BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was in Buffalo on Wednesday talking about a bill with bipartisan support in Congress that would pour massive amounts of tax dollars into high tech research, development, and manufacturing
Schumer said passage of the Endless Frontier Act, which is part of the larger U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, would help keep the U.S. competitive in the "global tech race," and holds some promise for Western New York.
"It's a $250 billion act that would invest in three main areas; advanced manufacturing here in the United States of semiconductors and other critical tech, research and development and investments in regional technology hubs," Schumer said.
Part of the act, according to Schumer, would provide $10 billion for the establishment of 10 technology hubs across the country.
"And I am going to use my clout as majority leader to make Western New York gets one of those 10 hubs," he said.
Dottie Gallagher, CEO of the Buffalo Niagara partnership, called the act a "moon shot", referencing former President John Kennedy's pledge in the early 1960s to invest in technology so that man could land on the moon within a decade.
"Technology is everywhere and everything and part of our lives in a very big way," Gallagher said. "The U.S. has to lead in this space in terms of innovation and what's next."
Gallagher was excited about the government's commitment to fund science technology.
"When you look at what China has done, and this bill is really about going after China, and making sure the U.S. is leading in the space and that we're not getting left behind," Gallagher said. "And, quite frankly, if you think back to the early days when there was investment in the National Science Foundation and the U.S. was really on the cutting edge, I think we just became somewhat complacent. So, what I see when I look at this bill is the U.S. saying, no, we are going to be number one again."
In terms of what the tech hub might mean for Western New York, Gallagher said, "It will turn into research jobs immediately, but in the long term this is about how we are building capacity within our country to be more competitive from a technology standpoint... this is about how we are positioning America for the future."
The bill will be voted on next week.