Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), and U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) led 142 colleagues in sending a letter to Congressional leadership, urging them to quickly send the $52 billion dollars needed to fund the Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act to President Biden’s desk for signing.
“[…] we write today to urge you to preserve the full $52 billion included in USICA during the conference process to implement the CHIPS Act. Securing this funding as soon as possible will help address severe shortages in the semiconductor supply chain and reestablish American leadership in global semiconductor manufacturing,” said the lawmakers.
Despite the importance of semiconductors for America’s innovation economy, America’s share of the semiconductor industry has gone from 37 percent in 1990 to just 12 percent today. The CHIPS for America Act would restore semiconductor manufacturing back to American soil by increasing federal incentives to stimulate advanced chip manufacturing, enabling cutting-edge research and development – securing the supply chain, and bringing greater transparency to the microelectronics ecosystem.
An amendment based on the CHIPS Act passed as part of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to enable the building and modernization of semiconductor manufacturing facilities in America, but the effort has yet to receive the billions of dollars necessary to implement the reforms. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have each passed their own versions of broad bipartisan competition bills that both include the full $52 billion needed to comprehensively implement the CHIPS Act.
“The funding and structural reforms included in CHIPS will create a more resilient domestic semiconductor supply chain which will help prevent future shortages that cause GDP drag, job losses, more expensive consumer goods, and national security vulnerabilities,” the lawmakers continued.
The letter was cosigned by Representatives Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), John Katko (R-NY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Mike D. Rogers (R-AL), Haley M. Stevens (D-MI), Jaime H. Beutler (R-WA), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Mike Carey (R-OH), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Paul D. Tonko (D-NY), Andy Barr (R-KY), David Trone (D-MD), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Dina Titus (D-NV), David Rouzer (R-NC), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), Young Kim (R-CA), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Michael C. Burgess (R-TX), Antonio Delgado (D-NY), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Frank J. Mrvan (D-IN), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), David Price (D-NC), Jim Baird (R-KY), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Michael Turner (R-OH), Scott H. Peters (D-CA), David G. Valadao (R-CA), Lori Trahan (D-MA), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Colin Allred (D-TX), David B. McKinley (R-WV), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), John Carter (R-GA), Deborah K. Ross (D-NC), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Chris Jacobs (R-NY), Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Randy Weber (R-TX), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Daniel Meuser (R-PA), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Lou Correa (D-CA), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Dan T. Kildee (D-MI), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Andy Levin (D-MI), Rick Larsen (D-WA), John Yarmuth (D-KY), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Alma S. Adams (D-NC), Shontel M. Brown (D-OH), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM), Ed Case (D-HI), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Conor Lamb (D-PA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Brian Higgins (D-NY), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), William R. Keating (D-MA), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Marie Newman (D-IL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Darren Soto (D-FL), Jim Himes (D-CT), Susan Wild (D-PA) Jared Huffman (D-CA), Katie Porter (D-CA), Mike Levin (D-CA), Bradley S. Schneider (D-IL), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Sharice L. Davids (D-KS), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Ted W. Lieu (D-CA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Steven Cohen (D-TN), Al Lawson (D-FL), Ami Bera (D-CA), Thomas T. Suozzi (D-NY), Robin L. Kelly (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY), Patrick Fallon (D-TX), and Ted Deutch (D-FL).
The letter was also cosigned by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Gary Peters (D-MI), Robert Portman (R-OH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Kristen Sinema (D-AZ), Steve Daines (R-MT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV) , Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Full text of the letter is below and HERE.