WEBVTT - Senator John Cornyn (R) Texas Talks Economy

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a pleasure to have the senior senator from Texas

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<v Speaker 2>with US. Senator John Cornyn is joining us now live

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<v Speaker 2>from Capitol Hill. Senator, welcome back to Bloomberg TV and Radio.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd like to start with the economy and the news

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<v Speaker 2>on the semiconductor space that is getting a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>talk and move in markets around here before we get

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<v Speaker 2>to some of the other issues that we'd love to

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<v Speaker 2>ask you about. In Vidia investing five billion dollars in

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<v Speaker 2>Intel following the President's announcement of a federal stake in

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<v Speaker 2>the chip maker. As well the deals, the President announced

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen percent of China sales from Nvidia and AMD to

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<v Speaker 2>go to the US government. I'm wondering your thoughts on this.

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<v Speaker 2>Is this the best move to shore up domestic semiconductor

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<v Speaker 2>manufacturing or does the Conservative Republican you feel like this

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<v Speaker 2>is state run capitalism.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, as you know, we made a major investment in

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<v Speaker 3>bringing back to our shores American advanced semiconductor manufacturing since

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<v Speaker 3>we only were doing a roughly twelve percent of it,

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<v Speaker 3>and I think many people, including me, recognize this is

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<v Speaker 3>a national security risk when so much it was housed

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<v Speaker 3>in South Korea and Taiwan, and so having INTEL manufacturing

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<v Speaker 3>advanced semiconductors in the United States is a positive thing.

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<v Speaker 3>But of course we've all watched all the problems that

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<v Speaker 3>they've had with there now with a new CEO, and

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<v Speaker 3>they are struggling, it appears, but if you read the

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<v Speaker 3>history of semiconductors, this is nothing new. It's a very

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<v Speaker 3>tough competitive field. But I have no objection. In fact,

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<v Speaker 3>I'm glad to see the video. See that as an

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<v Speaker 3>investment of good business.

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<v Speaker 4>Investment, Senator Cornyan the ten percent stake. However, the US

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<v Speaker 4>government now has an INTEL, as you mentioned, has been

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<v Speaker 4>touted as a measure of nationals cequy gurity. There's other

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<v Speaker 4>areas that are tout as measures of national security, including

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<v Speaker 4>energy independence, something driven by your state and others in

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<v Speaker 4>the South. Does a government need to be taking stakes

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<v Speaker 4>in things like energy companies and specifically oil companies.

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<v Speaker 1>No, I don't think so.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, unfortunately, we do find ourselves vulnerable to the

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<v Speaker 3>supply chains on things like critical minerals and rare earth elements,

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<v Speaker 3>since China processes ninety percent of those and uses that

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<v Speaker 3>as leverage against US and of course, these rare earth

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<v Speaker 3>elements in particular are essential to make the magnets that

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<v Speaker 3>go on virtually every electric motor that runs, and they

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<v Speaker 3>really have us at a tremendous disadvantage, and we just

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<v Speaker 3>I think have not anticipated this in among other things,

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<v Speaker 3>but it's emblematic of the strategy, long term strategy. China

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<v Speaker 3>has had to make the United States dependent on on them.

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<v Speaker 1>For exports and demonstrates that they have.

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<v Speaker 3>A full across the board strategy to try to undermine

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<v Speaker 3>American investment and to maintain that virtual monopoly. So this

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<v Speaker 3>is a this is a pretty worrisome situation. But I

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<v Speaker 3>would say in the energy sector we are doing very well.

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<v Speaker 3>We just needed some of the regulators to take their

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<v Speaker 3>boot off the neck of some of the businesses here

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<v Speaker 3>in this country and they will flourish.

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<v Speaker 2>Senator Corny, and I'd love to ask you what's happening

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<v Speaker 2>in terms of government funding or of course, staring down

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<v Speaker 2>at September thirtieth deadline, can you confirm that the Senate

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<v Speaker 2>is leaving today? That's what we're hearing at Bloomberg, as

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<v Speaker 2>opposed to staying around town for the weekend to maybe

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<v Speaker 2>hammer out a deal or get a vote on a CR.

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<v Speaker 1>What's the latest on this, Well.

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<v Speaker 3>Of course, the deadline isn't until the end of the month,

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<v Speaker 3>so we still have we still have a little more

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<v Speaker 3>than a But the fact of the matter is, right

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<v Speaker 3>now Democrats are making a demand which is completely unreasonable.

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<v Speaker 3>They want us to deal with something more than keeping

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<v Speaker 3>the lights on, keeping the government open, which is what

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<v Speaker 3>a continuing resolution is, as you know, until November the twentieth,

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<v Speaker 3>and they wanted to use this as leverage. A potential

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<v Speaker 3>government shutdown is leverage to extract trillions of dollars of

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<v Speaker 3>additional spending in terms of healthcare subsidies.

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<v Speaker 1>We're happy to have that conversation, but not right.

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<v Speaker 2>Now understood, are you are you heading home tonight? Then

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<v Speaker 2>will you come back next weeks? Has Senator Thune given

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<v Speaker 2>you directions on that front?

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's still up in the air.

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<v Speaker 3>First thing we need to do this afternoon is confirmed

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<v Speaker 3>about forty five nominees to cabinet sub cabinet positions that

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<v Speaker 3>the Democrats have been holy hostage. But I know those

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<v Speaker 3>discussions continue, but no resolution yet.

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<v Speaker 2>Need to run, Senator, But you've seen this movie a

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<v Speaker 2>couple of times. What's your gut tell you, are we

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<v Speaker 2>going to shut down at the end of the month.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, it's a lot of unnecessary drama, And yes,

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<v Speaker 3>I have seen this movie before, and it's embarrassing, frankly,

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<v Speaker 3>because the government and the Congress ought to be able

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<v Speaker 3>to figure out how to keep the lights on, how

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<v Speaker 3>to keep government funded, but unfortunately things have become so

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<v Speaker 3>polarized and so partisan that it's hard to get some

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<v Speaker 3>consensus on something as simple as that.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't sound that confident. Well, I don't.

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<v Speaker 3>Expect to shut down, but right now the demands that

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<v Speaker 3>are being made, I think are unrealistic and we're simply

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<v Speaker 3>not going to go there.

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<v Speaker 2>Senator John Cornyn, Republican from Texas, we thank you for

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<v Speaker 2>being with us to see us when we have more

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<v Speaker 2>time on Bluebird TV and radio.