The House of Representatives voted 222-210, largely along party lines, on Friday to pass the America COMPETES Act, a legislative package pushed by Democrats to make American business more competitive.
The bill included an amendment from Second District Democrat Elaine Luria to ban the use of American Rescue Plan funds to purchase telecommunications equipment manufactured by Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE.
“By passing the COMPETES Act, we are standing up to the People’s Republic of China and ensuring that America remains the top manufacturing and economic power of the world,” Luria said. “The COMPETES Act will benefit America’s working families, small businesses, and economy by strengthening U.S. technological innovation and improving supply chains and domestic production capacity. Future generations will enjoy and benefit from our economic independence.”
The legislation includes $52 billion to support U.S. production of semiconductors — a key component in consumer electronics, cars, defense systems and other key products — and also address supply chain disruptions that push up costs for families, bring back chips production to America and ensure that the U.S. leads the way on semiconductor fabrication.
It also includes $45 billion to support the manufacture and acquisition of critical goods or industrial equipment that are essential for national security and economic vitality – including public health and biological preparedness, information and communications technology, the energy and transportation sector’s industrial base, and agricultural commodities and food product supply chains.
“Manufacturing has long been a core strength of the American economy, but the decades-long decline of manufacturing jobs in the United States has cut off pathways to economic security for many families,” said Eighth District Democrat Don Beyer.
Included in the legislation are the National Secure Data Service Act, introduced by Beyer, which links together data collected through surveys, federal program administration and non-governmental data sources to advance evidence-based policy, and an amendment to increase investment in fusion power, which Beyer, founder of the bipartisan Fusion Energy Caucus, co-led.
“Today’s passage of the America COMPETES Act is a landmark investment in infrastructure, clean technology and innovation that will create and preserve high-quality jobs in communities across the country for generations of workers, advance U.S. competitiveness and drive long-term economic growth,” Beyer said. “By helping to create a pipeline from advanced research to domestic manufacturing here at home, the America COMPETES Act will ensure that workers and families see more of the benefits from economic gains in innovation.”
The House legislation included Sen. Tim Kaine’s JOBS Act. Introduced with Ohio Republican Rob Portman, the JOBS Act will make high-quality, shorter-term education and training programs eligible for federal Pell Grants so workers can afford the job training and credentials necessary for in-demand careers.
Under current law, Pell Grants — needs-based grants for low-income and working students — can only be applied toward programs that are over 600 clock hours or at least 15 weeks in length, even though many quality job training programs are shorter term. The JOBS Act will amend the Higher Education Act to expand Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in high-quality job training programs that are at least eight weeks in length and lead to industry-recognized credentials and certificates.
Under the JOBS Act, eligible programs will offer training that meets the needs of the local or regional workforce. In Virginia, the Virginia Community College System has identified approximately 50 programs that would benefit from the JOBS Act, including in the fields of health care, manufacturing, energy, information technology, transportation, architecture and construction, maritime, and business management and administration.
“This is a step in the right direction to ensure that people who wish to take postsecondary skills training to get good jobs are not denied access to federal financial aid,” Kaine said. “With the major shifts COVID has brought to the job market, expanding the kinds of education we consider Pell Grant-eligible will allow workers to quickly equip themselves with employable skills and find a good-paying job. Investing in our labor force in this way will improve economic mobility for individuals and advance our national economy overall. There are still some technical changes that I’d like to see to the JOBS Act amendment to help align it with the Senate version we’ve been working on, but this is overwhelmingly a positive step.”
The America COMPETES Act also includes legislation from Seventh District Democrat Abigail Spanberger to help curtail the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States. Spanberger’s legislation would require the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. Attorney General, and the U.S. Treasury Secretary to recognize this pressing challenge and issue a report to Congress that describes American efforts to gain a commitment from China and Latin American governments to combat the production and flow of illicit fentanyl.
With this additional information, more steps could be taken by the United States to combat illicit fentanyl production and trafficking that originates in both China and Latin America.
“In this moment, the United States needs to stand up to the Chinese government and invest in our workforce, our economy, and our overall competitiveness,” Spanberger said. “That solution needs to include a renewed effort to support strengthened semiconductor production and prescription drug manufacturing here at home. Additionally, this strategy must take the long overdue step of holding China accountable for turning a blind eye to illicit fentanyl production, distribution, and sale — illicit activities that are killing Americans.”
The America COMPETES Act also includes Spanberger’s Continuous Manufacturing Research Act, which would allow the National Science Foundation to award grants for research into advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing — including continuous manufacturing research.
Currently, the NSF can use existing grant funding to support manufacturing research and education in six key areas — nanomanufacturing, robotics, advanced sensing and control techniques, manufacturing enterprise systems, materials processing, and IT for manufacturing.
The Spanberger-led legislation would establish advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing as a seventh area of manufacturing research. She originally introduced the bill as standalone legislation in June 2021.
“Continued investment by the government into next generation technologies like continuous manufacturing allow Phlow and our industry colleagues to bring essential medicine manufacturing back to the U.S. while also ensuring the highest quality processes,” said Eric Edwards, MD, PhD, co-founder and CEO, Phlow Corp. “Together with the U.S. Government, Phlow is operationalizing a U.S.-based essential medicine supply chain solution through the development of advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing techniques, including continuous manufacturing, to re-imagine the development and production of key starting materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and finished pharmaceutical products critical to U.S. healthcare.”
Story by Chris Graham
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