Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell signed a letter, along with 70 other Senators and Representatives, urging President Joe Biden to fund semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.
Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, along with Representative Greg Stanton led the bipartisan group of 70 Senators and Representatives in requesting that President Joe Biden fully fund initiatives to expand semiconductor manufacturing on American soil. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
There has been a shortage in semiconductor production nationwide, a problem that hurts Alabama businesses as well. Al.com reported in January that semiconductor shortages were hurting manufacturing plants throughout the nation. In January the Mercedes Benz plant in Tuscaloosa released a statement saying, “The Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant started operations as planned after the end of the Christmas break on 4 January. Despite the ongoing shortage of semiconductors at certain suppliers, production at the Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant continues.”
The letter to Joe Biden states, “The United States cannot wait to provide these resources over the years ahead. The halted production lines for consumer technology, auto manufacturers, truckers, and other critical industries due to a semiconductor shortage further highlights the pressing need to act quickly and fund the enacted bipartisan provisions.”
Kelly stated, “Increasing the production of semiconductors on American soil is an economic and national security imperative. Arizona is a leader in the sector, proven by recent investments by Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Funding the CHIPS Act will create thousands of high-paying jobs, and be critical to our national security to ensure our competitiveness over China and on the global stage.”
