Sid Salter: Technology and global politics make CHIPS and Science Act a necessary investment

Sid Salter
STARKVILLE — Mississippi Republican U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are in near-lockstep on their votes – skewing conservative on fiscal and social issues and reflecting the views of their conservative Mississippi constituencies. But on the matter of the CHIPS and Science Act, Wicker and Hyde-Smith found themselves on opposite sides of the legislation. Wicker voted in favor of it. Hyde-Smith voted against it. The split vote of Mississippi’s U.S. Senate delegation becomes even more interesting when one considers that a year earlier, Wicker and Hyde-Smith were united as signatories on a bipartisan letter calling on President Joe Biden to increase U.