The Natural Resources committee division of the COMPETES
Act includes a suite of significant and bipartisan provisions
that improve our Nation's global competitiveness, ensure a
leadership role for the United States, put in place
accountability measures for bad actors, protect ocean life, and
strengthen the economic security of America. I would like to
specifically highlight a few provisions.
The House passed COMPETES Act includes large parts of H.R.
3075, the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act,
introduced by subcommittee chair Jared Huffman and Congressman
Garret Graves. This bill was favorably reported by the House
Natural Resources committee on a voice vote in this Congress.
The United States is the largest importer of seafood, and up to
one-third of the annual global seafood catch is estimated to be
the product of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
Our Nation has a responsibility to ensure that seafood we
import is not the result of illegal practices or the product of
slave labor. The House passed COMPETES Act addresses these
issues, and they should remain. The National Resources
committee division also includes provisions related to clean
energy--on the development of clean energy on public lands and
the leasing of offshore wind areas, and we look to decrease our
reliance on foreign energy and to build domestic supply chains
for clean energy.
These provisions must remain in place. Deep sea mining for
rare earth elements is the next frontier, and we must take
proactive steps to address and understand the uncertainties and
environmental impacts, given the likelihood that other nations
will engage in this space. There is a provision that directs
studies on deep sea mining and carbon storage in the deep sea
environment.
I will reiterate what Chairman Grijalva said, that the
Natural Resources division of the House passed COMPETES Act is
essential. These provisions will help us reach better outcomes
for the American worker, the American consumer, and will
increase American competitiveness.
I urge my colleagues to support these provisions. I see my
time has lapsed, so thank you for allowing me to trespass on
yours.
The Chair. Thank you. We will next hear from the Ranking
Member of the Environment and Public Works committee, Senator
Shelley Capito.
STATEMENT OF HON. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA
Senator Capito. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I am
glad that we are holding today's initial meeting of conferees
as we work to finalize legislation that will improve America's
competitiveness in the face of growing challenges from China
and other adversaries. In order to maintain America's position
as the global economic and innovation leader, we must make the
necessary investments to keep up with our competition and win
the future.
That includes investing in research and development,
science and technology, manufacturing, education, and preparing
our workforce to meet the needs of tomorrow's economy. The
Senate bill does just that by helping to bring chip
manufacturing back to our country, which is critical, as most
have mentioned in their statements.
Also, includes support for our Department of Energy labs,
like the National Energy Technology Lab in Morgantown, West
Virginia. And it makes sure that all parts of our country,
including rural areas which receive research and education
funding, like Marshall and West Virginia University, that is
very impactful. I am one of 18 Republicans who voted to pass
the Senate legislation last year.
Like any bipartisan legislation, the Senate bill is not
perfect. But it was the result of compromise to reach our
shared goal of legislating to improve America's
competitiveness. The House bill is stocked full of left wing
priorities and spending. For example, the House bill authorizes
$8 billion to the green climate fund, a fund that Congress has
declined to provide funding for since Fiscal Year 2016.
The bill also authorizes $2 billion per year indefinitely
to address climate change internationally by paying other
countries to transition to cleaner energy, explicitly requiring
funds to facilitate the transition away from fossil fuel power
and improve the availability of electric vehicles. It allows
for these funds to be provided to international multilateral
funds, such as the green climate fund, the world's largest
multinational fund devoted to climate change.
This is not what this opportunity is all about. I want to
see us reach an agreement on legislation to advance American
technology and innovation. I will do everything to help see
that we can get to a final Conference report that reflects the
Senate's bipartisan balance if we are to have success here. I
look forward to working with my colleagues. And thank you,
Madam Chair.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Capito. Next is
Congressman Rick Crawford.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN RICK CRAWFORD
Mr. Crawford. Thank you, Chair Cantwell. I appreciate that.
Like my colleagues here today, I am eager to get to work on
this pivotal legislation. The United States is at a crossroads,
facing true great power competition for the first time since
the cold war, with an adversary willing to push all limits to
gain the upper hand. It is imperative that we equip American
industry to compete with China, and both chambers have
presented ideas that work toward this goal.
However, in many ways, the legislation before the
Conference has turned into a partisan catchall, littered with
policies that are redundant, unproductive, and not germane. My
colleagues and I on the House Transportation and Infrastructure
committee are concerned about the $4 billion authorization in
the COMPETES Act for a new EDA pilot program. Not only is this
ten times the EDA's standard appropriations, it waives the cost
share typically required, eliminating the skin in the game for
recipients.
The authorized activities may be reasonable, but they are
largely duplicative, and additional application requirements
could add unnecessary burdens on recipients. Also being
considered is the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. I am a co-sponsor
of H.R. 4996, and I have supported the legislation three times
in the House. I agree Congress must address the ongoing cargo
backups and delays that are crippling the supply chain and the
Federal Maritime Commission's Enforcement Authority.
However, adding policies that the House and Senate have
addressed multiple times already slows down our ability to
address China's rapidly growing influence around the world.
Sooner or later Congress must address the U.S. businesses
investing billions into China's technical sector--technology
sector, the dependance of the pharmaceutical industry on
China's precursor ingredients, and our subsidizing of chip
production when much of the supply chain remains in China.
The United States remains the global leader across
industries and continues to have an unmatched economy,
military, and democracy, while China has proven time and time
again that they are not a trustworthy partner. It is imperative
that Congress take action today to bolster U.S. growth and
competition and ensure China is not permitted to steal and
cheat its way to the top. With that, I yield back. Thank you,
Chair.
The Chair. Thank you. We will next hear from Congressman
Malinowski.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN TOM MALINOWSKI
Mr. Malinowski. Thank you, Madam Chair. Our Nation's
competition with China will have significant and lasting
implications for our economy, our National Security, and our
standing in the world. And we have before us a bill that is
going to put us in a very good position to win that
competition. One thing we all agree on is that we need a bill
that invests in microchip manufacturing.
And we agree because there is bipartisan agreement around a
principle, that if there is a technology that is vital to our
economic and National Security, then that technology should be
made in America. But if we agree on that principle, then surely
we would understand that the principle doesn't apply to solely
one technology. We should be concerned, for example, that
roughly 80 percent of our battery cell manufacturing capacity
today is in China. It should concern us that 90 percent of the
facilities making active pharmaceutical ingredients in our
generic drugs are located overseas.
And certainly none of us want our front line nurses wearing
trash bags again because we are waiting on PPE imports from
other countries. The bipartisan supply chain provisions in the
COMPETES Act will allow us to address these challenges. That is
why more than 130 major American companies and industry
associations, including the National Association of
Manufacturing, are calling on us to move them forward, and I
hope that we will.
I will say in my remaining time that I hope we will also
address and include in the final bill some of the foreign
policy provisions in the House bill, in particular, a
bipartisan provision that will enable people with high skills
from Hong Kong, a territory that is being severely repressed
right now by the Chinese Communist Party, to come to the United
States.
Let us make China's loss, America's gain, and show the
world and image that China's dictatorship does not want to see,
the image of Hong Kongers who value freedom, putting--
dedicating their lives and their resources and their talents to
helping the United States of America. Thank you, and I yield
back.
The Chair. Thank you very much. Before we close out the
section, I would like to recognize Congresswoman Yvette
Herrell. Ranking Member from--no, sorry. House--yes--House
National Resources committee, member.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN YVETTE HERRELL
Ms. Herrell. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chairman. First of
all, let me express my gratitude to my Republican colleagues on
the House Natural Resources committee for choosing me to be
their representative on this Conference committee. I hope to be
a strong voice on this Conference committee for unleashing
American resources and American ingenuity in the face of the
ever growing threat we face from China.
The House's COMPETES is nothing short of a disaster. It is
the opposite of competition. It punishes American industries
while further empowering and emboldening China. From a Natural
Resources' perspective, the bill does nothing to address
China's stranglehold over the critical minerals supply chain,
even when America has the ability and expertise to, not just
compete, but to win.
If we refuse to take bold action to secure our mineral
needs, we put our National Security at risk given their
importance to our military capabilities and energy grid. The
bill also does nothing to reduce our dependency on our
adversaries for oil and gas. Gasoline prices hit an all-time
high this week, and the Biden Administration announced just
last night that they would cancel all offshore lease sales,
cutting off access to American energy sources, sending damaging
signals to the energy market, and threatening our future energy
security.
Unfortunately, this policy choice comes as no surprise
given the Biden Administration's constant assaults on American
energy and mineral development. In a bill dealing with a
foreign adversary, the House bill mentions climate change twice
as often as the National Security. It mentions coal more often
than it mentions--or coral more often than it mentions China.
It includes much of the Democrats radical blue New Deal, heavy
handed Federal Government knows best legislation that will make
us more dependent on imported products rather than utilizing
and conserving America's abundance of natural resources.
Also snuck into the bill are several amendments to the
Lacey Act, which the Natural Resources committee never
considered that threaten American jobs. These provisions give
blanket authority to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
determine the so-called ``injurious species'' without any
requirement for public input, advance notice, or comment,
dramatically expanding the Fish and Wildlife Services'
authority to regulate movement of injurious wildlife within the
United States and makes wildlife importers guilty until proven
innocent.
These provisions will be detrimental to the American
industries, such as aquaculture, which are already highly
regulated businesses. As a final gift to China's despotic
regime, the bill also gives $8 billion to the U.N. green
climate fund, which has previously awarded $100 million to
China. Thank you, Madam Chairman, and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you so much. I am going to turn to the
Ranking Member of the House Armed Services committee,
Congressman Norcross.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN DONALD NORCROSS
Mr. Norcross. Thank you. Title says it all, America
COMPETES Act. As a member of the House Armed Services
committee, so many reasons to focus on our competition well
into next century, the pandemic, the supply chains. We need a
secure industrial base to take care of our defense industry.
$52 billion for chips, semiconductors, ensuring we can create
arms like the ones that are supplying Ukraine this very day.
Ensuring that is incredibly important. It is the basis for
National Security, for our allies, and for our partners. We
need to remain competitive, so America's values of freedom and
democracy endure. Competition may be global, but
competitiveness starts right here at home. We need a trained,
skilled work force. Lead, not just an education, but job
training, making sure that labor protections are included.
Competition is about values. We need to make workers a
value. Don't treat them like cogs in a machine. That is what
China does. Our National Apprenticeship Act supports domestic
work force, creates job opportunities to ensure our supply
chain, industrial base has a strong labor pool. America is
competitive because of our people. The technology, the
manufacturing capacity, the defense industries, these things
are built by workers.
My focus in this Conference is keeping the focus on the
supply chain and its competitiveness. That means looking out
for the workers who make that supply chain work. I thank you
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The Chair. Thank you. I would like to ask Congressman
Moore's discretion if our colleague, Senator Young, who has
been here, but he is the author of this legislation in the
Senate and has been carrying the load, if it would be OK if he
preceded you.
Mr. Moore. Only for Senator Young.
The Chair. OK, great.
STATEMENT OF HON. TODD YOUNG,
U.S. SENATOR FROM INDIANA
Senator Young. Well, I thank the Congressman, and I thank
you, Chair Cantwell, for your leadership. When I first
introduced the Endless Frontier Act in the spring of 2020, I
didn't imagine it would take 2 years to be sitting here today,
but I am pleased that this bill moved through regular order in
the Senate with the Chair's hard work and my colleagues, having
so many opportunities to express their views. They contributed
ideas and we sanded and polished this important piece of
legislation, and that brings us to here.
As we begin the formal Conference process, let's remember
this, throughout our Nation's recent history, Republicans and
Democrats have worked together on critical National Security
issues, issues that are bigger than whatever our domestic
political divisions may be. And I believe this legislation is
yet another moment where we must come together in a bipartisan
fashion for the future of our country.
We have a National Security imperative to ensure that we
don't fall behind the Chinese Communist Party in our
technological innovation, which is historically a key driver of
our Nation's economic growth and rise to power. American
leadership in science and technology, especially the emerging
technologies that will dominate the 21st century, is vital to
both the future of the American economy and to our
competitiveness with China.
This legislation will help us lay the foundation for the
private sector to harness the innovation occurring around our
country and will contribute toward the construction of fabs
that will create the resilience necessary to compete globally,
both economically and militarily. In the days ahead there no
doubt will be disagreements, but we need to get this bill
across the finish line, with a strong bipartisan vote and help
ensure the United States is leading the world into the future.
As Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster said at an event on
this bill yesterday, ``we need to work together and get this
darn thing done.'' H.R. McMaster is right, and I think the
American people understand the importance of this moment as
well. So I look forward to working with the members of this
Conference committee to see this bill across the finish line.
Thank you, Chair.
The Chair. Thank you so much. And again, thank you to you
and Senator Schumer for your leadership on this issue. As you
said, long time coming. Thank you, Congressman Moore, for your
indulgence there. Appreciate it. Welcome. Look forward to your
remarks.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN BLAKE MOORE
Mr. Moore. Thanks, Madam Chair. I am honored to speak today
on behalf of House Armed Services committee Republicans. The
Chinese Communist Party is on a clear path to threaten our way
of life, and whatever legislation we adopt must reflect that
reality.
As drafted, these bills do not adequately address the
military threat posed by the People's Republic of China. Nor do
they clearly focus on building a competitive, whole of
Government approach to counter the Chinese Communist Party. The
House bill completely bypassed the House Armed Services
committee despite containing a number of provisions in our
jurisdiction.
Both bills make welcome investments in American research
and manufacturing capacities, but those improvements must be
bolstered by National Security safeguards and commitments to
build capacity quickly. Some provisions, as was mentioned and
discussed widely with regards to chips, these have noble goals,
but others put climate change fluff and sense of Congress ahead
of real action to isolate the CCP and build resilience in our
allies and partners. The previous Commander of U.S. Indo-
Pacific Command, Admiral Davidson, put the Chinese threat
plainly. He said, ``I think the threat of China invading Taiwan
is manifest during this decade, in fact, within the next six
years.'' Admiral Davidson gave that warning in March 2021.
My goal on behalf of Armed Services Republicans is to press
hard on real action to protect American security and the
American economy from the massive global shock that an
attempted Chinese invasion of Taiwan could cause, and the long
term impacts of China's global market manipulation. Many of the
world's largest and most advanced semiconductor facilities
could be under Chinese control in the next 5 years, and that
point cannot be under stressed. This threat is not
hypothetical.
Whatever provisions this Conference ultimately adopts
should reflect the dire urgency shared by our military leaders,
making lasting investments to protect American safety and
prosperity. I will finish with my team is completely committed
to making this the best possible bill, one that we can find
bipartisan solutions and come with the real type of outcomes
that are needed. Thank you.
The Chair. Thank you so much for that statement.
Congresswoman Escobar, welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN VERONICA ESCOBAR
Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Chairwoman Cantwell. I am honored
to be here on behalf of the House Armed Services committee and
my community of El Paso, Texas, as a conferee for this historic
piece of legislation. I would like to thank Chairman Smith and
the subcommittee chairs for their leadership in helping craft
many critical components of this bill.
As a conferee, I am committed to working with my Senate
colleagues on delivering to the President's desk a robust,
bipartisan, and bicameral package that invests in research,
strengthens supply chains, bolsters innovation and
competitiveness, and most importantly, delivers for Americans
by lowering costs and promoting our values at home and abroad.
I want to stress to this Conference the urgent national and
economic security implications attached to tackling
semiconductor supply chain concerns through the CHIPS Act.
Earlier today, in an Armed Services posture hearing, U.S.
Army Secretary Wormuth stressed this critical vulnerability in
our supply chain, saying it is problematic and that we cannot
allow ourselves to continue being dependent on our adversaries
for equipment in our weapons systems. It is our job to urgently
mitigate this risk and not only incentivize production, but the
stockpile of chips.
Second, I am proud to have worked tirelessly to include
several provisions critical to El Paso, one of our Nation's
most important trade corridors. I will work with the Committee
to ensure it sees the significance of these provisions.
Additionally, I urge my colleagues to retain other key House
provisions that increase corporate accountability, promote
diversity in the technology sector, ensure human rights
protections for U.S. security cooperation abroad, and address
the climate crisis, which is a real National Security threat.
As U.S. businesses, workers, and consumers continue to
wrestle with the impact of global inflation, our work today is
more important than ever. Global inflation will persist for
some time, making life more challenging for Americans. Through
this Conference, we can address real issues that Americans are
grappling with every day while out competing our adversaries.
I look forward to working with all of you to finalize a
package that will benefit our country for decades to come.
Thank you, and I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you, Congresswoman. We will now hear from
Congressman Fitzgerald. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN SCOTT FITZGERALD
Mr. Fitzgerald. Good afternoon, Senator Cantwell,
Congresswoman Johnson, and thank you for holding this meeting.
I am pleased to represent the House Small Business committee on
this Conference committee. Within our jurisdiction, the key
provisions and programs under discussion of the Small Business
Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer, or
SBIR and STTR programs.
These programs are set to expire at the end of this Fiscal
Year. The mission of these programs is to support scientific
excellence and technological innovation for small business.
These programs are vital to the success of many small entities
and have helped create thousands of new jobs by fostering
innovation and stimulating the economy through new cutting edge
research.
For the last 40 years, these programs have helped firms
develop new technologies that have benefited the warfighter and
helped Federal agencies meet their R&D needs. However, there
are issues we must address before extending these programs long
term. Most notably, the foreign influence, and much to our
concern, the malign foreign intelligence. Recent DOD study
revealed that China, not the United States, is the primary
beneficiary of DOD and the U.S. Government research
investments. It is shocking.
This is not only extremely troubling, but something we must
address. China is exploiting our small business through shell
companies, planted Government researchers, and State sponsored
talent programs. Prior to reauthorizing this program, we must
ensure the necessity and safeguards are in place to protect
American small business and intellectual property. Our goal, I
think, should be that this legislation would make us less
dependent on China and not support them.
On the topic, I was pleased that my bill, a bill that we
had been working on, the Foreign Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act,
passed as an amendment to the America COMPETES Act. The Foreign
Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act would require the FTC and DOJ
antitrust division to take foreign government subsidies into
account in pre-merger notification processes.
This modest additional disclosure fills a gap in
acquisitions from companies that may not rise National Security
concerns that would trigger a review for the Committee on
foreign investment in the United States. I look forward to
working with my colleagues to combat foreign influence, protect
small business, and reform these programs. I yield back.
The Chair. Thank you. Congressman Fitzgerald. We will now
hear from Congresswoman Sharice Davids.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN SHARICE DAVIDS
Ms. Davids. Thank you, Madam Chair. Over the past several
months, I have spoken with dozens of Kansas business owners,
workers, students and entrepreneurs about the impact of this
legislation that we are talking about today. I have been on the
factory floor with welders who make the railroads. They get
goods from ship to shelf across our country.
I have seen firsthand how a Kansas battery manufacturer
recycles their materials through the production process to
reduce wastes and improve efficiency. I have met with union
autoworkers who were off the line for several months last year
because of the chip shortage that idled a GM plant in my
district. I have been out in the community because I want to
make sure that during this negotiation I am fighting for what
our businesses and workers really need.
And from engineers to mechanics to microbreweries, I am
hearing a lot of the same things, supply chain snags are
squeezing businesses big and small. The pandemic caused a
global disruption that is impacting prices for businesses and
consumers. But I have to tell you, this is not new. The reality
is we have been reliant on goods made in other countries for
far too long. And Kansans are definitely paying the price for
that.
When we focus on domestic manufacturing, it will not only
bring back jobs and boost our economy, it is going to help
lower costs across the board and reduce inflation. My
priorities for this negotiation are to ensure that we are
including small businesses when we upgrade our supply chains,
that we are supporting innovative entrepreneurship and
manufacturing, and that we are preparing a workforce to power
us into the future.
Another thing I have learned from my conversations, we have
the innovation, the grit, and the talent to compete with
countries like China. I am ready to start betting on our team.
I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to find some
common ground here and get this thing done. Thank you, and I
yield back.
The Chair. Thank you so much, Congresswoman. Now we will
turn to Senator Raphael Warnock.
STATEMENT OF HON. RAPHAEL WARNOCK,
U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA
Senator Warnock. Thank you so very much, Madam Chair. And I
am very grateful that we are at this point. This historic----
The Chair. Senator, if you could yield. I am very glad we
are at this point because you are the last Speaker.
Senator Warnock. I understand.
The Chair. Sorry for the interruption.
Senator Warnock. This historic bipartisan legislation will
help lower costs for hardworking families, create jobs, and
help us compete in the global economy. And we must get it done
and over the finish line as soon as possible. This bill will
start helping families right away by making new investments in
supply chain resiliency so that we can better monitor and
prevent shortages and critical products.
Whether they are the chips that you find in almost every
electronic product, or the materials we need to build homes, or
the chips we need, quite frankly, for the KIA plant that is
down in West Point, Georgia, that had to close a couple of
times for lack of microchips. That is the reason I am laser
focused on lowering costs and these programs are an important
first step.
At the same time, this bill also invests in our future by
increasing funding for STEM research and education, just as
important as strengthening our ability to turn scientific
breakthroughs into new businesses, businesses that are based in
Georgia, creating new, good paying jobs.
And so I am working to ensure this bill uplifts families
and communities across Georgia, from researchers at Savannah
State University to startup founders in Atlanta, to young
students in our rural communities all across our state who will
make scientific discoveries that we cannot yet imagine.
And so I, too, am glad we are at this point, Madam Chair,
and I am looking forward to working with everybody to craft
strong bipartisan legislation that strengthens innovation,
lowers costs, and supports families in every corner of our
Nation.
The Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Warnock. And I
think it is very fitting--you know, we had to work very hard
with the Administration on the SKLG issue in your state a year
ago so that we could keep manufacturing moving, and now we want
this bill to do the same on a grander scale. So very fitting
that you are last Speaker.
I am going to enter into the record statements by Senator
Toomey, Congressman Guest, Congressman Nadler, Congressman
Tiffany, Congressman DeFazio, and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez
for the record.
[The statements referred to can be found in the Appendix.]
The Chair. We have had 94 people speak today. That
concludes our Conference committee. I am very encouraged not
only by the participation, but the amount of bipartisan overlap
on issues that were brought up here today.
I think it is a very rare privilege to get to sit and
listen to our colleagues on a variety of committees come
together and have a common view about America's
competitiveness.
So we think today is a good start for the Innovation and
Competition Conference committee. We look forward to working
with all of our colleagues. We are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:06 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Prepared Statement from Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)
China is the greatest challenge to the United States and a rules-
based order since the demise of the Soviet Union. The sheer size of the
country and the depths of poverty from which they emerged means that
even catching up to one-sixth of U.S. GDP per capita, where China
stands today, has had an outsized impact on the world economy. But this
growth has been in spite of their totalitarian regime and centrally
planned system--not because of it.
American economic competitiveness has rarely, if ever, depended on
government-directed industrial policy. In fact, the best approach for
achieving economic growth, and a higher standard of living, has always
been to unleash market competition.
The House bill is chock-full of bad ideas that put government at
the center of a managed economy: $8 billion for the United Nations'
Green Climate Agreement, another $10 billion for climate change efforts
at the State Department, and $45 billion for the Commerce Department to
make loans to support manufacturing of any product Commerce deems
important. This is compounded by onerous, outdated, and partisan labor
provisions. What could possibly go wrong?
There are the concerning trade provisions in the House bill. The
House bill unwisely toughens antidumping and countervailing duties law,
which will increase red tape for importers and impose more and higher
tariffs against U.S. businesses and consumers. These changes would
impact trade with all countries--not just China. Let me remind my House
colleagues: The goal of this legislation is to increase the
competitiveness of American businesses--not to increase their costs.
This provision also eliminates longstanding duty-free treatment of
certain small consumer shipments, which will only increase prices for
American consumers who are already being plagued by nearly 40-year high
inflation.
The House bill also creates a new interagency committee--``outbound
CFIUS''--to screen outbound ``covered transactions'' from U.S.
companies going to ``countries of concern,'' most notably China. While
I understand my colleagues have been working to narrow this provision,
even revised language will grant the Federal government sweeping new
authorities to dramatically disrupt and halt the free flow of
investment, intellectual property, and trade in goods and services.
Such a dramatic escalation in protectionism and expansion of the
administrative state shouldn't be thrown into a package such as this.
It should be carefully considered through regular order, by the
committees of jurisdiction in both chambers, including the Senate
Banking Committee, and by the full House and Senate.
And then there is the 301 tariff exclusion process. Last week, the
Senate passed my motion to instruct this Committee to create an
exclusion process for 301 tariffs harming American manufacturers. The
tariff exclusion process was in place for 30 out of 31 months during
the Trump administration, and 91 of my Senate colleagues voted for this
language--originally authored by my colleagues Sens. Crapo and Wyden--
when the Senate considered this legislation last spring. Yet the House
stripped their bill of this critical provision.
American manufacturers must be able to effectively compete with
everyone, including China. With a Section 301 tariff exclusion process,
American manufacturers will be better positioned to obtain the
materials they need for production. As this committee convenes in the
coming weeks, I strongly urge my colleagues to follow the instructions
passed by the Senate and prioritize the reestablishment of this
exclusion process. Failure to allow this remedy will harm our own
manufacturers and small businesses, disadvantaging these companies
relative to foreign competitors at a time when we should be enabling
their success.
Maintaining our technological superiority over China requires
punishing bad Chinese behavior and emboldening the natural innovative
entrepreneurship of America's market economy--not imitating Chinese
central planning. I hope my colleagues will keep this in mind as we
work to find an agreement.
______
Prepared Statement from Rep. Guest (MS-03)
Chairman Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and Members of the
Committee, thank you for this opportunity to provide input on H.R.
4521, the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) of 2021,
or the Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in
Technology, and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022.
China poses the greatest 50-year threat to our homeland. The
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will stop at nothing to achieve its
geopolitical goals and gain economic advantage over American businesses
and institutions. The CCP is launching cyber-attacks against our
critical infrastructure, testing nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles,
and committing gross human violations against its own citizens.
It is crucial that the United States produce semiconductors and
other critical goods to tackle the current supply chain crisis we are
facing. History has proven that American innovation can lead on a
global scale, and we must act now to produce more domestic products.
Therefore, Congress must take a strategic approach to counter the CCP's
aggression and to bolster the resilience of American supply chains.
I am proud to represent the Committee on Homeland Security as the
Conferee for this Conference. Specifically, the Committee on Homeland
Security is focused on ensuring that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
technology and equipment utilized by the Federal government for its
critical missions are not manufactured in an adversarial foreign
country like China.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to stop
the CCP, defend our homeland from foreign influence, and strengthen the
American economy.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman,
House Judiciary Committee
Senator Cantwell, Chairwoman Johnson, and other distinguished
members of the Conference Committee, thank you for convening this
important meeting.
The COMPETES Act, as it passed the House of Representatives,
represents a tremendous accomplishment on behalf of the American
people. As a whole, it creates good-paying jobs, stimulates
manufacturing, promotes innovation, and makes once-in-a-generation
investments in science, research, and technology.
Working together in this Conference, I am certain that we can
achieve the same goals and send a truly transformational bill to the
President for his signature.
Within COMPETES, the House Judiciary Committee has advanced a small
but critical set of proposals for your consideration.
First, the SHOP SAFE Act would incentivize online platforms to
remove harmful counterfeit products from their websites--in terms far
less onerous than those already imposed on brick-and-mortar stores.
This effort, led by Representatives Johnson and Issa in the House and
Senators Coons and Tillis in the Senate, is bipartisan, bicameral, and
vitally important to American innovation. Together with the INFORM Act,
SHOP SAFE will help us crack down on both intellectual property theft
and retail theft, and provide significant protections to American
consumers.
Second, a new temporary visa for immigrant entrepreneurs would
create a pathway to citizenship for the founders of successful
startups. This concept is based on Representative Lofgren's H.R. 4681,
the Let Immigrants Kickstart Employment Act, and I thank her for her
vision and leadership on this issue. Similar concepts have received
bipartisan support in recent years, and I am hopeful that we can reach
consensus on this proposal as well.
The House-passed COMPETES Act also includes relief for those with
graduate degrees in critical industries. This proposal is a matter of
national security, it is designed to draw the best and brightest to our
country and to our economy, and it enjoys a broad measure of bipartisan
support.
Third, our bill asks the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to
collect basic demographic information from patent applications if such
information is volunteered. Our intellectual property laws are at their
most effective when they are equally accessible to all citizens, and we
must have the data to ensure that all innovators can take advantage of
these incentives. This proposal is based on Representative Velazquez's
H.R. 1723, the Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement Act, or the
IDEA Act, and I am proud to have seen it pass the House as part of
COMPETES.
Fourth, we propose to modernize the filing fee structure for merger
review at the U.S. Department of Justice. This provision is based on
Representative Neguse's H.R. 3843, the Merger Filing Fee Modernization
Act of 2021. This measure is essential to reinvigorating the Antitrust
Division of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Competition at
the Federal Trade Commission. I am pleased that identical proposals
have passed in both the House and Senate versions of COMPETES.
Finally, I should note an objection to two research-related
provisions of USICA. Specifically, sections 2527(b) and (c) would
undermine an existing agreement about the public availability of
federally funded research. Although I defer to other members of this
Conference Committee on questions of scientific research, generally,
these two sections present a serious copyright problem and should be
stricken from our final text.
I look forward to advancing each of these important proposals in
the coming days.
I thank the Chair, and I yield back.
______
Prepared Statement of Representative Tiffany
This Congress and the last have been marked by massive legislative
vehicles marketed to address the pressing issue of the day, but often
including radical changes to unrelated policy.
Somehow, the Democrats in this Congress have found a way to make
this bill even worse. As the Republican Conferee for the House
Judiciary Committee, I can tell you that very few of the provisions of
this bill in the jurisdiction of our committee would have any effect at
all on containing or combatting the malign influence of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) or strengthening our relationship with Taiwan. In
fact, many of the provisions included in the bill would make things
worse.
At a time when our country needs strong security measures and
protection against foreign theft of intellectual property, this bill
makes unprecedented and unnecessary changes to immigration law. The
bill creates expansive new opportunities for legal immigration for
aliens of any country--including China--as long as they meet such vague
requirements as having ``the knowledge, skills or experience to
substantially assist'' a startup or if they have a degree in such
fields as accounting or conservation.
The bill also expands the budget of the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC). Giving more money and power to the Biden FTC will allow it to
continue and expand its harassment of American businesses at a time of
out-of-control inflation and hyper-regulation. The end result is that
our competitors in China will be able to outpace American companies,
creating more, not less, American reliance on China.
There are many provisions that have nothing to do with China at
all. For example, the bill includes a provision to create a Special
Immigrant Visa (SIV) for Afghan Fulbright Scholars.
There is another provision that creates a visa category for up to
15,000 nationals of South Korea. Yet another provision provides
automatic citizenship for international adoptees, who were adopted
before 2000--meaning adults who are at least 22 years old and many who
are much older. That section would include people who have been
deported or are in removal proceedings based on criminal convictions.
One section in the bill creates a program to collect demographic
information from patent applicants. Another section creates a massive
new regulatory burden on the importation of certain species. The Safe
Banking Act is included in this massive bill as well. That provision
would make it easier for marijuana businesses to engage in business
transactions with legitimate businesses, even though marijuana
continues to be a schedule I drug.
What does any of that have to do with China? Nothing. Like every
other major piece of legislation from the Democrats this Congress, this
bill purports to solve a serious problem, but is, in reality, a wish
list of unrelated legislation that would never become law through
regular order. The way this Congress has been legislating is shameful.
I urge this Conference Committee to strip out all of these unrelated
and, in many cases, truly harmful policies.
______
Prepared Statement of Chair Peter A. DeFazio
Thank you, Chair Cantwell. As Chair of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee I am pleased to be a part of this important
conference meeting today--a rare thing nowadays.
It's clear that America now faces more competition than ever in the
global economy. If we want to give the next generations the opportunity
to get good-paying jobs we must make the right investments today in
research, innovation, and manufacturing to ensure America can compete
for decades to come.
Earlier this year the House took a step in the right direction by
passing the America COMPETES Act, which included important initiatives
from my committee that I would like to see enacted. First it includes
the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, bipartisan legislation to address unfair
shipping practices and supply chain disruptions.
At no other time have we seen such an unprecedented demand for a
resilient supply chain, and the current dynamic has highlighted the
inefficiencies in our supply chain both domestically and abroad.
Despite historic demand and profit levels, we have been made aware of
instances of large ocean shipping conglomerates taking advantage of
American exporters and importers. This legislation helps address the
need for greater antitrust oversight of foreign-flag commercial carrier
alliances that transport more than ninety eight percent of U.S. foreign
commerce.
The House bill also includes a pilot version of Representative
Kilmer's ``Recompete Act'', which would provide $4 billion over ten
years in new grants to help communities that have historically been
left behind get ahead and stay ahead in the 21st century economy. These
grants will invest in the economic infrastructure our communities
depend on to help connect and support businesses and workers alike.
I'd also like to make a few comments on some of the trade-related
provisions. The House COMPETES Act contains trade provisions that would
improve U.S. economic resilience and promote a worker-centered trade
policy.
But disturbingly, the Senate's bill contains trade provisions--
added to the bill at the last minute--that would undermine U.S.
manufacturing capacity and supply chain reliability in key sectors and
weaken our competitiveness, in some cases to the direct benefit of
China's economic interests.
For example, the House bill closes a big loophole that allows
millions of packages bought online to enter the U.S. daily from China
tariff free and without adequate safety inspection or seizure of banned
Uyghur forced-labor goods. Meanwhile, the Senate bill contains no de
minimus fix and instead contains a major giveaway to Big Tech which
would empower them to undermine worker and consumer privacy protections
and anti-monopoly initiatives.
The House bill also reauthorizes, strengthens, and expands Trade
Adjustment Assistance in order to re-train workers and help communities
that have been hit by decades of foreign unfair trade practices and
race-to-the-bottom trade policies.
The Senate bill would allow this assistance to expire.
And finally, the House bill promotes greater supply chain
resilience and less U.S. reliance on Chinese imports by requiring
review of outbound investment related to offshoring of critical supply
chains by U.S. firms.
Meanwhile, the Senate's bill excludes review of U.S. offshore
investment for critical manufacturing capacity, but allows new duty-
free access into the U.S. for Chinese PPE, medicines, and more.
I call on this conference committee to maintain the crucial trade
provisions in the House bill and to reject the Senate's inadequate
trade provisions, which would undermine workers and U.S. manufacturing,
and increase U.S. overreliance on China.
It is long overdue for the United States to place itself on a path
to compete at a global level in the modern era, and that includes
creating long-term economic growth and quality jobs for the American
people. Our constituents deserve nothing less and I will work to ensure
any final agreement does just that.
Thank you Madam Chair.
______
Prepared Statement of Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman, Small Business
Committee
Thank you to all the Chairs and Ranking Members for convening this
conference and for all your work on this vital bill.
I'm looking forward to working with my fellow conferees to advance
a piece of legislation that allows America to remain the global leader
in technological advancement.
We are all aware of the innovative prowess of domestic small
businesses and I'm proud to be part of this process to work on their
behalf.
While many policies in the larger bill will ultimately benefit and
strengthen our small business community, it's critical that this
legislation also preserves a role for them in the innovation economy.
The SBIR and STTR programs are crucial to achieving both of these
goals.
Every year, these programs provide billions of dollars to small
businesses pursuing scientific breakthroughs.
Over the past 40 years, SBIR and STTR have helped launch successful
endeavors like iRobot, Sonicare electric toothbrush, 23&Me, Lasik eye
surgery, and Qualcomm wireless communications. These programs are vital
to our small business and technological ecosystems. But as it stands,
the SBIR and STTR programs are set to expire this September.
A program lapse would hurt American small businesses and stifle
innovation. Without an extension, agencies will be forced to stop
taking applications and halt processing contract options or new awards.
To avoid this outcome, I've proposed an extension of the programs
and their related pilots, which has broad support from business,
university, defense, and economic development groups.
Doing so gives the Science, Space, and Technology and Small
Business committees the time to thoroughly consider policy changes
during reauthorization--a process we've already started.
Most importantly, it gives small firms operating on the cutting
edge of technology the stability and certainty they need to pursue
their innovations.
In sum, as we contemplate America's competitive future and
leadership in innovation, I believe we have the opportunity to adopt
meaningful policies to bolster the presence of small businesses in our
global economy and domestic supply chains. I look forward to our work
together.
Thank you and I yield back.
______
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______
Prepared Statement of Representative Joaquin Castro
Chairwoman Cantwell, members of this conference Committee, I am
looking forward to working with you to negotiate this important bill
and get it to the President's desk.
There are a number of provisions in the bill that I believe are
critical to ensuring American leadership and competitiveness.
I am proud to have authored a number of provisions in Division D of
the COMPETES Act that would strengthen our leadership at the United
Nations, counter the proliferation of nuclear and ballistic missile
technology in the Middle East, ensure the United States engages with
the countries of the Indian Ocean region as a part of our Indo-Pacific
strategy, expand people-to-people ties between the United States and
the countries of Southeast Asia, and tackle the censorship of Americans
and American businesses by the People's Republic of China.
The bill also includes a critical bipartisan provision that would
ensure that the United States Development Finance Corporation is able
to make investments into equity in support of our Nation's
international development objectives.
The COMPETES Act also includes my Strengthening Youth
Apprenticeships Act, which along with the entire National
Apprenticeship Act would create nearly one million new registered
apprenticeships, ensuring that our workforce is ready for the future.
Additionally, the bill also includes language I authored to establish
that apprenticeships extend to the media and entertainment industry to
help ensure that the industry reflects our diverse nation.
Lastly, I strongly support the language that provides funding for
the CHIPS Act to address the-semiconductor shortage by increasing U.S.
manufacturing and will prioritize that issue on this Committee.
I want to thank Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Meeks for appointing me
to this Conference Committee and look forward to getting to work on
this important bill.
______
Prepared Statement of Congressman Ami Bera
Thank you to Chair Cantwell and Chairwoman Johnson for convening
this first public conference committee meeting to reconcile two pieces
of bipartisan innovation and competition legislation--USICA and America
COMPETES. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve on this
conference committee. This legislation presents a once in a generation
opportunity to invest in America to ensure that the United States
remains a leader on the global stage and that the American worker can
compete and succeed in the 21st century global economy.
I come to this bill from my role on two critical committees that
have come together to forge this important legislation. As a senior
member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, I believe
the best way we can compete on a global stage is to invest in American
workers and American ingenuity. Our greatest assets have long been our
innovation, our ingenuity, and the American people. We have an
opportunity with this bill to bet on American workers and invest in our
Nation's innovation that will lay the foundation for U.S. leadership in
science and technology for generations to come while supporting the
growth of our STEM workforce and unleashing our potential to outcompete
any other nation.
One critical piece that I strongly support in both bills is the
robust funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research
and development (R&D) and supply chain resiliency. Semiconductors are
part of everything from our phones to our cars and investing in
domestic manufacturing and R&D of these key components will spur
innovation and reduce costs for consumers. In addition, we have seen
during the pandemic how small breakdowns in the global supply chain can
impact our economy but also how investments in domestic manufacturing
and R&D can lead to innovative technologies and save lives.
The pandemic has also shown that in times of need, Congress can
come together and produce meaningful bipartisan legislation that
invests in America such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package. While
that bill focused on physical infrastructure, we have an opportunity
here to invest in our human infrastructure--our research institutions
and our workers. I am particularly proud about how the American
COMPETES Act makes a robust investment in our Nation's research
institutions and in particular, our public research universities. Our
research institutions are part of what truly makes America great and in
addition to the discoveries they produce, they are great drivers of
innovation and our economy.
As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the
Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation, I believe we must
establish lasting structures and programs to enhance American
diplomatic, economic, and security engagement with our allies and
partners in the Indo-Pacific. The Foreign Affairs Division of America
COMPETES includes several bills of mine that would do just that--The
Countering China Economic Coercion Act, which would establish the
first-ever interagency task force to respond to the People's Republic
of China's growing economic coercion against government, businesses,
organizations, and individuals; The Taiwan Peace and Stability Act,
bipartisan legislation that strengthens U.S. support for Taiwan's
participation in the international community, advances U.S-Taiwan
economic ties, and enhances deterrence over a cross-Strait conflict;
The Taiwan Fellowship Act, bipartisan legislation that establishes a
fellowship exchange program for U.S. Federal government employees in
all three branches of government to learn, live, and work in Taiwan for
a length of up to two years; The Honoring Our Commitment to Elevate
America's Neighbor Island and Allies (OCEANIA) Act, bipartisan and
bicameral legislation that would elevate all of Oceania in U.S. foreign
policymaking to help deliver a robust diplomatic and development
commitment to support the long-term growth, governance, and resilience
needs of the region; and an amendment calling for the full U.S.
ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS).
I look forward to working with my colleagues on this conference
committee to resolve the differences between these two proposals in a
timely manner so we can send a strong bipartisan bill to the
President's desk for his signature and get these provisions implemented
as soon as possible.
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