John Cornyn: “a few weeks ago, the fate of the CHIPS Act, our collective effort to shore up the vulnerable semiconductor supply chain…”

“a few weeks ago, the fate of the CHIPS Act, our collective effort to shore up the vulnerable semiconductor supply chain, was in limbo. Republicans said we would not move forward with what was then known as USICA, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, while Democrats were crafting a partisan reckless massive tax and spending bill behind closed doors. Then Senator Manchin, the Senator from West Virginia, made a decision that angered most of his Democratic colleagues--he slammed the door on the climate and tax provisions and reconciliation. He said: Until we see the July inflation figures-- Which we haven't seen yet-- until we see the July Federal reserve interest rates, then let's wait. He noted that families were struggling to buy such essentials as gasoline and groceries and added: I can't make that decision basically on taxes of any type. That was what I will call the old Joe. After we received assurances privately from some Senate Democrats, including the staff of the Senate majority leader, that the tax and climate provisions were off the table, we were able to move forward with USICA and the funding of this vulnerable semiconductor supply chain that is an important part of the bill that the House is voting on today.…”