McCaul, Cornyn praise Biden
Two senior Texas Republicans in Congress emerged from a White House meeting Wednesday praising President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for including them in discussions on critical national security issues.
“What was so refreshing for me was to be in the room with the president, with both Democrats and Republicans in agreement on an issue,” said U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, an Austin Republican whose congressional district includes Katy and parts of northwest Harris County.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who was in the same meeting, called it a “very refreshing” moment, given the partisan rancor that often dominates Washington politics.
Biden and Harris called Cornyn and McCaul, the highestranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to the White House in part to discuss ways to improve the U.S. supply chain in light of the deficiencies revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, shortages of supplies including personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers were caused by the nation’s reliance on China for those items.
“The last year has shown the vulnerability we have with some of the supply chains, including the PPE that we needed badly, but had to go abroad to get,” Biden told reporters before the meeting started.
The meeting included seven other senators and two other members of Congress, a mix of Democrats and Republicans.
“It was one of the best meetings, best meetings we’ve had,” Biden said afterward. “It was like the old days.”
Also Wednesday, Biden issued an executive order calling for a comprehensive review of U.S. supply chains and directing federal agencies to identify ways to secure them against a wide range of vulnerabilities.
The conversation with Cornyn and McCaul also stressed that semiconductors that power everything from cell phones to fighter jets are almost entirely being built in China and that the United States has to invest in bringing those types of manufacturing jobs back to America.
Cornyn noted that China is building 17 semiconductor fabrication manufacturing facilities, while the U.S. is in the early stages of building a single facility in Arizona.
He said U.S. leaders are working on legislation called the CHIPS for America Act to boost domestic production of high-end semiconductors.
“The president was very receptive, as was the vice president,” Cornyn said. “He said, ‘We’re all in.’”
McCaul said it is a good sign that issues such as semiconductor manufacturing have caught the attention of the White House.
“It signaled to me from the president of the United States that this is a high priority,” McCaul said, given that Biden has been in office for just a month.
Cornyn said that for all the bipartisanship, it was still disappointing to him that Biden is pushing for a COVID relief package that will likely be approved on mostly partisan lines.
“The White House seems determined to do this with only Democratic votes,” Cornyn said. “I think it’s a mistake.”
Cornyn said he hopes Wednesday’s meeting sets the stage for “true bipartisan cooperation.”