US House, Senate Hold First Meeting To Reconcile Competition Bill - Pelosi

US House, Senate Hold First Meeting to Reconcile Competition Bill - Pelosi

US lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives are holding their first meeting on Thursday to reconcile each chamber's version of a bill that addresses the United States' competitiveness in a number of key areas, including on semiconductors manufacturing, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2022) US lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives are holding their first meeting on Thursday to reconcile each chamber's version of a bill that addresses the United States' competitiveness in a number of key areas, including on semiconductors manufacturing, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

"Right now, as we gather here, the COMPETES Act conference committee is having its first meeting," Pelosi said during a press conference. "We are focused on sending this cost-cutting legislation to the President as soon as we can."

The legislation, dubbed the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) or the America COMPETES Act, addresses US competitiveness in areas such as technology and communications, foreign relations and national security, domestic manufacturing, education and trade.

The House of Representatives and Senate passed their own versions of the legislation but both sides need to agree on a final version of the bill that they will vote on again and send to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

This legislation is designed to ease supply chain bottlenecks on items like semiconductors and bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States, authorizing $45 billion to improve US supply chains and prevent shortages of critical goods by ensuring more are made in the country.

The bill would also direct the Biden and subsequent administrations to submit a six-month review identifying areas of potential dialogue between the Chinese and US governments on ballistic, hypersonic, nuclear, space and cyber issues.

It similarly directs the US administration to develop a concrete plan to engage in arms control talks with China, and alternative plans to address arms control concerns should efforts to enter negotiations with Beijing fail.