WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) celebrated today’s Senate passage of a bipartisan bill that makes long overdue investments in American manufacturing, innovation, and competitiveness. The package includes several key provisions advanced by Senator Coons that will boost growth, create jobs, and enhance economic security in Delaware and across the country.

“Investing in manufacturing and economic competitiveness will improve our national security, bring down costs on major purchases for working families, and strengthen economic outcomes for years to come,” said Senator Coons. “In addition to incentivizing domestic production of semiconductor chips, this bipartisan package invests in energy security and innovation, plants the seeds for regional technology hubs, and commercializes clean energy technology to create jobs in Delaware and across America. I’m proud to join a bipartisan majority of my colleagues in passing this package and look forward to seeing it swiftly pass the House and go to President Biden’s desk for his signature.”  

The bill also includes key provisions that Senator Coons has championed, including: 

  • Creating a non-profit foundation for the Department of Energy to help channel private-sector investments to commercialize new energy technologies, including next generation batteries and low carbon fuels, as outlined in Senator Coons’ Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation Act. 
  • Establishing a Regional Technology Hubs program, based on Senator Coons’ Innovation Centers Acceleration Act, to expand research, innovation, and the tech economy to more cities across America. This legislation will allow American research in biomedical technology, advanced manufacturing, and other crucial sectors to thrive while also ensuring the gains from these jobs are no longer concentrated in a vanishingly small number of metropolitan areas.
  • Growing the Manufacturing USA program to broaden the frontiers of advanced manufacturing in Delaware and across the United States. One of the nation’s 14 Manufacturing USA Institutes, the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Pharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), is based in Newark, Delaware.
  • The Energizing Technology Transfer Act, which Senator Coons introduced, that will bring clean energy technologies developed at DOE and its 17 DOE-led national labs to the market to help provide reliable access to clean energy for the future.
  • Launching a pilot program to make long-term investments in persistently distressed communities that can be used for infrastructure investment, workforce development, small business assistance, and other investments to help communities rebuild. The provision is from Senator Coons’ RECOMPETE Act, which was introduced last July.

 

###