Senate Is Poised To Approve A Major Science Funding Bill To Compete With China

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/27/ [login to see] /senate-poised-to-approve-major-science-funding-bill-to-compete-with-china
The Senate is poised to pass a major bill that would pour hundreds of billions of dollars into science and technology in a bid to out-compete China, and it's doing so with something rare these days: strong bipartisan support.

The Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 is part of a wave of recent China-related proposals in Congress.

Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana is one of the act's key sponsors, as is Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has been leading the charge to get it passed.

"The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act will be one of the most significant pieces of bipartisan legislation we pass in a very long time," Schumer said in the Senate on Thursday. "​It could be a moment in history that future generations look back on as a turning point for American leadership in the ... 21st century."

The 1,445-page act would appropriate $52 billion for America's microchip industry, tens of billions more for scientific research, and an overhaul of the National Science Foundation, adding a technology directorate.