MATSUI OPENING REMARKS AT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE ON THE AMERICA COMPETES ACT AND USICA

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-06) delivered the following remarks at the first Conference Committee meeting on H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act and S. 1260, the United States Innovation and Competition Act. Congresswoman Matsui’s Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act and Utilizing Strategic Allied (USA) Telecommunications Act are key pieces of the package to jumpstart American innovation. 

The CHIPS for America Act would restore semiconductor manufacturing back to American soil by increasing federal incentives to stimulate advanced chip manufacturing, enabling cutting-edge research and development – securing the supply chain, and bringing greater transparency to the microelectronics ecosystem.

The USA Telecommunications Act established the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to promote and accelerate the deployment of Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) 5G networks throughout the United States.

Her remarks are available below and HERE.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair – it’s a pleasure to join you here today to kick off the critical work before us conferencing COMPETES and USICA.

For me, like you, this meeting is a culmination of many months of hard work. Almost two years ago, I joined a bipartisan group in the House and Senate to introduce the CHIPS for America Act. This bill established a roadmap for reasserting American leadership in the strategically important semiconductor industry.

Since then, two things have occurred – the CHIPS Act was signed into law as part of the 2021 defense bill and the need to fund it has only grown more severe as the global semiconductor shortage has dragged on.

Thankfully, both COMPETES and USICA include the full $52 billion we need to comprehensively implement the CHIPS Act. This funding is about more than any one specific technology or industry. It’s about securing a fundamental building block of the 21st Century economy.

But there’s more that we can do. As an original cosponsor of the FABS Act, I believe we have a unique opportunity to lay the groundwork for generational leadership in semiconductor innovation and job creation. I want to work with you to do just that.

I’ve also been a strong advocate for modernizing our telecommunications networks through Open RAN. This exciting technology will help diversify our supply chains and create new opportunities for American companies to enter the market and compete. As an original cosponsor of the USA Telecommunications Act, I’m glad both bills include strong Open RAN funding.

In March, I led a bipartisan, bicameral letter signed by 147 Members of Congress urging the leadership of our respective chambers to begin this conference process immediately.

Well, we have begun, and I’m excited to work with you to continue our bipartisan progress and secure America’s position as the global pacesetter for innovation.

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