U.S. Competition and Innovation Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, 68 to 32, that was the final vote tally last night for the U.S. Competition and Innovation Act--USICA--an overwhelming display of bipartisan support, a rarity on a major bill in this Senate.

I believe the final vote reflects the importance of the bill--of rededicating the Federal Government to science and technology; to outcompeting our adversaries, especially the Chinese Communist Party; to strengthening critical supply chains as well as our partnerships and alliances abroad.

I believe that future generations will look back on this competition bill as the turning point for American leadership in the 21st century.

I think the depth of the bipartisan support reflects the process we took as well. The kernel of the bill is legislation I wrote with Senator Todd Young, the Endless Frontier Act. We ultimately included legislation from six committees and input from every Member. Over 3 weeks, the Senate considered more than 20 amendments, the vast majority from Republicans. In fact, the Senate even accepted an amendment from Senator Paul by voice vote. That doesn't happen too often around here.

Excluding budget resolutions, nearly as many amendments have received rollcall votes on this one bill as on all the bills in 2017, when the Republicans were in the majority--nearly as many amendment votes on this one bill as over that entire year. We are running the Senate in a different way.

So I want to thank my colleagues on both sides for their efforts, Senators Cantwell and Wicker for their excellent management of the bill, Senator Young for working with me from the beginning until the very end, Senators Menendez and Risch as well as Murray, Durbin, Peters, Brown, and Wyden, whom I am committing to working with to put real teeth into the anti-censorship provisions of this bill before it becomes law. Senator Wyden has been a hallmark on that.

Of course, the job is not done until the legislation moves through the House and onto the President's desk.

Now that the bill has passed the Senate, we are going to work with Speaker Pelosi and the relevant committee chairs in the House to move this bill forward as quickly as possible.

Of course, the House can bring in additional priorities, but I am intent on seeing the major thrust of this legislation become law. The bill is so important to the future of America that the House and Senate must come together and send President Biden a bill he is very, very eager to sign.

Yesterday, the Senate took a bold, strong step toward boosting American science, technology, and innovation for decades. We are going to keep at it, keep at it until we cross the finish line.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source