Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
A bill designed to encourage more semiconductor companies to build chip plants in the United States passed the Senate on Wednesday as lawmakers raced to finish work on a key priority of the Biden administration.
The $280 billion measure, which awaits a House vote, includes federal grants and tax breaks for companies that construct their chip facilities in the U.S. The legislation also directs Congress to significantly increase spending on high-tech research programs that lawmakers say will help the country stay economically competitive in the decades ahead.
Senate passage came by a 64-33 vote. The House vote is expected later this week as lawmakers try to wrap up business before returning to their home states and districts in August.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she is confident there is enough GOP support to overcome potential defections from Democrats who view the subsidy effort to boost semiconductor companies as a misplaced priority.
Seventeen Republicans voted for the measure. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., broke ranks with Democrats in voting against the bill.
Proponents of the legislation say other countries are spending billions of dollars to lure chipmakers. Backers say the U.S. must do the same or risk losing a secure supply of the semiconductors that power automobiles, computers, appliances and some of the military's most advanced weapons systems.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N. Y., said the bill represented one of the nation's largest investments in science and manufacturing in decades and that with the Senate's approval, "we say that America's best years are yet to come."
Opponents have been critical of the bill's price tag. It is projected to increase federal deficits by about $79 billion over 10 years.
President Joe Biden said the bill would create jobs and lower costs on a wide range of products from cars to dishwashers.
"For decades, some `experts' said we needed to give up on manufacturing in America. I never believed that. Manufacturing jobs are back," Biden said. "Thanks to this bill, we are going to have even more of them. The House should promptly pass it and send this bill to my desk."
The bill has been in the works for years, starting with efforts by Schumer and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., to increase the government's investment in high-tech research and development. While the bill has taken several twists and turns, one constant theme that lawmakers repeatedly emphasized during Wednesday's debate was the need to keep up with China's massive investments in cutting-edge technology.
China's government is planning on "winning the (artificial intelligence) race, winning future wars and winning the future," Young said. "And the truth is, if we're being honest with ourselves, Beijing is well on its way to accomplishing these goals."
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said, "Regrettably, we are not in the driver's seat on a range of important technologies. China is." Congress, he said, now has "a chance to move us back in the right direction and put America back into a place to win the game."
The bill provides more than $52 billion in grants and other incentives for the semiconductor industry as well as a 25% tax credit for those companies that invest in chip plants in the U.S. It calls for spending about $200 billion for various research activities over 10 years, though Congress will have to follow through by including that money in future spending bills.
The House could take up the bill as soon as Thursday.
While most Republicans are expected to oppose it, some of the ranking Republicans on committees dealing with national security – Reps. Michael McCaul of Texas, Michael Turner of Ohio and John Katko of New York – support the measure. So do many of the Republicans on a bipartisan group called the Problem Solvers Caucus, which is made up of moderates from both parties.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.