Select Committee Unveils Critical Minerals Policy Working Group
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Chairman John Moolenaar and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party announced the formation of the Select Committee's Policy Working Group focused on countering the Chinese Communist Party's control of critical mineral supply chains. Critical minerals are used in everything from semiconductors and wind turbines, to electric vehicles.
The Critical Minerals Policy Working Group will be led by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL). Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and Ben Cline (R-VA) will also serve on the Critical Minerals Policy Working Group.
This Policy Working Group (PWG) will be a small group of Select Committee members charged with producing legislation and spreading awareness through Committee events to counter the CCP's dominance of critical minerals. This work will start immediately and will build upon the Select Committee's December report titled "Reset, Prevent, Build: A Strategy to Win America's Economic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party. This report outlined a strategy to fundamentally reset the United States' economic and technological competition with the People's Republic of China, and drew attention to American reliance on Chinese critical minerals.
“Critical minerals are the building blocks of everything from basic consumer goods to advanced military technology. America’s reliance on the Chinese Communist Party’s control of the critical mineral supply chain would quickly become an existential vulnerability in the event of a conflict. The CCP has already weaponized its monopoly on some minerals by imposing export restrictions on rare earth elements like gallium, germanium, and graphite, as well as mineral processing equipment. That’s why I am establishing this new working group that will help Congress declare independence from CCP-controlled supply chains. I am thankful to Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi and Reps. Wittman and Castor for their leadership and I know they will help produce thoughtful solutions to the complex issues involved with critical minerals," said Chairman Moolenaar.
“Establishing the critical minerals working group is another important step for our Committee to strengthen our nation’s critical mineral supply chains, reduce our reliance on foreign adversaries, and enhance our long-term national security. This group will help us accomplish our goals by fostering collaboration and improving communication on multiple levels, and I look forward to getting to work with this bipartisan group of Members," said Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi.
“Dominance over global supply chains for critical mineral and rare earth elements is the next stage of great power competition,” Rep. Wittman said. “We must secure American access to these materials that are integral to the technology we rely on in our daily lives and for our national defense. I look forward to leading the Critical Mineral Working Group with Rep. Castor to elevate this aspect of the serious economic threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.”
“I am pleased to co-lead the Critical Minerals Working Group with my colleague Congressman Wittman,” said Rep. Castor. “Securing critical minerals supply chains is a bipartisan imperative, and Congress must move quickly to support new innovation in critical minerals recycling, substitution, and mining sustainability. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Select Committee to develop legislation that will support U.S. access to critical minerals and help ensure American national security and economic competitiveness in the 21st Century.”
Specifically, the Critical Minerals Policy Working Group will work to create transparency into U.S. supply chain dependency for critical minerals and develop a package of proposed investments, regulatory reforms, and tax incentives to reduce that dependency.