In an unsurprising turn of events, the Biden administration has added some new inane terms to its voluminous lexicon of woke terminology, this time discovered within requirements for commercial fabrication facilities applying for federal subsidies (read: taxpayer dollars) through the "CHIPS Incentives Program."
According to the Notice of Funding Opportunity published by the Biden Department of Commerce and subsequently scrutinized in a memo from the House Anti-Woke Caucus, the program "aims to catalyze long-term economically sustainable growth in the domestic semiconductor industry in support of U.S. economic and national security."
That may sound good and important, but the Biden administration's implementation of that aim is off the rails, as usual.
According to the Commerce Department's notice, the agency "also strongly supports inclusion, diversity, equity, and access, and firmly believes that the semiconductor industry cannot succeed unless all Americans have an opportunity to participate, including communities and individuals that have historically been underrepresented in the industry." Of course, DEI.
As such, the Commerce Department also requires funding applicants to create a "proposed equity strategy to promote the hiring and retention of economically disadvantaged individuals" that the agency suggests "could include skills-based hiring and removing degree requirements, setting diverse hiring slate policies, eliminating personal and demographic information from the hiring process, and conducting structured and skills-based interviews."
The Biden administration's requirements also mean convicted criminals and those who've had other run-ins with the law, previously referred to by the White House as "justice-involved individuals," must be included in grant request plans. Specifically, the administration requires grant and subsidy applicants to include their plans "to employ qualified workers who face systemic barriers to quality employment, including those with criminal history records."
In classic Joe "end fossil fuels" Biden fashion, the grant applications must also include "a climate and environmental responsibility plan that addresses how the proposed project(s) will meet climate and environmental goals and describe company climate and environmental policies."
According to the Commerce Department notice, that requirement means providing details for how applicants "will use renewable energy to the maximum extent possible."
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), chairman of the House Anti-Woke Caucus, slammed the Biden administration's efforts to force leftist policies on companies seeking to make American industry competitive with overseas manufacturers of critical microchips. "Attempting to make America stronger and more prosperous, but also more woke, is self-defeating," Banks emphasized. "A woker America is a weaker America."