US Senate advances China competition legislation
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In an attempt to curb China's expanding influence, US Senate signs a multi-billion dollar bill to create more American jobs and lower costs for American families.
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US Senate advances China competition legislation.
The US Senate approved a multibillion-dollar plan on Monday aimed at reviving high-tech research and production, trying to curb China's expanding influence and alleviate a global scarcity of computer chips.
The law is the Senate's version of the House's America Competes Act, which was passed in February. Negotiations between lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate are scheduled to begin soon to reconcile the disparate texts.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the long-stalled legislation would be "one of the most important accomplishments of the 117th Congress."
"This bill, for all its provisions, is really about two big things: creating more American jobs and lowering costs for American families," he told senators.
"It will help lower costs by making it easier to produce critical technologies here at home, like semiconductors. It will create more jobs by bringing manufacturing back from overseas."
Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have been discussing the details of starting formal negotiations on the legislation as early as April, with a floor vote in May or June.
Both the House and Senate versions include President Joe Biden's goal of investing $52 billion in domestic research and manufacturing, a victory he can brag about ahead of the November midterm elections.
The 2,900-page House version was mainly voted down along party lines, with Republicans claiming it wasn't severe enough on China and was too focused on other topics like climate change and social inequality.
That means it will be sent to a conference committee, where Senate Republicans will have complete control because the final version will require 10 votes to pass through the upper chamber.
However, Schumer stated that the law would fuel a new generation of American ingenuity.
"Whichever nation is the first to master the technologies of tomorrow will reshape the world in its image," he said on the Senate floor.
"America cannot afford to come in second place when it comes to technologies like 5G, AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, bioengineering and so much more."
