Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) secured the passage of his first piece of legislation in the U.S. Senate, since he was sworn in approximately one year ago.
The bipartisan bill, which was passed unanimously by the Senate, was cosponsored by Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Rob Portman (R-OH).
The legislation will amend current law to allow certain, national-security technologies to be included in the FAST-41 federal permitting program.
If enacted, the measure states “semiconductors, artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing and advanced computer hardware and software, quantum information science and technology, data storage, data management, and cybersecurity” would now be included in the system.
The FAST-41 program, established in 2015, allows for certain permitting agencies to engage in a more streamlined approach, easing burdens placed on individuals attempting to bring these technologies to market.
In a statement sent exclusively to The Tennessee Star, Hagerty celebrated the passage, detailing the potential alteration could help create jobs throughout the country. Furthermore, the senator explained the new technologies will give the U.S. an advantage over China.
“Working to advance constructive policy solutions that create jobs for the American people and bolster our national security is one of the reasons I ran for the Senate, and I am pleased with the passage of this legislation to advance those goals,” Senator Hagerty said in the statement to The Star. “Encouraging American leadership in key technologies, from semiconductors to advanced computing and cybersecurity, will not only create millions of American jobs, but help America win the strategic competition with Communist China that will define the century.”
If these technologies are included in the program, the manufacturing timeline for the critical pieces could be substantially reduced.
The bill will now head to the U.S. House of Representatives for its consideration.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
