National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOSAR. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 1937, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act.

This commonsense legislation will streamline the permitting process and allow for better coordination amongst the relevant State and Federal agencies in order to foster economic growth, create jobs, and ensure a robust domestic supply of strategic and critical minerals.

People have been digging in Arizona for precious metals for centuries. In the 1850s, nearly one in every four people in Arizona was a miner. Without a doubt, mining fueled the growth that makes Arizona the State it is today. In fact, it is part of the five Cs that built Arizona with copper.

Today, the Arizona mining industry is alive. Minerals such as copper, coal, gold, uranium, lime, and potash are still mined throughout my district, but not at the levels they used to be.

These projects employ hundreds of my constituents with high-paying jobs, jobs that pay over $50,000 to $60,000 a year, plus benefits. In rural Arizona, these types of jobs are few and far between.

As I meet with companies that do business throughout my State, the message is clear: we could do better. The length, complexity, and uncertainty of the permitting process is stymieing development and discouraging investors from committing to U.S. mining.

The folks on the ground tell me that because of regulatory excessive overreach by the Federal Government and the cumbersome permitting process, that it can take as long as 10 years. It is becoming a bad business decision to even attempt to get a new U.S. mine off the ground, despite a bountiful supply of domestic resources. We must correct this problem and prevent more American jobs from leaving America.

Rare earth and other critical minerals have been discovered throughout rural Arizona, have been the main economic driver and provider of jobs for communities that otherwise probably wouldn't make it at all. The critical minerals produced in these areas are resources our country badly needs to meet the demand for production of everyday items like cell phones, computers, batteries, and cars.

Let's lessen our dependency on importing critical minerals from countries like China and restore some sanity to our permitting and regulatory process so we can get American miners back to work. Imagine our slogan, ``Made in the USA with materials mined in the USA.'' Now, that is what this bill is all about.

I applaud Mr. Amodei for his leadership on this critical issue and urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1937.

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