The US Senate passed legislation on Tuesday that would pour nearly a quarter-trillion dollars over the next five years into scientific research and development to bolster competitiveness against China.

The bill, which passed the chamber 68-32, commits roughly $250 billion in funding for scientific research, subsidies for chipmakers and robot makers, and an overhaul of the National Science Foundation.

The proposal aims to address a number of technological areas in which the United States has fallen behind its Chinese competitors, including in semiconductor production.

The scope of the bill, the final product of at least six Senate committees and almost all members of the chamber, reflects the many fronts in the U.S.-China rivalry.

It also likely represents one of the last major bipartisan initiatives of 2021, proof that U.S. lawmakers are broadly in favour of legislation that works to counter Beijing's economic and military expansion, CNBC reported.

Passage is a victory for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who co-wrote and strongly backed the measure, and for President Joe Biden, who made reaching across the aisle a central promise of his governing strategy, although he has faced criticism for moving unilaterally on his largest agenda items to this point.

The effort was the product of multiple Senate committees, making it one of the few areas of successful bipartisan cooperation in the Senate. The base of the bill comes from legislation that Schumer and Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana introduced together last year, which was called the Endless Frontier Act.

The legislation also requires that the iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials used in federally funded infrastructure projects is produced in the United States. The bill would also codify the Made in America office that Biden created earlier this year by executive order.

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