Ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) slammed President Biden’s policy statement on the Democrats’ “counter China bill” for omitting the word “China.”
“It’s disgraceful the @WhiteHouse Statement of Administration Policy on the bill @SpeakerPelosi claims is a counter #China bill doesn’t even contain the word China,” McCaul tweeted.
“This is proof #COMPETES is not a serious effort to combat the generational threat posed by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party],” he added.
The bill, entitled U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), is designed to increase funding for semiconductor research to institutions vulnerable to Chinese espionage. Breitbart News reported:
The House Democrat version, the America COMPETES Act, totals 2,900 pages and aims to boost manufacturing, especially in the semiconductor industry. It would also attempt to fix the broken supply chains unfolding under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Lawmakers have increasingly looked to boost domestic semiconductor production after the coronavirus pandemic broke international supply chains and made it difficult to keep up with semiconductor production.
The pivot to the anti-China legislation also serves as the latest gambit for Democrats to seize a win after they failed to pass the $4.91 trillion Build Back Better Act, and Schumer failed to break the filibuster and pass two voter bills.
The United States and the rest of the world rely on Taiwan for 92 percent of semiconductor manufacturing that Silicon Valley utilizes for American innovation.
Democrats claimed last week the legislation will “turbocharge our research capacity to lead the technologies of the future, and advance our global competitiveness, while supporting strong labor standards and human rights, among other key provisions.”
Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence Marco Rubio (R-FL) stated after the release of the bill that the legislation emboldens China to steal American jobs and technology.
“The Chinese Communist Party sees this, and it emboldens them to do even more. Steal more secrets. Steal more technology. Steal more American jobs,” Rubio said. “This dangerous behavior jeopardizes our national security.”