John Cornyn: “a few hours ago, I had the pleasure of joining Secretary Raimondo and Senator Warner of Virginia for a tour of the…”

“a few hours ago, I had the pleasure of joining Secretary Raimondo and Senator Warner of Virginia for a tour of the Micron Technologies manufacturing plant just outside Washington, DC, in Manassas, VA. This is one of the great companies with facilities that produce semiconductors on U.S. soil. Secretary Raimondo, Senator Warner, and I were given a behind-the- scenes tour of how these advanced chips, or semiconductors, are made, and we discussed some of the reasons why it is more expensive to build these facilities in the United States. The average American uses countless products every day that could not function without semiconductors. For everything from cell phones, to televisions, to cars and dishwashers, chips underpin our most-used technology. As we become more technology dependent, it is going to get nothing but more important. But it is not just consumer products; cell towers, water treatment plants, agricultural equipment, our energy grid--semiconductors make all of that possible. These tiny technologies also play a huge role in our national defense. When we send our troops on a mission by land, sea, air, or even in cyber space, they need the best equipment available. Now more than ever, the equipment can't function without these chips. Just look at Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.…”