Bills that would provide funding for last year’s CHIPS for America Act have passed each...
Congressman Michael McCaul addresses attendees to the Katy Freedom Celebration on Thursday, July 4, 2019 at Katy Fie Station #1, Katy, TX.It’d be nice if every instance of bipartisanship didn’t feel like cause for a dance party.
The bills would provide funding for a program created last year by the CHIPS for America Act, legislation authored by U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Austin, and by Sen. John Cornyn to provide grants to firms willing to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the United States. That has created a vulnerability for America, given that the chips are used in so many products essential for our economy, McCaul and others have argued for years. That vulnerability came into much greater focus, however, during the pandemic as a chip shortage has slowed manufacturing of cars, medical equipment and more.The risk to America in allowing so much of the world’s chip supply to be manufactured overseas, and in particular so close to China, is about more than economics, McCaul told us.
Last week, President Biden urged the House and Senate to resolve their differences over the bills containing the funding for the semiconductor grant program that McCaul and Cornyn have envisioned. Congressional staffers told us Friday that the differences between the two bills aren’t related to the funding for the chips, but other provisions have kept negotiators busy. Some Republicans have said publicly they believe the House version containsThat’s the nature of compromise, of course.