Despite the importance of semiconductors for America’s innovation economy, America’s share of the semiconductor industry has gone from 37 percent in 1990 to just 12 percent today.
An amendment based on the CHIPS Act passed as part of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act to enable the building and modernization of semiconductor manufacturing facilities in America, but the effort has yet to receive the billions of dollars necessary to implement the reforms.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have each passed their own versions of broad bipartisan competition bills that both include the full $52 billion needed to comprehensively implement the CHIPS Act.
Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), and U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) led 142 colleagues in sending a letter to congressional leadership, urging them to quickly send the $52 billion needed to fund the Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act to President Biden’s desk for signing.
“[…] we write today to urge you to preserve the full $52 billion included in USICA during the conference process to implement the CHIPS Act. Securing this funding as soon as possible will help address severe shortages in the semiconductor supply chain and reestablish American leadership in global semiconductor manufacturing,” said the lawmakers.
“The funding and structural reforms included in CHIPS will create a more resilient domestic semiconductor supply chain which will help prevent future shortages that cause GDP drag, job losses, more expensive consumer goods, and national security vulnerabilities,” the lawmakers continued.
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Chris Graham
