Raimondo is trying to get the US to support a $52 billion chip program
On State of the Union night, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo strode down the aisle and found her seat in front of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
McConnell, not known to waste words, complimented Raimondo on a recent writeup about her efforts to restore the U.S. as the world leader in advanced computer chips.
Factories, autos, appliances, electronics, toys, toothbrushes and weapons systems all depend on semiconductors, and the need for global supremacy in this small sector of the world economy is a rare area where Republicans and Democrats share the same vision.
“Nice George Will article,” McConnell said, referring to the conservative columnist’s comments on Raimondo.
“Thank you. I’m going to implement that and I’m going to do it responsibly,” Raimondo said of the $52 billion that lawmakers last year approved for research and the construction of semiconductor factories. She stressed to the Kentucky senator that national security was at stake.
“That’s why I voted for it,” McConnell said.After a slew of chip companies announced new U.S. factories, Raimondo is in the process of delivering on the government’s promised financial commitment. Starting next week, the application process will begin for semiconductor firms seeking to qualify for $39 billion in government backing to help fund their expansion.
Chips are integrated circuits that are embedded in a semiconductor, a material — notably silicon — that can manage the flow of electric current. The terms “chip” and “semiconductor” are often used interchangeably.
In a Thursday speech at Georgetown University, the commerce secretary plans to call for the development of two major semiconductor clusters inside the U.S. featuring a network of factories, research laboratories and other infrastructure. But fulfilling that vision means training tens of thousands of workers and figuring out scientific breakthroughs to lower the cost of producing advanced chips.
“There have been times in history,” Raimondo said in an interview, “where a president used the pursuit of a goal, a technological goal, like putting a man on the moon, like leading the world in nuclear technology, to catalyze the whole country to do their part in achieving that goal.”
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