Computer chips have become increasingly valuable in recent years following the COVID-19 pandemic, and U.S. lawmakers are looking to ease the difficulties some American electronics makers have faced getting them.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) has been in on the conversation from the start, shaping a bill that would infuse over $50 billion into U.S. chip production in an effort to directly compete with the current world leader in the field, China. The bill includes an investment tax credit to boost chip manufacturing.
Both the House and Senate proposed their own version of the bill with a few varying provisions, but the semiconductor funding is mutual between the two.
Carter is joined by fellow House Rep. David Scott (D-Atlanta) as well as Sen, Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) on the committee, looking to secure funding for Georgia businesses.
"In our conference, and to me personally, I believe the two greatest threats to our country are China and our debt, and we need to address this. This would have helped us to address China in a big sort of way," Carter said.
Carter said he was hoping it would be "signature legislation" for this Congress, but the lawmakers' annual August recess is less than a week away.
The billions that would go to funding the semiconductor industry has been one of the Biden administrations priorities in combatting inflation and calming the supply chain issues. The White House urged Congress last week to focus on passing a more limited measure.
White House officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimonda, urged Congress to move forward with the bill, even if it means only passing the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. The CHIPS part of the bill would provide for the emergency funding for domestic semiconductor production.
Carter says that could be the only part of the bill that survives.
"I was hoping that it would be the signature legislation for this session. And I think we had a great opportunity. But what has happened is that we're running out of time, we don't have a lot of days left in this session. And right now, it looks like it's going to be very much scaled back," Carter said.
The shortage of chips has cramped electronics makers and automotive makers that rely on the chips for their products to work. Only 12% of microchips out there today are produced domestically.
The currently proposed legislation is a condensed version of a bill the Senate passed in June last year that also included $52 billion for chips as well as another $200 billion in funding for U.S. scientific and technological research to compete with China.
The measure never made it to the House floor, as members instead passed their own version of the bill in February, with a few trade proposals tacked on.
Carter said the bill's future is uncertain with just a few days until recess.
"The clock is ticking," Carter said. "And we're running out of time."
Will Peebles is the enterprise reporter for Savannah Morning News. He can be reached at wpeebles@gannett.com and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia lawmakers take lead in refining CHIPS Act aimed at competing with China
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