美国国家公共电台 NPR--How will legislation known as the CHIPs bill help the economy?

How will legislation known as the CHIPs bill help the economy?

Transcript¹

NPR's Asma Khalid talks to Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell about House and Senate passage of a major industrial bill aimed at investing billions in American-made technology like semiconductors³.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

President Biden is expected to sign a bill soon that's the result of a rare show of bipartisan unity⁴ on Capitol Hill. Last week, Congress passed legislation that invests billions of dollars in American-made technology, specifically those tiny microchips that power our computers and cars. But this bill is not just about the economy. It's also about national security. It's intended to give the United States a competitive edge over China. Senator Maria Cantwell is a Democrat² from Washington state. She's one of the architects of this bill known as the CHIPS Act. And she joins us now. Thank you so much, Senator, for coming on MORNING EDITION.

MARIA CANTWELL: Good morning, Asma.

KHALID: So, Senator, this is a $280 billion bill. And I want you to get specific with us here. Where will we see some of this money go?

CANTWELL: Well, specifically, you'll see this money go to attract and incent the development of chip design in the United States. That's the key technology that we want to lead the world in. This is something we've fallen off of in the past. We used to be producing 31% of these chips in the United States, and we fell down to 12. But not only do we want to get that number back up. We want to design the next generation of chips for new technologies.

KHALID: And when we talk about job growth, then, I mean, are we talking about years out at this point to see some of these benefits from this piece of legislation?

CANTWELL: Oh, no, no, no. We're talking now. We're talking - we're in a horse race, if you will. We are in the information age. And people want to say, where are we going to develop the next best generation of chip technology? We want them to say in the United States of America. That's why we're passing this bill. It is literally⁵ a historic moment in the history of our race to lead in manufacturing and in key sectors⁶ that are going to be dependent on these chips. So you'll see very soon groundbreakings in Ohio, Arizona, Texas and other parts of the United States where we're going to be attracting that investment and getting those jobs here.

KHALID: I want to ask you about some of the criticism of this bill. We heard Senator Bernie Sanders say that the bill gives blank checks to profitable microchip companies. What is your response to this sort of criticism?

CANTWELL: America's future isn't guaranteed. We have to earn it. And in an information age, one of the key things that you have to do is make the United States the basis for that technology ecosystem⁷. And since we've fallen off as a percentage of GDP our investment in research and development, that research and development has gone overseas to other countries, and so we've fallen behind. This represents an opportunity for 300,000 jobs in the United States that are going to be well-paying jobs based on the technology of the future. But we have to invest in the R&D.

KHALID: Senator, are there...

CANTWELL: The United States used to be 2% of our GDP in R&D, and we've fallen down to 0.6%. So it's time to up the investment.

KHALID: Senator, are there guarantees in this bill that microchip companies will use the money to add jobs here in the United States? And what's to prevent them from, you know, taking some of this money and put it into factories or facilities abroad?

CANTWELL: Well, two things. There are guardrails in the bill that say that that has to happen. And we have a great secretary of commerce who also has the ability to then claw back these dollars given to companies if, in fact, the development goes overseas. So Commerce Secretary Raimondo has been very clear that this has to be a U.S. investment.

KHALID: My understanding is that the CHIPS Act that you all passed last week is, in fact, a slimmed down package of what you had originally wanted. Are there going to be any efforts to revive some of the nuggets that did not make it into this final bill?

CANTWELL: Yes, I hope we'll still work in a bipartisan fashion. Besides the investment in chips, this bill has a lot in workforce⁸ training because these are great jobs for the future, STEM to give the next generation of young people really thinking about these sectors of our economy. But we will come back to the table and look at other aspects of the foreign policy and security that weren't part of this legislation and hopefully get them in a revised conference report later in the fall.

KHALID: You know, Senator, just briefly⁹, you mentioned bipartisanship. This bill certainly had a good number of Republicans and Democrats¹⁰ support it. Do you have the sense that some of the additional things you all would want to get through could get that level of bipartisan support?

CANTWELL: Yes. Literally, the bill came out of seven different committees, and we just passed the biggest chunk¹¹ of what that is, the future of America in high tech. But we have to do the rest of it, and we have to keep working together to show people we can collaborate¹².

KHALID: All right. Thank you very much, Senator.

CANTWELL: Thank you.

KHALID: That's Senator Maria Cantwell. She chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

8 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

9 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

12 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。