Brown Appointed to Conference Committee to Negotiate Legislation to Invest in Manufacturing and Address Global Semiconductor Shortage

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was appointed to serve as a conferee on the committee that will reconcile the differences between the House's America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022 and the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA). Brown expects a quick negotiation of a final bill to send to the president's desk to be signed into law. Brown has been pushing for action to support American semiconductor production, which is key to supporting investments in Ohio's manufacturing. In February, Intel announced a $20 billion investment to build a semiconductor plant in New Albany, which is expected to create 10,000 jobs. The America COMPETES Act will boost Intel's initial investment to create thousands of additional jobs in Ohio.

"The country is finally waking up to what Ohioans have known for years -- we need to make more goods in America. I'll be working to get this bill to the president's desk, so we can make more in Ohio, shorten supply chains, and bring down prices for Ohioans. We are on the verge of a dramatic investment in American workers, American manufacturing, and American ingenuity," said Brown. "I'll be fighting for Ohio priorities to help us build new domestic industries in critical technologies, and combat trade cheats like the Chinese government, which spends billions targeting American manufacturing and our industrial base."

Brown has long advocated for legislation to help U.S. manufacturers to compete with China.

Last June, the Senate passed the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (USICA), which invests in American workers and our nation's long-term competitiveness by shoring up critical industries like semiconductors, which are facing a global shortage. In February, the House of Representatives passed the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022, the House version of USICA.

Brown has been pushing for action to support American semiconductor production, which is key to supporting investments in Ohio's manufacturing. In January, Intel announced a $20billion investment to build a semiconductor plant in New Albany, which is expected to create 10,000 jobs. The USICA will boost Intel's initial investment to create thousands of additional jobs in Ohio.

Following the passage of the House version of USICA, Brown and four of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to prioritize the pro-worker, pro-environment trade provisions bill as the two chambers begin to conference the legislation.

The America COMPETES Act contains Brown's Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act as well as the CHIPS for America Act. The package will make a once-in-a-generation investment in American science, technology and innovation to help the U.S. preserve its competitive edge.

In 2021, Brown made several stops around Ohio to discuss the benefits of USICA. Brown visited America Makes, a manufacturing hub in Youngstown, the Wright Brothers Institute in Dayton, apart of the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), and the Cleveland-based Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) with Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, to discuss how USICA would create a tech hub and support and expand manufacturing partnerships.

USICA includes Brown's bill that builds on the success of his bipartisan 2014 legislation, the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act, which created a network of 15manufacturing innovation hubs around the country. This network was modeled after the first manufacturing institute, "America Makes," in Youngstown, which President Obama directed the Department of Defense to create in 2012.This effort was one of the biggest steps the U.S. had taken to make our manufacturing industry more competitive. America Makes is the nation's leading public-private partnership for additive manufacturing - also called 3D printing- technology and education.

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