Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH)
Bipartisan, bicameral bill would make a historic $2.5 billion investment to strengthen national and economic security by reducing reliance on China for critical minerals
This week, ahead of a Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources legislative hearing on the Securing Essential and Critical U.S. Resources and Elements (SECURE) Minerals Act, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) became the first Democrat in the House to cosponsor the legislation. U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Todd Young (R-IN), and U.S. Representatives Rob Wittman (VA-01) and John Moolenaar (MI-02) introduced the legislation last month.
Critical minerals have emerged as a key chokepoint in the global economy, giving the People’s Republic of China enormous leverage, as it’s demonstrated over the last year. Just as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the CHIPS and Science Act, which Pappas helped pass, have created more resilient domestic energy and semiconductor supplies, this bipartisan legislation will play a vital role in insulating the U.S. economy from external threats and creating good-paying jobs at home through the creation of a new Strategic Resilience Reserve (SRR).
“The creation of a new Strategic Resilience Reserve for critical minerals is a common-sense, bipartisan step that will secure our supply chains and minimize the leverage the Chinese Communist Party is able to exert against American businesses, workers, and families,” said Congressman Pappas. “I’m glad to join Representatives Wittman and Moolenaar to push forward this legislation that will strengthen our economy and create good-paying jobs right here in the United States.”
Specifically, the legislation would establish the SRR in an independent government corporation—run by a seven-member board appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate—to focus on supporting the critical minerals market, including through stable prices, expanding domestic and allied production capacity and recycling, stockpiles, competitive markets and supply chain work, with minerals where the U.S. is reliant on China (including rare earths, where China controls 90 percent of processing) and recycling prioritized. The legislation also prioritizes support for projects that recycle, reuse, or repurpose critical minerals or extract minerals from mining or industrial waste.
The bill is supported by: the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, American Critical Minerals Association, Arizona State University, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, the Breakthrough Institute, Center for Public Enterprise, Employ America, Foundation for American Innovation, Institute for Progress, Jervois, New American Industrial Alliance, TechMet, and Zeno Power.
Background:
Since taking office, Pappas has led the fight in Congress to stand up to China’s growing aggression, hold it accountable for human rights violations and trafficking deadly fentanyl into the United States, and ensure that Americans can outcompete the world.
Earlier this Congress, Pappas introduced the Critical Infrastructure Security Act to provide greater oversight and protection for critical American infrastructure from foreign interference, and strengthen existing federal authority to review, investigate, and block foreign real estate transactions that could jeopardize America’s national security. He also introduced the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act to crack down on foreign drug trafficking and sanction Chinese suppliers of key fentanyl ingredients, helped craft and fought to pass the CHIPS and Science Act, bipartisan legislation that jump-started American manufacturing of critical semiconductor chips found in everything from microwaves to cars, and led the STOP CCP Act, which would require financial and visa sanctions on members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party for the numerous human rights violations, including genocide, that the CCP has committed.