Steven Holt: “My amendment is quite simple. It would expand the study section of the act to provide an assessment of how the eventual…”

“My amendment is quite simple. It would expand the study section of the act to provide an assessment of how the eventual closure of the Federal Helium Reserve would influence the availability of this critical resource in the future. Let me take just a moment to say a little bit about why this is important. Helium is the second-lightest gas in existence. It remains liquid down to absolute zero. It is chemically very inert. It is hardly soluble in water or other fluids. It can be made into a quantum superfluid that flows without any viscous resistance at all. These are unique properties that make helium invaluable, necessary, irreplaceable for uses in magnetic resonance imaging in doctors' offices and hospitals, for fabricating electronic devices, for all sorts of research, whether it be in quantum computing or superfluids in any number of other areas. Why is this a policy issue worthy of the consideration of the U.S. Congress? Well, because this invaluable, irreplaceable element is very rare on Earth. It is in fact the second most common element in the universe, but it has long since risen up through the atmosphere of the Earth and vanished into space. And small amounts of helium are created moment by moment deep in the Earth through radioactive decay caught in natural gas reserves, along with methane and the other things that we call natural gas. But it is rare, and it is difficult to separate, and yet we need it.…”