Endless Frontier Act-- resumed

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I am very proud of where the Senate is headed today. It has taken well over a year-and-a-half for this bill to finally come together, to come to fruition. There have been many committees of jurisdiction that actively participated in this process, Members who have accommodated other Members, and I am proud of the work product that we have been developing here.

I especially want to thank, as we head toward what I hope is final passage later on this evening, my legislative director, Lauren O'Brien; my national security adviser, Brandt Anderson; Dan Cheever, who worked on Commerce Committee, all manner of work for me. They have worked tirelessly with Senator Schumer's staff and my colleagues on the Republican side to ensure that this day came about, and we got a positive outcome.

Let me say a bit about this legislation. We Americans have always looked toward the frontier and forward to new horizons. Our ancestors chased them across a continent and to the sea. When the wilderness was no more, they followed them elsewhere--in workshops and laboratories and factories and on farms, in the air and beyond.

Our spirit is restless. We prefer the difficult as Americans. We have never accepted limits or impossibilities in life. No, instead, we sought to cure disease to lift the human condition, to better understand the world around us, to constantly go faster and further in these and other endeavors. And we do these things always aware that the new knowledge that they bring will benefit mankind and make our Union stronger.

But this spirit is not entirely ours alone. You see, there are others out there who also harbor bold ambitions, but they don't share our democratic values. Just days ago, Communist China orbited, landed, and deployed a rover on the surface of Mars. No other nation has done this. No other nation has done this. It was their first voyage to the red planet. It is only part of the Chinese Communist Party's ambitious space program. And it is another direct challenge to the United States of America.

Now, this momentous event happens at a time when so many of our citizens feel overlooked, when the communities they call home are hollowing out, when trust in our civic institutions is eroding, and when our allegiance seems increasingly to our political tribes and not to one another as citizens for the common good.

Let's not kid ourselves. The Chinese Communist Party plans to exploit our difficulties and divisions. Their power and their capabilities are growing. They are, indeed, locked in a global competition with this great Nation, and they intend to win it. They intend to win it.

They think of those of us in this Chamber as powerless to stop them and unable to prioritize our Nation's long-term goals over our party's short-term gains.

So I ask you this: When future generations of Americans cast their gaze toward new frontiers, will they see a red flag planted on those new frontiers that is not our own?

Today, we answer, unequivocally, no. Today, we declare our intention to win this century and those that follow it as well. Today, we demonstrate our faith in the American people to lead the way and vote to give them the tools to do so.

This bill, this moment, is really not about beating China. It is really not about beating China. You see, the Endless Frontier Act is about using their challenge to become a better version of ourselves. It is about helping more Americans get more skin in the game, deploying their talents and untapped potential. It is about supercharging our economy as we emerge from this global pandemic which descended upon us from Communist China. It is about spreading the benefits of this economy far and wide and preparing and allowing more people, regardless of their circumstances or their place of birth, to meaningfully participate in the 21st century.

It is about unleashing what Emma Lazarus called the imprisoned lightning across this land and aiding so many Americans in their pursuit of our common happiness.

You see this is how we unite our Nation and tilt the balance of a great power struggle westward. This is how we become the first to reach the next great horizon.

Let history record that at this moment we stood united. We declared with solemn purpose and single voice that this is our destination; that by confronting the challenges of today, we built a brighter tomorrow; and that a new generation of doers and dreamers pressed America on, once again, toward the endless frontier.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source