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D.C. Dispatch: House passes supply chain competition bill as Olympics begin in China

['Katie Akin', 'More From Author', '- February']

Date: 2022-02-04 00:00:00


As the Olympics began in Beijing on Friday, Iowa lawmakers focused on China.

In the House, Democrats passed a major supply chain package to increase competition between the U.S. and China. Republicans voted against the proposal, arguing it included unnecessary provisions and did not go far enough to confront China.

Iowa’s delegation also worked on small business support for veterans, biofuels standards, getting aid for December’s derecho and insurance for striking workers.

House passes supply chain bill aimed at China competition

House lawmakers on Friday passed a 3,000-page bill to encourage American manufacturing of semiconductor chips and other supply chain necessities.

Rep. Cindy Axne, a Democrat, was the only member of Iowa’s House delegation to vote in favor. She said the package had several provisions she pushed for.

“This landmark bill will ensure we can make more critical goods here at home, lower prices on everything from automobiles to everyday consumer goods, and that Iowans have the skills needed to take the good-paying jobs that we’re creating at a record pace with this and other jobs bills here in Washington,” Axne said in a statement.

Several provisions in the bill were bipartisan proposals initially, but Republican leadership objected to additional measures on climate change and a too-late call to move the Beijing Olympics, which began Friday.

Iowa’s Republican representatives voted against the bill. Rep. Ashley Hinson said China was “stealing American data and innovation, ripping off our farmers, and manipulating supply chains,” but she disagreed with the bill’s proposed solutions.

“Speaker Pelosi’s answer is a behemoth, $325 billion spending bill chock full of Build Back Better provisions that would allow your money to line Communist China’s pockets,” Hinson said.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks the bill “does little to address China’s rise or increase American competitiveness.” She urged a bipartisan bill to address competition with China.

The Senate passed a similar bill in June. Sen. Chuck Grassley voted in favor and Sen. Joni Ernst voted against. The House and Senate will need to reconcile the differences between the two proposals before sending one to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Ernst proposes boost to would-be military entrepreneurs

Ernst is leading another push to codify into law a program that coaches people who leave military service about operating small businesses.

The Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Act would ensure the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Boots to Business program would extend for at least five years and would have oversight to determine its effectiveness.

It’s a two-day program that teaches exiting military personnel about creating a business plan, how to obtain start-up cash and more. More than 50,000 people have taken part.

“They have worked sometimes their entire adult lives for the military, and they don’t have the same level of expertise” in business, Ernst said.

Ernst served more than 23 years in the U.S. Army Reserves and the Iowa Army National Guard. She was deployed to Kuwait for convoy duty during the Iraq War.

She joins Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, also a veteran, in support of the legislation. A similar bill was approved by the House last year but stalled in a Senate committee.

Delegation asks for federal disaster relief for December derecho

All six members of Iowa’s delegation sent a letter to Biden, asking him to “promptly grant” a request for federal disaster assistance for counties that were hardest-hit by a December storm.

“This rapidly moving, powerful, low-pressure system moved rapidly across Iowa fueling a line of severe thunderstorms producing numerous tornadoes and hurricane-force thunderstorm wind gusts across the state and region,” the letter reads.

Bipartisan group of senators pushes for biofuels

Grassley and Ernst joined a bipartisan letter to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking that leaders prioritize renewable fuel efforts by maintaining blending requirements for 2022 and denying small refinery exemptions.

The letter also asks the EPA to eliminate retroactive cuts in Renewable Volume Obligations or RVOs.

“Reopening RVOs that have already been finalized while setting a precedent that future administrations and EPA administrators may retroactively lower previously finalized RVOs does the opposite of providing more certainty in the program,” the letter reads.

Axne introduces bill for striking worker insurance

Axne introduced a bill this week to require employers to continue providing health insurance to striking workers.

Axne cited the 2021 John Deere strike as her inspiration for the legislation.

“This is a basic measure, one born of the unfortunate reality that employers use termination of health coverage to break strikes and force employees to accept a subpar contract,” she said in a statement.

— Jared Strong contributed to this report.

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