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Rep. Elise Stefanik, Chairwoman
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Press Releases

H.R 1 Would Boost the Production and Processing of Critical Minerals

Washington, D.C., March 29, 2023

House Republicans are upholding our Commitment to America and unleashing American energy independence with H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which would boost the production and processing of critical minerals to help drive down costs for Americans and keep us competitive with Communist China. 

HOW H.R. 1 WOULD BOOST THE PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF CRITICAL MINERALS:

  • Whether to build electric cars, wind turbines, electronics, lasers, medical supplies, or for military needs, these critical minerals are essential to the United States' national security and economic development.
  • H.R. 1 would boost the production and processing of hardrock minerals, including critical minerals.
  • This legislation creates certainty for miners by setting time limits on reviews and qualifying mining projects for the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council Dashboard.
  • H.R. 1 stops frivolous litigation by banning lawsuits filed well after the decision has been published.
  • This legislation cuts red tape by designating a lead agency and authorizing Memorandums of Understanding between sponsors and state and local governments.
  • American dependence on foreign sources for critical and other hardrock minerals has reached alarming rates. 
    • In 2019 the United States was “import-reliant for 31 of 35 critical minerals and had no domestic production for 14 of those minerals.”
    • While the United States was 100 percent import-reliant on minerals such as graphite, manganese, niobium, rare earths, and tantalum, Americans were more than 75 percent reliant on foreign producers of minerals such as antimony, barite, bauxite, bismuth, potash, rhenium, tellurium, tin, titanium concentrate, and uranium.
    • Today, the United States is dependent on Communist China for more than 50 percent of its supply for 25 different minerals.
  • Communist China is unquestionably the biggest producer in the global minerals market, controlling much of the extraction and refinement capacity for many of the most important commodities. When not mined in Communist China, many minerals are mined in Communist Chinese-owned mines in Africa or other continents. 
    • For example, approximately 70 percent of the world’s cobalt is mined in Congo. In 2020, Chinese firms owned or had a stake in 15 of Congo’s 19 cobalt-producing mines.

MAKE NO MISTAKE: Maximizing domestic production and development of hardrock minerals is in the best national security, economic, and environmental interests of the United States.