BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – A proposed SpaceX semiconductor facility in Grimes County has been the talk of the Brazos Valley for weeks — and now, it’s getting attention on Capitol Hill.

The project, called TeraFab, would be built at the Gibbons Creek Reservoir, about 20 miles east of Bryan-College Station. The massive chip manufacturing and advanced computing facility carries a price tag that could reach $119 billion.

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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) says facilities like TeraFab are critical to the country’s future.

“They’re essential to our national security and our economy because everything with an off and on switch — from this to the F-35 joint strike fighter — requires these advanced semiconductors,” Cornyn said. “And then of course the data centers that are so essential to artificial intelligence. They need a lot of chips.”

The proposal hasn’t come without pushback. Residents near the reservoir have raised serious concerns about water use, land use, and the impact a development of this scale could have on their community.

Cornyn says those voices matter.

“I know there’s some concern at the local level about electricity and water use and land use. And I think it’s important that all of that discussion occur with input by all the local stakeholders,” Cornyn said. “It shouldn’t be this idea that this is going to be imposed on a community. It ought to be something the community is partners with.”

Grimes County commissioners are expected to take action on the proposal at a formal public hearing set for June 3 at 9 a.m. at the Grimes County Justice and Business Center in Anderson.