***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks and questioning***
Washington, D.C. – Today, at a Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee hearing on President Biden’s FY24 budget request for the Department of Commerce, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke about the need to build on investments that keep the U.S economy competitive, support innovation, and strengthen trade partnerships.
“When we compete with our adversaries it’s not just a matter of who spends the most on defense,” said Senator Murray. “It’s a matter of who has the strongest supply chains, who supports workers and growing businesses most, who makes sure our communities have the high-speed internet they need to do just about anything in the 21st Century, and who is on the cutting edge of technology—advanced manufacturing, green energy, quantum computing, and more.”
In particular, Senator Murray underscored just how critical it would be that the Biden administration have the resources necessary to effectively implement the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act and how the investments of the Inflation Reduction Act would also help build a stronger clean energy economy and boost American manufacturing.
“The Department is also using resources we provided in the CHIPS and Science Act to bring manufacturing jobs in things like quantum computing and chip manufacturing to states like mine—because we’ve got to make sure the jobs of the future are here in America—not shipped overseas,” stated Senator Murray. “And the Inflation Reduction Act is actually ushering in a boom in green manufacturing for batteries, and electric vehicles, and more.”
“We know China is making investments in many of these same industries and trying to get the upper hand. So if we want to not just compete, but to lead the world, we cannot let our investments fall behind or fall victim to partisan potshots,” Senator Murray continued.
In her questioning, Senator Murray asked Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) plans to continue aiding salmon recovery in Washington state and protect important ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest from invasive species like European green crabs. Senator Murray and Congressman Derek Kilmer recently joined tribal leaders, environmental advocates, and experts to trap European green crabs and discuss the threat they pose to Washington state’s native species.
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