Calls on House to pass his bipartisan bill to speed up Taylor plant’s environmental review

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, commended Samsung for securing up to $6.4 billion in federal funding towards their Taylor and Austin, Texas semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The award is expected to create over 20,000 jobs in the area.

“Today’s announcement confirms Texas remains the single best location for companies to grow and thrive. But to fully accomplish the national security goals of the CHIPS Act and reduce America’s dependence on foreign semiconductors, the House of Representatives must pass my bipartisan permitting reform legislation and get the bill to the President’s desk. Without my bipartisan bill, which has already passed the Senate unanimously, projects like Samsung will face permitting delays and put our national security needlessly at risk.” — Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

As part of his continued efforts to onshore the semiconductor industry, Sen. Cruz has been spearheading a bipartisan initiative to streamline federal environmental reviews for the construction of semiconductor plants across Texas and the nation. In January, Sen. Cruz toured the Samsung facility in Taylor, Texas and reiterated the importance of his CHIPS/National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) legislation.

Background on Sen. Cruz’s efforts to encourage American innovation:

• In December, the Senate unanimously passed Sen. Cruz’s bipartisan chips permitting bill. The legislation, which Sen. Cruz introduced with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), speeds up environmental reviews and is now sitting in the House of Representatives awaiting action.
• Earlier last year, Sen. Cruz led successful Senate efforts to include his bipartisan chips permitting reform bill in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The amendment passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support in July 2023.
• During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on “CHIPS and Science Implementation and Oversight,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo endorsed Sens. Cruz and Kelly’s CHIPS/NEPA amendment to the FY2024 NDAA. This amendment sought to streamline the permitting process for new semiconductor projects.
• In January, Sen. Cruz hosted a roundtable event in Round Rock, Texas, to discuss regulatory hurdles facing the semiconductor industry. Sen. Cruz engaged with many Texas-based semiconductor companies, and discussed how burdensome Federal environmental requirements are driving up compliance costs for chip manufacturers, leading to slower construction timelines.
• Sen. Cruz helped enact historic tax reform in 2017, which gave a tax cut to virtually every taxpayer in America. It reduced taxes on small businesses, farmers, ranchers, and job producers, which has helped bring jobs to Texas and drive innovation.
• Sen. Cruz has been leading the fight against burdensome federal government regulations and EPA overreach.
• For his efforts to support Texas innovators large and small, Sen. Cruz received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s prestigious “Spirit of Enterprise” award.
• Sen. Cruz has successfully advocated for Texas innovators and their work to be included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act and the biannual Coast Guard Authorization Act.
• Sen. Cruz worked with a bipartisan group of Texas legislators to call for the Biden administration to pick Texas as a future site for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP).
• Sen. Cruz authored the Cost Recovery and Expensing Acceleration to Transform the Economy and Jumpstart Opportunities for Businesses and Startups (CREATE JOBS) Act, which would vitally reform business expensing in the tax code and help businesses and innovators thrive.
• Sen. Cruz championed the Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors (FABS) Act to incentivize manufacturing in the U.S. through tax credits. That legislation is now law.