A $120 billion measure to jump-start scientific innovation by bolstering research into cutting-edge technologies is making its way through the Senate, amid a growing sense of urgency in Congress to boost the United States’ ability to compete with China.
The Endless Frontier Act, as it’s known, is a massive investment in the country’s research and development into emerging sciences and industry, on a scale that proponents say hasn’t been seen since the Cold War. The bill passed a procedural obstacle 86 to 11 on Monday, with Democrats and Republicans united in favor, and a vote to adopt it, along with a slew of related China laws, is due later this month.
The roughly 600-page bill sped through the Senate, propelled by growing concerns in both parties about Beijing’s stranglehold on vital supply lines. The coronavirus epidemic has highlighted the dangers of China’s supremacy, as health-care workers have faced medical supply shortages and a global semiconductor scarcity has forced the closure of American auto plants and hindered consumer electronics exports. The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Todd Young (R-IN), is the backbone of a package of measures Mr. Schumer requested in February from the chairmen of key committees aimed at recalibrating the country’s relationship with China and bolstering American jobs. When taken collectively, the bipartisan proposals would be the most important step Congress has taken in years to improve the country’s competitiveness with Beijing.
Mr. Schumer stated, “If we are to win the next century, we must be the ones to find the next innovative technology.” “We now have the potential to put our country on a road to out-innovate, outproduce, and outcompete the rest of the world in 21st-century emerging industries, with far-reaching implications for our economy and national security. We shall slip far behind if we do not lead in research and innovation.”
Mr. Schumer has made it a personal mission to pass the bill, having found himself in a lonely position as one of the Democratic Party’s first and most ardent China hawks. Now that he’s in power, he’s aiming to direct billions of dollars toward a long-standing aim while scoring an overwhelmingly bipartisan triumph, despite the high cost.
In an interview, Mr. Schumer said, “I’ve cared about this subject for decades, and there have been a number of different proposals offered by many different people.” “However, if you are the
majority leader, you have the power to bring such a bill to the floor.” Despite the bipartisan support for the effort, Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky and the minority leader, warned on Tuesday that the bill was “not ready for prime time,” implying that it would benefit from a “robust” round of modifications during Senate debate.
The Endless Frontier Act has become a magnet for lawmakers’ unrelated parochial matters and the object of an aggressive lobbying operation by lobbyists to incorporate measures advantageous to individual businesses as one of the few pieces of legislation viewed as likely to become law this year.
