Schumer Says Senate Will Draft Tech Research Funding Bill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday he is directing lead Senate Democrats to draft bipartisan legislation investing in disruptive new technologies in order to challenge China. Details are expected to emerge as they are proposed, but the bill would pump dollars into reshoring U.S. manufacture of semiconductors, which are at the center of a global shortage, as well as other manufacturing and supply chain vulnerabilities. Schumer, with Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., sponsored a bill last year meant to invest $100 billion into research for select emerging technologies called the Endless Frontier Act. That bill, the basis for this current effort, would have created a technology directorate in the National Science Foundation, with “DARPA-like authorities” to oversee research and make contract awards. (
DefenseNews - Feb. 23, 2021)