China Conference Faces Procedural Hurdles in the Senate

The Senate will need to amend the House China package with upper chamber language and send it back to the lower chamber in order to begin conferencing the two measures, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday. Calling it a procedural step, he noted a “small band of Republicans” is standing in the way of “quick action.”

Schumer filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the House-passed America Competes Act in order to take the next procedural step in moving to conference. Schumer’s office said it’s negotiating to begin conferencing this work period (see 2203140059).

The Senate plans to amend the House bill next week “as quickly as we can,” said Schumer from the Senate floor: “Despite filing cloture, it’s far better for Democrats and Republicans to reach an agreement to vote on this bill quickly, and we’ll keep working on that over the next few days. It’s regrettable that a small band of Republicans are determined to stand in the way of quick action.”

Offices for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and lead sponsor Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., didn’t comment. “Creating jobs, lowering costs, fixing supply chains shouldn’t be partisan, and I hope to see an agreement to expedite this process soon,” said Schumer.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is looking ahead to a hearing next week on chips legislation with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Lam Research CEO Tim Archer and Paccar CEO Preston Feight. Its passage is the committee’s primary goal, Cantwell said in January (see 2201070062). After that the committee can move onto other pieces of legislation, she told us Wednesday.

It’s “encouraging” Schumer’s office said it wants to begin conferencing this work period, ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us before Schumer filed cloture. “I’ve been ready for six weeks or more, so I’m eager to get started,” he said. “I have not been notified by anyone that I’m officially on the conference committee, but I hope to be, expect to be.”

“If we want this to pass, it’s going to have to resemble the Senate bill,” Young said Thursday during an event with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “This is what so many Republicans are supportive of on this side of the Capitol, and I think many of the stakeholders understand that.” He believes conferencing will happen in the coming weeks and that passage, if it occurs, will happen in the summer. If Congress fails, it will send a bad message to U.S. investors, allies and adversaries, he said.

House Technology Subcommittee members discussed specific provisions in the legislation Thursday. Chair Haley Stevens, D-Mich., questioned why Senate language places the State Department in charge of coordinating U.S. engagement in international information and communication technologies standards. That's the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, she said. She noted the role of technical standards in innovation, U.S. competitiveness and the global economy. Her House-passed NIST for the Future Act (HR-4609) would increase the agency’s budget by more than 18% this year and double it over the next decade.

NIST doesn’t have the resources or staff to be fully engaged in international standards-setting, said Stevens. Acting NIST Director James Olthoff agreed his agency has the proper expertise for international standards setting. Ranking member Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, said the package of chips legislation stalled because Democratic leaders piled partisan provisions onto the legislation. He agreed with Stevens that U.S. standards setting is vital to help develop global industries of the future.