Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas and the GOP member member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, speaks during a hearing of the committee on Sept. 16, 2020. (KEVIN DIETSCH/POOL/AFP)
According to Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), the legislation from the Senate that would invest in manufacturing semiconductors on U.S. soil was a suggestion from former President Donald Trump's secretaries.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, McCaul couldn't figure out why his GOP colleagues refused to back the bill.
"I'm going to vote what's right for the country and national security. I'm not going to vote against my own bill," McCaul said.
When Raw Story asked about the GOP opposing the law, McCaul said he couldn't figure it out.
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"Look, you know, the inception of this bill came to me from the prior administration," he told Raw Story. "Trump's national security team, Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser, Secretary Wilbur Ross, [Robert] Lighthizer, that we have to protect our semiconductors capacity. We need to manufacture them in this country and not let it go offshore, particularly when you look at Taiwan having 90 percent of the semiconductor manufacturing capability."
"Imagine with the threat from China right now, if China takes over Taiwan, they will own the global market of 90 percent of semiconductor production and manufacturing in your phones, in your automobiles, even our most advanced weapons systems, which I'm most concerned about."
McCaul went on to say that in his role on the foreign affairs committee he gets classified briefings that other members don't get. The bill, he said, is "vitally important to our national security."
He went on to complain that two years ago he passed the same piece of legislation in the national defense reauthorization and that it got unanimous support at the time from both sides.
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"It's been hijacked for two years by the Senate primarily, for political reasons, for other things to get passed on it," McCaul continued. "And, you know, that's a shame about politics today. A national security bill getting hijacked by politics? Come on."
With additional reporting by Matt Laslo