Remarks by President Biden on the CHIPS and Science Act | Syracuse, NY
Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology
Syracuse, New York
2:39 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, hello, hello. (Applause.) It’s good to be back in Syracuse. (Applause.) I fell in love with this place, but I fell in love with a girl before I did that. (Laughter.)
Come — please, all, have a seat.
Shannon, thanks for that introduction and thank you for your brothers and sisters in the — in the building trades, what they’re doing to help build a future here in Syracuse.
You know, before I start, I want to take a moment to honor
two officers who have already been mentioned — two fallen heroes who were killed in the line of duty this month: Lieutenant Michael Hoosock and — County Sheriff Department — and Syracuse Police Officer Michael Jensen.
We pray for their loved ones, whose hearts have been broken. You know, every time a police officer puts on that shield every morning, their husband or wife, whatever it is, their child worries about will they get that phone call — will they get that phone call.
I got one of those phone calls in a different circumstance — find out you’ve lost part of your soul, lost part of your heart.
For — the entire Syracuse community is grieving, and we’re grieving with you.
You know, to the men and women in law enforcement here and across the country, you represent the best of us. You really do. It’s one of the toughest jobs in America — one of the toughest jobs. And to the families, who I hope to get to meet shortly, I say, “My heart goes out to you.” Thank you. And God bless you all.
Folks, I want to thank Governor Hochul for having us here today and for her partnership. And thanks to Chuck Schumer, a relentless advocate for this project we — we’re here to talk about today.
County Executive McMahon, it’s good to be back in a place that meant so much to me in my life.
I also want to thank Governor Little of Idaho and — and Boise Mayor McLean for joining us.
Micron’s CEO, Sanjay, thank you for your leadership and investment in America. We tried to entice you a little bit with a couple hundre- – you know, billions of dollars, but you came. (Laughter.) It seemed to work.
And to all the union leaders here, including Randi Weingarten, the American Federation of Teachers, thank you for showing the world that we can do big things again in America.
And all — folks, all over the years I’ve asked business leaders like Sanjay –- because the other team kept criticizing me for wanting to make these investments, you know, things like the — the infrastructure bill, which was over a trillion dollars. And we’re going to have in- — we have an Infrastructure Decade coming. The last guy had Infrastructure Week and never showed up. (Laughter.)
But — but, you know, I asked him — I was told that, you know, “This is a government intervention.” I said, “Sure in the hell is.” (Laughter and applause.)
I ask every business leader I know — not a joke — “When the federal government makes a multi-billion-dollar investment in something, does that encourage you or discourage you from getting engaged?” Well, guess what? Every single solitary leader said, overwhelmingly, yes, it encourages them to get engaged. And so, that’s why we’re here today.
You know, during the pandemic, folks, everyone learned about supply chains. You may remember we had a global shortage of semiconductors — smaller than the tip of your finger, and now it’s even smaller than that — that would help power everything in our lives from smartphones to cars to dishwashers, satellites.
We invented those chips here in America. We invented them. We made them move. We modernized them. But over time, we stopped — we used to have 40 percent of this market. And over time, we stopped making them.
So, when the pandemic shut down the chips factories overseas, prices of everything went up at — here at home. That semiconductor shortage drove one third of the surge in inflation in 2021, caused long wait lines of all kinds of products.
Folks, I determined that I’m never going to let us be vulnerable to wait lines again. Wh- — if it’s essential, we’re going to make it here in America.
And together — (applause) — and, by the way, that’s not hyperbole; that’s literal. Together with Schumer, Leader and I, we took action to make sure these chips are made in America again, creating tens of thousands — and I mean tens of thousands — of good-paying jobs, bringing prices down for everyone.
In 2022, together with Sch- — Leader Schumer, we wrote the CHIPS and Science Act. We used to invest significant amounts of money in research and development. We stopped doing it, but I was determined we were going to do it again. It’s one of the most significant science and technology investments in our history.
And two months later, I came to Syracuse to celebrate Micron’s historic plan to build the biggest semiconductor manufacturing site in all of America, one of the biggest in the world.
As was mentioned, it’s the size of — going to be the size of 40 football fields — 40 — big enough to fit four Carrier Domes inside and still have space leftover.
Today, I’m pleased to announce we’re building on that commitment with a landmark preliminary agreement between my administration and Micron, a major chip manufacturer, which is building these fabs here in Upstate New York: $6.1 billion in chips funding paired with $125 billion from Micron to build these facilities here in New York and near Micron headquarters in Idaho.
And I — you know, by the way — (applause) — it’s been mentioned before, it’s the single-biggest private investment ever in the history of these two states — Idaho and, you know, New York.
So far from — not far from here, in Clay, New York, it’s going to help build two to four manufacturing facilities planned by Micron’s mega-labs [mega-fabs].
In Boise, Ohio [Idaho], it’s going to help build new high-volume manufacturing fabs as well.
In all, it’s going to create over 70,000 jobs across both states, at least 9,000 of which are construction jobs, 11,000 manufacturing jobs, tens of thousands more up and down the supply chain. And it includes 9,000 permanent Micron manufacturing jobs right here in Clay — not here, but near, in Clay, just a — just a little bit from here — many of them paying — catch this — $100,000 a year. And it doesn’t require a college degree. (Applause.)
These projects are governed by the largest Project Labor Agreement in the state’s history. It makes one of the — and it makes sure that work is done on time with the highest quality and most significant safety standards. And I’m pleased that Micron is planning to sit down with unions to discuss the labor piece.
Look — (applause) — that’s not all. And, by the way, I know I get criticized for being the most pro-union president in American history, but guess what? The middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class. (Applause.)
These new — brand new facilities are going to produce the most sophisticated, powerful, leading-edge memory chips in the entire world. Each one has — has trillions — not billions, not millions — trillions of tiny features, each 4,000 [40,000] times thinner than a single hair on your head. And I’ve got some very thin hair on my head. (Laughter.)
They require manufacturing precision down to the size of an atom. They posse- — they process enormous amounts of information at lightning speed. And they’re critical to the emerging technology that will power tomorrow’s economy, like artificial intelligence and advanced communications. They’ll make everyday things faster, lighter, smaller, and more reliable. And it’s about time.
Even though America invented these advanced chips, we don’t make any of them today — zero, zero. All manufacturing of leading-edge chips moved to Asia years ago.
That’s why, today, this is such a big deal. And it is a big deal.
We’re bringing advanced chips manufacturing back to America after 40 years. And it’s going to transform our semiconductor industry, a pillar of a modern economy. And it’s going to create an entirely new ecosystem in research, design, manufacturing of advanced chips here in America.
Folks, where is it written — when I said we were going to have the lo- — become the manufacturing capital of the world again when I got elected, they looked at me, some of my friends, and said, “You’re crazy.” Well, where the he- — where the heck is it written — (laughter) — that American manufacturing can- — will not be the capital of the world again? It’s going to be.
We’ve already created 8- — nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs since I took office. And, fol- — we’re just getting started. And that’s a fact. We’re just getting started.
It isn’t just about investing in America. It’s about investing in the American people as well. (Applause.) And that includes training folks for these high-paying jobs — highly skilled new jobs that we’re creating. To do that, we’re bringing employers, unions, community colleges, high schools together and workforce hubs where folks can learn the skills hands-on.
My Jill wi- — my wife, Jill, cares a lot about this as well. She’s teaching at a community college right now. Last year, she announced our first five workforce hubs in — in the na- — in the United States in Pittsburgh; Phoenix; Baltimore; Columbus, Ohio; and Augusta, Georgia. Thousands of workers will be trained in these facilities.
And today, I’m pleased to announce four new hub programs. One hub in Detroit and Lansing, Michigan, folks will make electric cars. Another hub in Philadelphia, one in Milwaukee will train workers that’ll replace every — every poisonous lead pipe in America within the decade. And here in Syracuse — the Syracuse region, a new hub is going to train semiconductor workers for the future. (Applause.)
And I know that Micron is also partnering with the American Federation of Teachers to develop a technology curriculum for high schools in New York state. Think about it, those of you who are as young as me, 40 — in your 40s or so. (Laughter.) How many schools still have shop in them? How many folks have — where you learn how to work with your hands?
A significant number of public schools did away with it. So many young people who are qualified and want to and are capable who are going to never know that they had that capacity.
Well, I want to thank Randi and Sanjay for their work and Micron’s leadership in workforce development, because it’s going to make a big difference.
In all — (applause) — so far, my Investing in America agenda has attracted more than $825 billion — $825 billion in private-sector investment, not a penny of which existed before I got elected. I ignited a ma- — it ignited a manufacturing boom, a clean-energy boom, a semiconductor boom nationwide. And it’s clear we have the strongest economy in the world, and that’s a fact.
Fifteen million new jobs created in three and half years. (Applause.) Unemployment did — has — hasn’t been this low for this long for 50 years. Wages are rising. Instead of importing foreign products, we’re exporting — and exporting American jobs, we’re exporting American products and creating American jobs — (applause) — here in America where they belong.
And, folks, my predecessor and his MAGA Republican friends have a very different view. They oppose the CHIPS and Science Act that’s powering this growth today.
In fact, your congressman, Brandon Williams, called it “corporate welfare.”
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Booo —
THE PRESIDENT: Bless me, Father. (The President makes the sign of the cross.) (Laughter.)
And Elise Stefanik, a few counties over, called the CHIPS Act — she said it was, “Washington at its worst,” end of quote. I guess they’re not going to be here today to celebrate. (Laughter and applause.)
But now — now — (applause) — conversion is wonderful, isn’t it?
Now they’ve seen the massive surge in investment and jobs that we’ve mobilized, and they’re singing a different tune now. Now they say this is “critical.” You got that? Stefanik said this is “critical.”
Now they say what we’re doing will, quote, “lead to a more prosperous, secure, and innovative America.” Well, there’s nothing, I said, like conversion. I agree. Welcome, welcome, welcome. (Laughter.)
Folks, look, we got to stop this division. I promised to be a president for all of America, whether you voted for me or not. Today’s investment helps Americans everywhere, in red states and blue states, and proof that we have — we leave no one behind.
Of the infrastructure jobs and pr- — and proposals, we have more of them in red states than in blue states. It’s about America.
Let me close with this. The past few years, I’ve talked to folks all across America, in their communities and at their kitchen tables. They often tell me, back in 2020, they were down. They had lost their business.
How many — did you know somebody who worked at Carrier or another facility and a whole generation that worked there? And you’re sitting there as a parent and — a mom — and the kid that comes home, well-educated, says, “I can’t live here anymore. There’s no job for me. I got to move. I got to move.” They lost faith.
Syracuse is a good example. For decades — decades, it was a manufacturing boomtown full of good-paying jobs and a solid path to the middle class. I know; I lived here. I went to law school here. I married a wonderful woman from Lake Skaneateles who I came — that’s why I came to Syracuse Law School. I felt it.
But over the years, trickle-down economics swept it all away. Under my predecessor, manufacturers left. Factories like BCS Automotive over in Auburn, where her family lived, shut down. Twenty-two thousand local jobs disappeared in the Syracuse region.
That’s a story seen in community after community nationwide: hollowed out, robbed of hope. But not on my watch, thanks to investing we’re making in America and the partnerships we’ve formed. (Applause.)
American manufacturing is back. (Applause.) New factories are going up all across the country. And communities like Syracuse are writing a great American comeback story — that’s what it is: a comeback story — creating new jobs, new businesses, new hope.
Today, folks, when folks see shovels in the ground on these projects, people going back to work, I hope they feel the pride that I feel — pride in their hometown that’s making a comeback, pride in America, pride in knowing we can get big things done when we work together.
That’s why I’ve never been more optimistic about this nation’s future. We just have to remember who we are, for God’s sake. We’re the United States of America. (Applause.) And there is nothing — nothing, nothing — beyond our capacity to get done when we work together.
God bless you all. And may God protect our troops.
This is a big deal day. Congratulations, Syracuse. (Applause.) Congratulations.
Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you.
2:55 P.M. EDT
