Hoyer: GOP would be blocking China competition bill just to deny Biden 'a victory'

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer suggested Wednesday that congressional Republicans would be blocking the House Democrats' China competition bill merely to deny President Biden a victory.

"If it's not a bipartisan bill, I think that may be largely for political reasons where the Republicans do not want to see Biden have a victory," Hoyer, the chamber's No. 2 Democrat, told reporters on a virtual call.

"And I think that's deeply unfortunate for the welfare of our country, the welfare of our workers, the welfare of our businesses that, as I understand, the Chamber of Commerce and labor are both for this bill."

If the Democratic-led House passes its new version of the Senate-passed bipartisan China bill, Hoyer said, the next step would be a "conference committee with the Senate or conference agreement with the Senate to get this done."

House Democrats have taken renewed interest in the legislation as a worldwide shortage of computer chips has resulted in skyrocketing prices in the U.S. for cars, home appliances and other big-ticket items that require such technology.

According to House and Senate rules, the resulting bill would go to the House and Senate for final approval. 

Republicans have been critical of the House Democrats' COMPETES Act, arguing that it includes items unrelated to competing with China and does not do enough to counter certain actions of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Senate passed a China competition bill in June 2021 that included $52 billion of funding for computer chipmakers amid a shortage that's hit the auto industry hard since 2020.

The Senate version is named the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. It passed with 18 Republican votes. The House is soon voting on a new version of the bill rather than taking up the Senate's version.

Hoyer was asked if he is open to holding a House vote on a "clean" bill that only includes chip funding if Republicans decline to support a new China competition bill that differs from the Senate-passed one.

"I'm always somebody who says yes there are options available and that would be an option," Hoyer said in response to the question from Just the News.

"I don't want to accept the premise now that we can't get agreement between the Senate and the House. I think we can. I think there's a lot of energy behind this. It was a very bipartisan bill in the Senate."

The Maryland Democrat, who has recently acknowledged having contracted COVID-19, also was asked why the House decided to unveil its own version of the bill nearly seven months after the Senate version passed.

"We're getting this done," he said. "Now, I know that six months seems like forever for people nowadays, but legislation takes some period of time to put together and we'll pass this.

"I'm hopeful that in the near term, and when I say the near term, I'm talking within a 30 day or so period, that we'll come to an agreement between the Senate and the House and we can send a bill to the president of the United States."

The House is debating the COMPETES Act on Wednesday.