Text of Senate Amendment 6345

Text in the Record

SA 6345. Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. Cotton) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle E of title VIII, add the following:

SEC. 885. PROHIBITION ON ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN SILICON CARBIDE-BASED SEMICONDUCTORS MANUFACTURED IN CHINA.

(a) Restrictions on Silicon Carbide Wafer Sourcing.--The Secretary of Defense shall revise section 252.225 of the Department of Defense Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to prohibit the procurement of semiconductors, other than commercially available off-the-shelf items (as defined in section 104 of title 41, United States Code), that are manufactured on silicon carbide wafers that are manufactured in the Peoples Republic of China. Such revision may provide the authority for the Secretary to issue a waiver on a case-by-case basis. (b) Briefing on Financial Instruments.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense shall conduct a review, and provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the results of such a review, of domestic manufacturers of silicon carbide wafers that are critical to the Department of Defense and that are facing challenges due to Chinese exports of such wafers. (c) Briefing on Establishment of Common Foundries.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Defense provide to the congressional defense committees a briefing that evaluates the merits of encouraging major prime contractors in the defense industrial base to consolidate silicon carbide semiconductor design and fabrication operations in common commercial foundries to encourage economies of scale and quality improvements. (d) Consultation With the Chips Program Office.--The Secretary shall provide information to the Secretary of Commerce and other appropriate Federal agency heads on the use of Research and Development amounts to develop silicon carbide-related manufacturing technology for manufacturing high-purity single crystal silicon carbide boules, ingots, and wafers at 300mm scale for purposes of-- (1) developing next-generation high-voltage technology; and (2) advancing state-of-the-art packaging power modules. (e) Policy on Interagency Deliberations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Defense shall issue a policy for recommendations for interagency consideration in deliberations on encouraging allied and partner countries to ensure the silicon carbide substrate supply chains of such countries for national security systems and critical infrastructure do not include Chinese-manufactured silicon carbide wafers.

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