U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is taking a victory lap after microchip-manufacturer Micron Technology announced plans for a major new factory in Central New York.

Over the summer, Schumer spearheaded the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act — a bill the Micron CEO said Tuesday was “essential” in their decision to make the investment. 

Micron Technology said it will spend up to $100 billion over a 20-year period on a new megafab in the Syracuse area, estimated to create tens of thousands of jobs for the region, including 9,000 direct positions.

Schumer likened it to an “Erie Canal moment.”

The announcement comes just months after Congress approved the CHIPS and Science Act, which spends tens of billions of dollars to jumpstart America’s semiconductor industry. 

“I said for many years, if I was lucky enough to be [Senate] majority leader, I’d use my position to deliver for New York in a really significant way,” Schumer said at Tuesday’s announcement.

Speaking to Bloomberg News, Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra praised the CHIPS law, saying that without it and other tax credits, their investment in New York “would not be happening.” 

He argued it was “essential” in bridging the cost gap between U.S. and Asian operations in the semiconductor industry. Most of the world’s microchips are currently made in Asia. 

Schumer, in his own remarks Tuesday, hit on a similar theme.

“Without the CHIPS and Science Bill, some politician in France, or Germany or China — and not us — would be announcing to the world that they had secured a new mammoth chip fab for their nation and the economy,” he said.

The bill’s passage was not always guaranteed. It was revised several times, and went through countless name changes. 

Then over the summer, a new hurdle emerged. Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened to torpedo the bill if Democrats went ahead with a reconciliation package, which they could stuff with Democratic priorities and pass without Republican buy-in. 

The Senate ultimately passed the CHIPS bill in July. Later that day, Schumer announced a deal for a reconciliation package.