House approves Kelly-Cruz bill to expedite semiconductor construction, unlock tens of thousands of Texas jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released the following statement after bipartisan legislation he authored with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) to dramatically expedite semiconductor manufacturing plant construction passed the House of Representatives. The Kelly-Cruz bill, which removes burdensome hurdles to achieving environmental reviews and permits for microchip projects, previously passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to the President’s desk for his signature. 

Upon House passage, Sen. Cruz said:

“My number one priority in the Senate is delivering jobs for Texans. When soon signed into law, the Kelly-Cruz legislation will mean tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and hundreds of billions in new investments for the Lone Star State. I’m proud to have led this effort with Senator Mark Kelly to streamline environmental permitting for semiconductor factories, a crucial step in onshoring jobs and making our country less dependent on China for semiconductors critical to national defense. It took months of hard work to move this bill across the finish line and I’m grateful to Sen. Kelly and others who were part of our broad, bipartisan coalition to help make the United States safer and more prosperous.”

Sen. Kelly said:

“This is a major step forward for our economy and national security. By preventing unnecessary delays in the construction of microchip manufacturing facilities, this bill will help maximize our efforts to bring this industry back to America, creating thousands of good-paying jobs and strengthening our supply chains. I’m grateful to my colleagues in both chambers for their bipartisan work to get this done, and I look forward to seeing it signed into law.” 

In October 2023, during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the importance of a strong U.S. chip manufacturing industry, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo highlighted how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other permitting laws could significantly delay the implementation of CHIPS funding. She urged Congress to pass Sens. Cruz and Kelly’s legislation.

In December of last year, the Senate unanimously passed Sens. Cruz and Kelly’s bipartisan chips permitting bill, which was cosponsored by Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). This legislation had also previously passed the Senate in July of 2023 as part of the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

In January, Sen. Cruz toured the Samsung facility in Taylor, Texas and reiterated the importance of his CHIPS/National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) legislation. Sen. Cruz also 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.  

In April, Sen. Cruz discussed the need for chips permitting reform at a roundtable discussion hosted by Southern Methodist University after the university had been designated the lead agency for this federally funded economic development initiative, aimed at bolstering semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. 

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

• During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on ‘CHIPS and Science Implementation and Oversight,’ Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo endorsed Sens. Cruz and Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) CHIPS/NEPA proposal.

• 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 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. 

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