Biden Admin Announces Millions in Funds for Computer Chip Production

Biden Admin Announces Millions in Funds for Computer Chip Production

(RepublicanPress.org) – On August 9, 2022, President Joe Biden signed The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law. The bipartisan legislation passed by the 117th Congress aims to strengthen the United States semiconductor industry and support scientific research and innovation on American soil. According to the White House, the funds provided by this law will promote US ingenuity, advance America’s global technology leadership, and create countless new jobs.

On January 4, The Associated Press reported that the Biden administration was planning to give $162 million of those earmarked funds to Microchip Technology to support the US production of computer chips.

Details About the Biden Administration’s Huge Spending Venture

The Department of Commerce explained that the $162 million spending would be split between two projects. About $90 million is going to a fabrication facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the $72 million remainder is allotted to upgrade a similar facility in Gresham, Oregon.

The projects are expected to almost triple the semiconductor output at the sites, reducing US dependence on foreign companies, creating good-paying jobs, and strengthening America’s supply chain resilience — and national security. According to the announcement, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo called the move a “meaningful step” in bolstering the supply chain for semiconductors in several different areas.

Raimondo said Biden’s plan will create more than “700 jobs across Colorado and Oregon.” Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio called it an “investment” to “ensure…a stable supply of critical chip components” for the US. The chips are used in defense, aerospace, automotive, the medical field, and other areas.

More Information About the Act

This allocation represents the second announcement stemming from the CHIPS and Science Act. The first grant went to expand BAE Systems, a New Hampshire factory that makes chips for military aircraft. The facility was set to receive $35 million. NBC News reported that the government plans to provide more funding throughout 2024. The first two grants account for only a fraction of the funds set aside to invest in American technologies.

The 2022 law allotted $52 billion for the CHIPS for America program. In addition, the legislation earmarked billions for the National Science Foundation, science research at the Department of Energy, technology and innovation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, funds for the Department of Commerce to use on regional technology hubs across the nation, money for the Department of Defense to upgrade its microelectronics infrastructure, and billions for the NSF’s Endless Frontier Act — focusing on emerging technologies.

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