Committee Examines Critical Mineral List and Criteria for Inclusion

Statement

"The United States is blessed with an abundance of critical minerals that can power our 21st Century forward. Despite this vast mineral wealth, we have become overly reliant on foreign nations for these resources. In an attempt to address this concern, the U.S. Geological Survey put together a list of minerals they deem critical. However, many questions remain about what minerals are included in this list, and how effective it has been in reducing our nation's dependency on nations like China and Russia. During today's hearing, industry experts provided valuable insight on how we can improve this list and I thank them for their expertise. However, it is not enough to just recognize these minerals as critical - we need to put action behind this list. With that said, it is past time for the Biden Administration to permit the domestic production of these critical minerals so we can finally unleash the mineral wealth found across the United States, including the large copper-nickel deposit that is in my home state of Minnesota."

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