OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Endless Frontier Act

Floor Speech

Date: May 13, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Technology and Communication

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday, the Senate Commerce Committee, on which you sit, came together on a bipartisan basis to advance the Endless Frontier Act by a vote of 24 to 4--24 to 4.

We are now one step closer to passing a bill that will keep our country one step ahead in science and technology for decades to come. It is my intention for the Senate to take up the Endless Frontier Act next week in a package with legislation to strengthen our alliances and partnerships; invest in the American semiconductor industry; ensure that China pays a price for its predatory actions; and boost advanced manufacturing, innovation, and critical supply chains.

For decades, American prosperity has been anchored by our unmatched capacity for innovation and invention in science and in technology. American innovation propelled American industry, and an American workforce brought those innovations to the global economy.

But, unfortunately, Federal underinvestment in sciences has seen our country slip, exposing critical weak spots in our economy. If we don't fix them, we will no longer be the No. 1 economic leader in the world in the decade to come. So it is an imperative that we do this. This is for our future--our future for jobs, our future for economic leadership, and our future for world leadership.

It all boils down to science, something that was ignored, unfortunately, by the last administration, but, fortunately, bipartisan unity in this Senate is bringing us back on the page that we need to do science.

The Endless Frontier Act would right the ship by making one of the largest investments in American innovation in generations, allowing the United States to outcompete countries like China, create more good- paying jobs, and harden our economic and our national security as well because this bill is vital to national security as well as to economic security.

I want to really applaud Chairwoman Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and my partner in the Endless Frontier Act Senator Young, all of whom worked hard, long, diligently, and effectively, in a bipartisan fashion, to move this legislation through regular order. The full Senate will consider and, I believe, should finish this important legislation before the end of the month with strong bipartisan support.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward