WASHINGTON: US Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday he would add legislation to boost US competitiveness with China in a major defense policy bill that the Senate will begin considering this week, one for a measure. Boost that has been on hold for months. the house of Representatives.
“Our supply chain crisis needs to be attended to and we can’t wait,” Schumer announced in a Senate speech that called for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, to be incorporated into the US Innovation and Competition Act, or USICA. will be modified for
The Senate passed USICA with a strong bipartisan vote in June, but the measure never received a vote in the House of Representatives. Supporters of the bill have since been working to find a way to pass it and send it to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law.
Biden is due later on Monday to hold a virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Reuters reported on Sunday that supporters of USICA are considering adding its provisions to the NDAA. As one of the few major laws to be passed each year, the NDAA often serves as a vehicle for many policy issues.
This strategy does not guarantee that USICA will become law, but it does increase the likelihood of some of its most important provisions.
The Senate passed USICA 68-32. The measure would authorize $190 billion to strengthen US technology and research and an additional $54 billion to increase production and research in semiconductor and telecommunications equipment.
Once the Senate approves its version of the NDAA, Senate and House negotiators will work on a deal between the Senate’s measure and a version of the bill passed by the House earlier this year.
That agreement must pass both the House and Senate before it can be sent to Biden.
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