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Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY. Mr. President, when Congress passed the Chips and Science Act last summer, we made a promise to America that these historic investments would be felt in communities across the country--more microchip manufacturing facilities, more high-paying jobs that do not require a four-year degree, lower costs, a stronger supply chain, and a stronger economy.

Since the CHIPS Act became law, companies have announced plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to bring microchip manufacturing back to America, including in Arizona.

But here is the problem: As currently implemented, when these projects receive incentives through the CHIPS Act, they are subject to a new Federal review under a process called NEPA. This includes projects that have already received the necessary State and Federal environmental permits and are already under construction.

So factories that are being built right now in places like Phoenix could be forced to pause construction and undergo a redundant Federal review. And that just doesn't work.

So, this week, along with my colleagues, Senators Young, Brown, and Hagerty, I introduced the Building Chips in America Act. And this bill would speed up the construction of projects supported by the CHIPS Act by streamlining Federal permitting reviews and keeping in place bedrock environmental protections for clean air and clean water.

To do this, the bill designates the Department of Commerce as the lead agency to carry out NEPA reviews for any CHIPS Act project. It also clarifies that certain projects, certain chips projects like those already under development with necessary permits, are not major Federal actions and, therefore, are not subject to a NEPA review.

These measures would--would--prevent costly delays for projects, and right now, we have an opportunity to maximize the impact of the CHIPS Act for our economy and for our national security. Plans already underway that have received the necessary permits should not have to face extra hurdles.

So let's cut the redtape, and let's start reaping the benefits of our historic CHIPS Act.
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