WASHINGTON — Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, has voted against legislation supported by the largest employer in his district that seeks to boost the domestic semiconductor production and high-tech research programs that lawmakers say will help the country stay economically competitive with China and other countries in the decades ahead.
The House on Thursday approved the $280 billion package by a solid margin of 243-187, sending the bill to President Joe Biden to be signed into law and providing the White House with a major domestic policy victory, The Associated Press reported. Twenty-four Republicans voted for the legislation.
The measure cleared the Senate in a 64-33 vote earlier this week. Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana — who spoke Wednesday on the Senate floor in favor of the bill — voted for the legislation, while Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, voted against it.
The bill provides more than $52 billion in grants and other incentives for the semiconductor industry, as well as a 25% tax credit for those companies that invest in chip plants in the U.S., according to wire reports. It also calls for increased spending on various research programs that would total about $200 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Pence did not respond to a request for comment on why he voted against the package.
However, proponents of the legislation say other countries are spending billons of dollars to lure chipmakers, according to wire reports. Backers say the U.S. must do the same or risk losing a secure supply of the semiconductors that power automobiles, computers, appliances and some of the military’s most advanced weapons systems.
The measure also has received vocal support from Cummins Inc. — the largest employer in Pence’s district, employing about 8,000 people in the Columbus area.
On Monday, Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger was among a group of chief executives and labor leaders who met virtually with Biden to discuss the global seminconductor shortage and the legislation.
Linebarger told Biden during the meeting that the Columbus-based company and others are facing a “supply chain crisis,” including a global shortage of semiconductors that has sent costs soaring and impacted Cummins’s ability to meet customer demand, leading to manufacturing delays.
“We are unable to get the components we need, and semiconductors is always at the top of the list. And semiconductors really are the basic building blocks, they’re the steel of the 21st century,” Linebarger told Biden during the meeting.
“Costs have escalated dramatically,” Linebarger added later in the meeting. “We are often buying chips from brokers now and paying as much as 10 times the regular cost to get these chips just to make sure we can keep trucks on the road, driving inflation in our industry and challenges throughout our supply chain.”
For the complete story, see Saturday’s Republic.
