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Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, our economy is as resilient as any in the world. At the same time, we know that it is important to always look to modernize key economic policies, particularly as it relates to fundamental questions of research and development and also production and manufacturing, in order to create high-skilled, high-wage jobs from sea to shining sea.

Now, I come from a State that is a leader in technological innovation, not just for our country but for the world. Oregonians know how important it is to invest and make sure that the United States stays at the forefront of technological breakthroughs.

The reality is, when it comes to chips, we have some important work to do, so I want to take just a few minutes to describe why it is so essential for the Congress to get this legislation done now.

First of all, our bill is going to bring down costs for consumers and businesses. Everybody knows there are chips in laptops, phones, and cars, but there are also chips in refrigerators and even vacuum cleaners, as we saw at Stark's in Southeast Portland recently.

From the time you pick your head up off your pillow until the time you go to bed at night, you are interacting with chips. That is what made it such an economic nightmare when the pandemic hit and the supply of semiconductors got cut short. Prices for a host of important goods went into the stratosphere. Some products weren't available at all. Factories in America went dark because they couldn't get component parts. Anybody who has had to buy a car in the last few years probably can tell you a horror story about the buying process.

This legislation is going to go a long way to increasing the production and manufacturing of chips in this country and bringing down consumer costs and addressing the shortages by increasing the supply here in America.

That leads to my second point. Investing in domestic chip production is going to create a huge, huge number of good-paying jobs. Oregonians know well that the jobs at these chipmakers can become an economic fuel for a whole region in the country. We need to guarantee that investment happens here in America instead of overseas.

Third, the bill is going to help shore up our national security and our economic security. With respect to the economy, when there aren't enough chips to keep our factories running and our shelves stocked, workers and the American economic system suffer.

And when the vast majority of chips are produced in just a few sites overseas, there is a big risk that the United States won't be able to get its hands on the chips needed to keep the American people safe in a conflict.

I am a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. I can't get involved in classified matters that I have some access to. But I want everybody in the Senate to know this is a top-tier national security issue. Producing more chips here at home means that our economy will be more resilient for the days ahead and our country will be safer and more secure.

One last comment in this short statement. The Senate passed a larger version of this bill last year, and it included a trade package that Senator Crapo and I, our colleague from Idaho, worked together on. It focused on cracking down on China's worst trade abuses, including the horrendous practice of forced labor, including proposals that went after authoritarian censorship overseas and a growing danger of freedom of speech here in America.

I also sought to update the system for job training and workers' support, so key to our workers having access to high-skill, high-wage jobs. That trade package is not included in this slimmed-down version of the CHIPS legislation. I can promise, however, as chairman of the Finance Committee, we will keep working on these issues.

Cracking down on trade cheats, fighting for investments and jobs in America is at the top of the priority list for the Finance Committee. I look forward to continuing our work on those issues in the weeks and months ahead.

This legislation is long overdue. It is a serious, fresh commitment to innovation in America. I am proud that I was able to lead the effort in the Senate Finance Committee to focus on producing and manufacturing more semiconductors in America. It is hugely important for my State, which really does research and development for the entire country. But it is important for all Americans every single day because, from the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed at night, you are using these chips. This is, in my view, the first step of many that we have to take to promote more innovation and the path to creating high-skill and high-wage jobs in America.

Let's take the first step with this important legislation. Pass this bill. I urge my colleagues to vote for it later when we get to the final vote.

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