Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6395) to amend the Energy Act of 2020 to require the Secretary of the Interior to include the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultations regarding designations of critical minerals, elements, substances, and materials.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6395

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. REQUIRED CONSULTATION WITH THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.

Paragraphs (4)(C) and (5)(A) of section 7002(c) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(4)(C) and (5)(A)) are each amended by inserting ``Health and Human Services,'' after ``Agriculture,''.

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Mr. WESTERMAN. 6395, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, this bill brings together two agencies that don't usually interact, the United States Geological Survey, USGS, and the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS.

H.R. 6395, the Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act of 2023, would add HHS as a consulting agency for the development of USGS' critical minerals list.

USGS publishes and updates this list every 3 years and, as directed by the Energy Act of 2020, consults with the Secretaries of Defense, Commerce, Agriculture, and Energy and the United States Trade Representative in crafting each iteration.

Why is it important to include HHS as a consulting agency? The critical minerals list constitutes a collection of minerals deemed necessary for economic and national security and whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption.

There are many mineral applications in the healthcare industry. For example, radioisotopes derived from low-enriched uranium are used in over 40,000 imaging procedures in the U.S. daily, enabling diagnoses of cancer and heart disease, and liquid helium is frequently used as a coolant in MRI machines.

By requiring DOI to consult with HHS, H.R. 6395 would ensure that medical uses of these minerals and the ramifications that any supply disruption could have on the healthcare economy are adequately considered when evaluating critical minerals list designations.

Again, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis) for his hard work in bringing this bill to the floor today, and I thank my friends on the other side of the aisle for recognizing the importance of passing this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6395, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close.

Without the necessary tools, healthcare professionals cannot administer lifesaving care to their patients. While it may not be immediately obvious, these tools include minerals and materials.

From the copper, gold, lithium, titanium, silver, and platinum used in antimicrobial touch surfaces, heart stents, pacemakers, surgical tools, antibiotics, and chemotherapy to the uranium byproducts and liquid helium used in cancer treatments and MRI scans that I mentioned earlier, our healthcare system is only as reliable as our supply chains.

The Energy Act of 2020 was crafted explicitly so USGS would consult with multiple agencies, each providing expertise within their prospective jurisdictions.

Adding HHS as one of these agencies, as H.R. 6395 aims to do, would ensure the mineral needs of the healthcare sector are fully considered as USGS crafts the critical minerals list going forward.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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