President Joe Biden said on May 3 that the Chinese regime is trying to influence the outcome of legislation aimed at bolstering U.S. competitiveness against Beijing.
“Fundamentally, this is a national security issue. This is one of the reasons why the Chinese Communist Party is lobbying folks to oppose this bill,” Biden said. “And it’s an issue that unites Democrats and Republicans. So, let’s get it done.”
The House version of the bill was passed in February, in a mostly party-line 222–210 vote. In the following month, the Senate bill was passed in a 68 to 28 vote, with 27 of the 28 senators who voted against it Republicans. The legislation is known as the COMPETES Act, with one of the key provisions being to provide billions to support the U.S. semiconductor industry.
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