Friends,

It took a late night of voting last week, but we’ve officially done it: we’re in conference to get our innovation and manufacturing bill done! I’m proud to have been working on this initiative since last summer and excited to see progress.

I want to take a minute to update you on what’s been going on and what’s to come. Last summer, the Senate passed a bill that contains a lot of measures I worked on to bring back American manufacturing, create jobs, foster U.S. innovation, and restore U.S. leadership in the semiconductor field.

In February, the House finally acted on this legislation and passed their own version – but because there were slight differences from my version in the Senate, we needed to move into a set of negotiations called a conference. I was recently selected to help lead these negotiations and get a final bill to the President’s desk.

This bill is a serious investment in our economy, our technology, and our workers. Nearly everything that has an “on” switch contains a semiconductor – from cars to phones to ATMs to electric toothbrushes. Semiconductors are absolutely critical to our supply chain, and semiconductor-related delays for things like cars have been a huge driver of rising costs. Passing this bill will ease bottlenecks, lower prices, and create good-paying jobs.

It’s also a key initiative to boost American competitiveness. While we used to be a leader in this industry, we’ve fallen to only 11% of the global share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity. I think it’s time we invest in becoming a leader once again instead of relying on foreign countries.

I’m laser-focused on creating solutions that cut costs, ease supply chains, and promote innovation. I’ll keep fighting for this bill and fighting to bring good-paying jobs to Virginia.

If you’re interested in sharing some of my social media posts about this, you can do so on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Sincerely,