The Senate convened at 10:00 A.M. and resumed consideration of the Message accompanying H.R.4346, the legislative vehicle for the CHIPS+ legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) filed cloture on the bill aimed at boosting the U.S. semiconductor industry on Wednesday night setting up pivotal test votes next week. The Senate “chips-plus” bill includes $54 billion in grants over five years for semiconductor manufacturing and research along with 5G wireless deployment; a tax credit covering 25 percent of spending on new semiconductor manufacturing plants through 2026; and science-focused provisions, among them funding authorization for the National Science Foundation. It’s smaller than separate economic competitiveness bills the Senate and House had each passed and begun conference negotiations on in recent months. But with the chambers at an impasse on portions of the bills including trade, the Senate is now advancing a trimmed bill with the hopes of delivering incentives to the chips industry before August recess which begins on August 5th.
The Senate will also vote on confirmation of the nomination of Reuben E. Brigety II to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of South Africa.
The House convened at 9:00 A.M. and took up H.R. 8373 – Right to Contraception Act which would safeguard access to contraceptives, less than a month after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said the bench should overturn the landmark case protecting forms of birth control. The legislation, titled the Right to Contraception Act, passed in a 228-195 vote. Eight Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the measure, and two Republicans voted present. The measure seeks to codify access to contraceptives on the federal level, allowing individuals to obtain and use birth control and safeguarding a health care provider’s ability to supply such products. The legislation drew only slightly more Republican support than two bills that the House passed last week, which aimed to ensure access to abortion in the post-Roe era; almost all Republicans were united in opposition. The measure is almost certain to fail in the evenly divided Senate, where most Republicans are also likely to be opposed. The vote was the latest election-year move by Democrats to draw a sharp distinction with Republicans on a social issue that has broad support.
