Unions

Floor Speech

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Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, later on this evening, it is my hope that we will be moving forward on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which many of us are still calling the Endless Frontier Act. I will be voting to support final passage. This landmark bill has prompted considerable debate.

This legislation is about maintaining America's edge in research and technology. That is a top priority for my party, and it is a top priority for the Democratic Party in this Chamber. And it ought to prompt a spirited discussion. And it has prompted such a discussion. How many bills has this been said about?

The bill is not perfect. There are elements that I could do without, and there are parts that I wish were included. But on the whole, this is a necessary step to keep our Nation competitive. This bill puts forth a bold vision for scientific research across multiple Federal Agencies and authorizes a historic down payment on the priorities that can keep America at the forefront of innovation. This bill is a huge boost for American R&D. It authorizes substantial R&D investments through the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, NASA, and, of course, the National Science Foundation, which is the gold standard for basic research.

In addition to a new NSF Directorate, it will speed up the translation of R&D into practical applications and help tech innovators through the creation of technology hubs around the country and expanded manufacturing programs.

Our adversaries are well aware that America leads the world in innovation. Instead of trying to outinnovate the United States, some of our adversaries are choosing to steal what we create. The Chinese Communist Party is, bar none, the world's worst offender when it comes to research and intellectual property theft, making today's legislation especially urgent.

This legislation takes steps to improve research security at the National Science Foundation. Although the introduced bill did not contain adequate provisions in this area, I worked with Senator Cantwell, the chair of the Commerce Committee, to craft a package of reforms to safeguard taxpayer-funded research and intellectual property.

Our approach will ensure that the research community understands and complies with security policy and that grant applicants go through appropriate risk assessments. The research security title establishes a new research security office at the NSF to centralize the process of developing these security requirements and assessing potential risks. The office is empowered to pull in the intelligence and law enforcement Agencies to assist in targeted risk assessments.

We also establish a clearing-house for the research community to share information about security threats. Importantly, the research security title also includes a ban on Federal employees participating in foreign talent programs and a strict provision on tax-funded awards going to researchers who participate in talent programs run by our greatest adversaries. These initiatives and many others constitute a new and bold research security program at the National Science Foundation.

This bill also represents a huge step forward for geographical diversity in R&D. Currently, half of all Federal R&D funds go to just six States and the District of Columbia.

Closing that divide has been a priority of mine since my first days in the House of Representatives. Today's legislation will boost R&D at emerging institutions so that no region goes unutilized in our efforts to compete with China.

I regret that this bill was put through with a rushed process. Our initial markup in committee was scheduled just 1 day after the bill was dropped. That markup got postponed. Two weeks later, we had a day-long markup where we dealt with more than 250 committee amendments. After incorporating over 100 of those amendments, the bill passed by a vote of 24 to 4.

Let me repeat that. The bill passed the Commerce Committee by a vote of 24 yeses and only 24 noes.

A few days later, the bill reached the Senate floor, where more than 500 amendments have been filed. Clearly, there is a desire to legislate in this body and on this legislation given sufficient time and opportunity.

This bill should put to rest--to rest--any discussion of changing the filibuster. The Senate is perfectly capable of functioning if the majority allows it to function. And it has done so this week and in the days last week when we were considering this legislation.

I would add that it would be wrong and unnecessary for this bill to be funded through reconciliation. Passing this consensus legislation through a partisan process would send exactly the wrong message to our adversaries. And we are getting it done under regular order. It may not be pretty. It may not be the most efficient thing ever devised by the mind of man, but we are getting this done under current rules. Everyone has been heard, and it will be passed under regular order, I think with a very nice vote.

I wish to congratulate the two authors of this legislation, Senator Schumer and Senator Todd Young, for their success in this bill. I especially appreciate Senator Young's commitment to improving our competitiveness and his leadership in moving this bill forward.

I also want to thank the chair of the Commerce Committee, Maria Cantwell, for helping shepherd this bill through the oftentimes challenging floor, for her patience and her skill in helping to lead us through the amendment process.

And, then, how could we end debate or approach the end of consideration of this legislation without thanking our staffs for the countless hours on both sides of the aisle, for the people who worked so hard on this bill and the amendments? The excellent, knowledgeable way in which they have approached this legislation would be amazing to the American public if they could look into the process and see how hard these public servants work.

I want to particularly thank the outstanding contributions of my staff director, John Keast. But also he would want me to make a particular point of congratulating policy director James Mazol and my deputy policy director Cheri Pascoe--neither of whom has slept very much recently. They have done exceptional work.

I know Senator Cantwell feels the same about the great public servants on her staff, on her side of the aisle. They have done this at great personal sacrifice from their families and from themselves. And I know we are all well-served by our staffs, and I am most thankful for mine.

But I am also thankful for the legislative process, for the fact that on this issue, increasing secure R&D to combat our adversaries, particularly those in Communist China--I want to thank the Members of this Senate on both sides of the issue and on both sides of the aisle for the great way in which this Senate has conducted regular order.

I will be voting yes. I think a sizable majority of the Senate will be voting yes. And we will be doing good by our constituents and by future generations in doing so. Thank you.

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