Momentum Builds in Congress for CHIPS Act Funding, FABS Act

by David Isaacs, Vice President, Government Affairs

SIA member companies and coalition partners met with more than 100 members of Congress and staff during SIA’s virtual fly-in on Oct. 20-21, and SIA is organizing daily meetings with Hill offices to generate support for semiconductor industry priorities. Rank-and-file offices and committee chairs, Republicans and Democrats alike, expressed overwhelming support for strengthening domestic semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing. SIA strongly urged action to fund the CHIPS for America Act and enact an enhanced FABS Act.

To stress the need for immediate action, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) led a bipartisan letter to House leadership highlighting the need to fund the CHIPS Act. The letter focuses on the challenges posed by the global chip shortage to the automotive industry, and it calls for funding the CHIPS Act to help address these challenges. Additionally, the House Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan coalition with nearly 60 members, issued a statement urging House leadership “to pass full funding for the CHIPS for America Act.”

As the brains of modern technology, semiconductors are essential to America’s economic prosperity and national security. The Senate on June 8 passed legislation called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) (S.1260) by a strong bipartisan vote of 68-32. USICA includes $52 billion to fund the semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research provisions in the CHIPS for America Act. Additionally, news reports indicate the FABS Act is under consideration for inclusion in the reconciliation package being negotiated. SIA strongly supports the FABS Act and is seeking to strengthen it by including semiconductor design.

The American people and bipartisan members of Congress agree that to keep our country strong and secure, we must have more robust chip production and innovation in the U.S. SIA looks forward to continuing to work with Congress and the administration to fund policies to advance chip research, design, and manufacturing and enhance U.S. national security and economic growth. Getting these initiatives across the finish line is a national priority, and the time to act is now.