A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday that provides for government spending of $ 100 billion over five years on research and science in basic and cutting-edge technology amid increasing competitive pressures from China.
The move, sponsored by Senate Democratic Chairman Chuck Schumer, Republican Senator Todd Young, and others, would approve an additional $ 10 billion to designate at least 10 regional technology centers and create a supply chain crisis response program.
The law, known as the Endless Frontier Act, is a major effort by the government to fund federal research efforts by the private sector and universities in advanced technologies.
“There is a bipartisan consensus that the United States must invest in the technologies of the future in order to outperform China,” Schumer said, adding that “whatever nation develops new technologies first – democratic or authoritarian – will set the conditions for theirs Specify usage. “
Republican representative Mike Gallagher, another sponsor, said US science and technology superiority was “at risk. The Chinese Communist Party has used decades of intellectual property theft and industrial espionage to fill this technological gap in ways that it doesn’t only threatens our economic security. but also our way of life. “
The Senate Commerce Committee is expected to award the bill next week as Schumer seeks swift approval.
Schumer separately said he would be pushing for “emergency spending” to implement semiconductor manufacturing provisions in last year’s Defense Act.
In February, President Joe Biden said he would seek $ 37 billion for legislation to encourage chip manufacturing in the United States as a semiconductor shortage forced US automakers and other manufacturers to cut production.
Biden’s $ 2.3 trillion for infrastructure and jobs provides $ 50 billion for semiconductor manufacturing and research.
The Foundation for Information Technology and Innovation called the bill “a landmark law that takes definitive steps to restore American competitiveness in ten key industries of the future with advanced technology such as biotechnology, clean energy and semiconductors.”
