Rush Workforce Diversity Amendment Passes House As Part Of America COMPETES Act
Rush Workforce Diversity Amendment Passes House As Part Of America COMPETES Act (Washington, DC) — Today, U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), a senior member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, celebrated the House of Representatives’ passage of the America COMPETES Act, a bold legislative package to supercharge American production of semiconductor chips, strengthen U.S. supply chains and American manufacturing, and advance U.S. scientific excellence and research.
Rep. Rush secured an amendment in the House-passed bill that would require any company applying for the pot of $52 billion in semiconductor incentives to provide data on the diversity of its workforce, which would then be aggregated and published in a biannual report.
“The United States has long been a beacon of scientific excellence and achievement, but our competitive edge is increasingly being challenged on the world stage,” said Rep. Rush. “By making necessary and strategic investments in U.S. technological innovation, supply chains, and domestic production and manufacturing, the America COMPETES Act will strengthen our nation’s economic security and the financial security of American families.”
“I was proud to secure the inclusion of an amendment in the America COMPETES Act that would require any company applying for semiconductor investments to report on the diversity of its workforce,” Rush continued. “As we expand American science and manufacturing, we must make sure that communities and individuals who have been historically disadvantaged are included and elevated every step of the way.”
The America COMPETES Act includes bold, smart, and strategic investments to power the success of America’s workers, businesses, and economy — based on bipartisan bills, many of which have already passed the House with bipartisan support — including:
- Supercharging investments in semiconductor chips: With $52 billion to support U.S. production of semiconductors — a key component in consumer electronics, cars, defense systems, and other key products — address supply chain disruptions that push up costs for families, bring back chips production to America and ensure that the U.S. leads the way on semiconductor fabrication.
- Strengthening supply chains and manufacturing at home: With $45 billion to support the manufacture and acquisition of critical goods or industrial equipment that are essential for national security and economic vitality — including public health and biological preparedness, information and communications technology, the energy and transportation sector’s industrial base, and agricultural commodities and food product supply chains. America COMPETES reduces our reliance on critical goods from countries of concern and encourages the relocation of manufacturing facilities out of these countries.
- Advancing American scientific research and innovation excellence: Ensure that we lead the technologies of the future with a suite of bipartisan science, research, and technology bills to turbocharge American innovation, focused squarely on producing solutions and results. America COMPETES also maximizes the American talent pool by strengthening and diversifying our nation’s STEM workforce.
- Promoting U.S. global leadership: Positioning the interests and values of the United States, not China, to win on the world stage, including with strong action to hold the PRC accountable for its trade abuses, which hurt U.S. workers, and for its human rights violations, including the genocide against the Uyghurs.
Rush Workforce Diversity Amendment Passes House As Part Of America COMPETES Act
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