©2025 League of Conservation Voters
Issues
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) sponsored a motion to instruct (MTI) Senate conferees on H.R. 4521, the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) of 2021, to eliminate international-focused provisions included in the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2021, including an $8 billion authorization for the Green Climate Fund, the establishment of a State Department program to provide adaptation, mitigation, and security assistance to under-resourced countries, a professed commitment to implementing the Paris climate agreement and addressing climate change, and the establishment of a State Department task force to coordinate a whole-of-government response to climate change. As the wealthiest nation in the world and one of the largest historical emitters of climate pollution, the U.S. has an obligation to swiftly advance our own clean energy transition through all the tools at our disposal, and to contribute our fair share to support under-resourced countries in meeting our shared climate goals – all of which this amendment would undermine. On May 4, the Senate rejected the Lee MTI by a vote of 48-49 (House Roll Call 150). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. While this MTI was rejected, the crucial climate provisions it sought to eliminate were not ultimately included in the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) & Science Act (H.R. 4346), the final version of this bill which the president signed into law on August 9.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters