S. 1260

Floor Speech

Mr. President, this week we are going to consider a critically important bill that will help secure America's role as a global leader in science and technology. The investments that the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 makes in innovation will help ensure our prosperity and national security. It supports American research and development and will help to grow America's industrial and manufacturing base by investing in clean energy, cyber security, and biotechnology.

I thought a few years ago, reflected on the fact that I served in the House and Senate, there have been moments, particularly important moments that didn't receive the recognition they deserved, and one of them was a bipartisan decision by several legislators: John Porter, who was a Republican Congressman from Illinois; Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican Senator from Pennsylvania; and Senator Tom Harkin, a Democratic Senator from Iowa. Back in the day, they made a decision to try to double the research budget for the National Institutes of Health--quite an undertaking. I have seen a lot of things come and go with the Congress, and that I thought was as ambitious as it gets.

They did it. They ended up doubling the NIH budget and received some recognition for it, but far less than what they deserved.

So I went back out to the National Institutes of Health and spoke to Dr. Francis Collins, whom we are lucky as Americans to have in that position leading that great Agency. I said: Dr. Collins, I remember those days with Specter and Harkin and Porter. What can we do now, our generation, to help you at the National Institutes of Health? I don't think I can double the budget. I wish I could. But what can I do?

He said: Senator, if you could persuade Congress to give us 5 percent real growth every year--real growth over inflation--we will light up the scoreboard. These researchers will stay on the job. They won't worry about whether next year there is going to be funding. And you are going to see some remarkable things occur.

I said I will set out to do that. I knew at the time that I needed help. So I turned to Patty Murray on the Democratic side, who has been our leader at the HELP Committee and on the Appropriations Committee. And we then turned to Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, Republican leader of the subcommittee, as well as Lamar Alexander, our retired friend from the State of Tennessee.

So the four of us came together, and in a span of 5 or 6 years, we took the NIH budget from $30 billion to $40 billion, just at the right moment. We didn't anticipate COVID-19, but here it came, challenging us: Are we ready? Can we develop a vaccine in a timely fashion?

And, thank goodness we could, because of the investment that we had made as a Congress and the American people in this Agency. It paid off. Not only did we save lives in the United States; we saved lives around the world, and we will continue to because of that good work.

I came to believe that that was critically important and went to the Department of Energy, sitting down with the Secretary, 5 or 6 years ago, and told him the story about our commitment to NIH. And I said: You know, I guess it is conceivable that we will do research that will lead to some treatment of Alzheimer's and dementia. We know that it is picking up speed, unfortunately, because people are living longer.

He said: Do you have any idea what Agency of government is responsible for creating electronic means of monitoring this sort of change in our brains, the change that leads to Alzheimer's?

I said: No, I don't.

He said: Well, it is the Office of Science in the Department of Energy.

And I thought to myself: Durbin, you should have known better. It isn't just the NIH. There are Agencies all around our Federal Government that are doing research that complement one another. So I came up with the notion to take that NIH model of 5 percent real growth and start applying it to all the other research and innovation Agencies of our Federal Government.

This bill we are considering this week, this United States Innovation and Competition Act, acknowledges that and makes the investment in research. I will tell you, I can't think of anything we can do that is more bipartisan and will be accepted by the American people than the knowledge that we are going to continue to encourage and subsidize, if you will, scientists and researchers to move us forward in innovation and technology.

This bill increases funding for the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. That is going to spur research. It is going to help at universities around my State and all around the Nation, and it has been a priority, as I mentioned, for years.

But one important way we can compete economically in the world is by boosting support for domestic manufacturing and strengthening our domestic supply chain. The legislation that we are considering this week does that exactly: $52 billion to boost our semi-conductor manufacturing capabilities. This includes $10.5 billion for semiconductor research and development; $2 billion for legacy chip production to support the auto industry; $2 billion for research, testing, and workforce development for semiconductor needs at the Department of Defense; $500 million for coordination with foreign government partners to support international semiconductor supply chains. And importantly, this bill also ensures the payment of prevailing wages on construction projects that are supported by this funding.

Many semiconductor manufacturing jobs already pay more than typical manufacturing jobs, and they should, but the workers who will help build the facilities won't necessarily benefit from that unless we ensure the same standards that we apply to other federally funded construction projects apply here.

Research shows us that providing prevailing wage boosts worker productivity and provides good value to taxpayers Several studies have found that construction costs are not affected by prevailing wage rates. It is our goal to compete with China and other nations, and China, unfortunately, has morally abhorrent labor practices. Let's do better. Let's show them and the world that we can do better.

In 1990, the United States produced 37 percent of the world's semiconductors. That was 30 years ago--30 years ago, 37 percent. It is 12 percent today. What a dramatic decline. We want to turn that around.

Now there are some who question us, who question whether the United States should invest in this kind of technology on semiconductors. I call them the second-place finishers. They decided that the United States can have a solid second-place finish from this point forward. I couldn't disagree more.

This Nation can lead by example and investment, and that is what this bill does. And those who are against it have to explain why giving dominance in this critical industry to another country, whether it is China or any other nation, is in the best interest of the growth of the United States and in the best interest of the next generation of American workers.

We are already facing a global shortage in microchips that led to layoffs in my State and in many other places. Illinois has been a leader in auto manufacturing, and I believe it will be in the future, as well, thanks to dedicated workers like those at the Stellantis plant in Belvidere, IL, who assemble the car known as the Jeep Cherokee.

Unfortunately, that plant had to shut down just a few weeks ago. Why? A global shortage of semiconductors. Earlier this month, Stellantis announced as many as 1,640 employees of the plant will be laid off in July because of the shortage. A similar story at Ford's Chicago assembly plant that has 5,800 workers--this plant was idled through April, with shutdowns extending into May.

We are not seeing this only in Illinois. It has been estimated as many as 3.9 million fewer vehicles will be produced this year because of the semiconductor shortage. Last month, in the State of Kentucky-- Kentucky--Ford announced the temporary shutdown of its Louisville plant, impacting more than 8,000 of its employees. And Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant, which employs nearly 4,000 workers, is expected to close through mid-July.

GM halted production lines in Tennessee and Kansas and at several other facilities this spring.

The news of these layoffs and plant closures underscores the urgent need for Congress, on a bipartisan basis, to address this microchip shortage. And the good news is that we have a real opportunity to pass legislation that will offer help to these workers and families. These investments in the CHIPS Act will not only address our immediate market needs but help to ensure that manufacturers don't face shortages in the future.

This funding will help support jobs through the entire supply chain-- from construction of new facilities to manufacturing and development of chips, to workers in the auto industry who depend on this supply.

This bill makes a strategic investment that will help to counter the growing threat caused by the rapid development of China's economy. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting these important provisions to boost our domestic supply chain and support American jobs. Or we can defeat this measure. We can decide it is too much money, spending it at the wrong time. That is part of the second-place finish club, which you might find in the U.S. Senate. I don't want to be a part of it. I believe in the brains and the brawn of American workers. I believe they are productive people and that our researchers can lead the world, as they have over and over again, if we trust them and we invest in them.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source