Arizona Congressional Republicans Betray the Country Again by Voting Against the CHIPS Act

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Arizona Democrats get it when it comes to passing the CHIPS Act and sending the legislation to President Biden for his signature.

Before the House voted on the legislation yesterday, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego saluted Senate passage of the Bipartisan CHIPS legislation and co-authored a letter cosigned by Democratic and Republican Arizona Mayors (including Tucson’s Regina Romero, Mesa’s John Giles, and Tempe’s Corey Woods,) asking the House to pass the legislation.

Her Mayoral Predecessor, Representative Greg Stanton, also praised the legislation, which did pass on a bipartisan vote in the House, stating in a press release:

“This is a game changer for Arizona.

Our state’s semiconductor industry employs nearly 29,000 people—and the majority of these chip factories are in the East Valley. With companies like Intel and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) anchoring the local industry, we are set to attract new investments that will create thousands more good-paying jobs here at home.

These investments will also fund research and development efforts and allow us to produce a pipeline of top-tier talent for this industry through our colleges and universities. Arizona State University, for instance, has a semiconductor graduate program, offering students a chance to earn a certificate in semiconductor processing, equipping them with the knowledge they need to succeed in this exciting industry––and they won’t have to look far for jobs, with Intel and TSMC right in their backyard.

We’ve grown the industry there and have made Arizona one of the biggest chip makers in the country and world, all thanks to our hard work––and now we’re ready to take the next step and become an even bigger presence.

I’m excited to see these investments solidify Arizona as a global leader in this essential and growing industry.”

As previously reported, this legislation will reinvigorate the domestic semiconductor industry, invest billions in science and technology, and counter Chinese economic influence in this industrial area.

With all that this legislation will do to move the country forward, lift people up with high-paying jobs, and keep the nation safer, why did all of  Arizona’s Congressional Republican Delegation (Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and David Schweikert) vote against the CHIPS Act?

Is playing Judas with the country’s national security in order to stop Joe Biden and the Democrats from getting a legislative win all these fringe figures care about?

Earlier this month, these “public servants” continuously went against the will of the people again by voting against codifying the right for women to choose, same-sex marriage, the right to purchase contraception, and a public safety alert system to identify active shooters.

Now, they vote against the economic and national security interests of the country, all because the legislation had the support of the Democratic President United States.

How is that approach America First?

Democrats looking to take their place in the House next year were quick to pounce on the Arizonans Congressional Republicans putting fringe self-interest over the country and the American People.

Arizona Congressional Six Candidate Kirsten Engel commented:

“The CHIPS and Science Act is excellent news for Arizona!  It will reduce supply chain delays, bring down inflation, and will protect our national security by ensuring that microchips – the lynchpin of our digital economy – will be manufactured here in the USA.  I am mystified that no Republican member of the Arizona House Delegation voted in favor of this Act. Clearly, they hold playing politics above Arizona’s jobs and our national security.”

Arizona Congressional District One Candidate Adam Metzendorf relayed:

“In the midst of supply chain problems that continue to affect markets and Americans, Representative Schweikert has once again chosen inaction over supporting bipartisan, solution-based action. The CHIPS Act not only helps American manufacturing, it helps consumers, industry, and defense. Arizonans deserve Representatives that want to work to fix the problems we face instead of politicians who only care about voting their party lines.”

Arizona Congressional District Five Candidate Javier Ramos offered:

“Conservatives try to talk like they want to negotiate bipartisan legislation and it’s us, the Democrats, that won’t work with them? So the Dems offer up a bill that stands up to China by promoting American microchip manufacturing (right here in AZ, in fact), and funding American innovation. It seems like a slam-dunk for bipartisanship, so both sides should be proud that the Chips and Science Act passed the Senate 64-33.

But in the House, all of the AZ Reps, Biggs, and Schweikert, all of them, voted against a bill that specifically benefits AZ, and stuck to partisan theatrics. Fortunately for us Arizonans, the bill is so strong that it passed with bipartisan support, anyway. So what did they prove? That conservatives care more about their party than they do about Arizona. Let’s make sure they’re gone when that factory opens.”

Arizona Democratic Party Spokesperson Aida Ross added:

“With today’s vote, Arizona Republicans have made it official: they’ll side with anyone, even China, except hardworking Arizonans. The CHIPS and Science Act is a popular, bipartisan bill that will help create jobs and make us less dependent on China, but Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko, and David Schweikert are so extreme that they’d rather try and score political points than strengthen our economy. Arizonans deserve better.”

Democrats will have a good story to tell voters in 2022.

They were the ones that supported en masse:

  • COVID vaccinations.
  • Sending checks to the American People.
  • A Child Tax Credit.
  • Aid to schools.
  • Aid to local governments.
  • An infrastructure deal that Donald Trump could not get through.
  • The first gun control legislation in 30 years.
  • Protecting Democracy, access to the ballot, and the integrity of elections.
  • Codifying Roe v Wade, same-sex marriage, and the right to purchase contraceptives.
  • The CHIPS Act.
  • Protecting veterans and law enforcement.
  • Investments in Green Sustainability and a Prescription Drug Benefit.

What are the horror and dystopian Republican stories they are going to take to the voters?

  • Young girls and women do not have the right to terminate a pregnancy if they were raped or their health was threatened.
  • Women should remain in marriages where their spouse is violent.
  • You can’t marry who you love if you are a gay and, maybe, a biracial couple.
  • Access to the ballot will be compromised.
  • The science is wrong on the environment and COVID 19.
  • Books should be banned and history teachers should not teach about all the bad things the white people did.
  • People do not need to pay affordable prices for prescription drugs.
  • China can have dominance in the semiconductor industry.
  • The rich should not have to pay their fair share in taxes.
  • Veterans should just have to suck it up from the diseases they are suffering from fighting in wars Republicans helped send them to.
  • Religious and white nationalist schools can use taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate students and scam the American People.

When voters go to the polls this November, there is a simple choice.

Do they choose the candidates and the political party that represents sane values that will protect freedom, lift people up and move the country forward?

Or

Do they choose the candidates and the political party that espouses craziness and will suppress personal liberties, stamp people down, and moves the country to a dystopian-autocratic reality?

Which story do you want to hear?

The choice should not be that difficult 102 days from now on November 8, 2022.