thanks to the leadership of Senator Murkowski and others and Chairman Wyden this Congress was able to address that issue last year

Can--then to the degree that you're able, can you give the committee any assessment in terms of what you have seen over a period of time, how mining activity in the industry within the country has changed and the reasons that we've seen…

Senator Murkowski noted an enormous amount of work has gone into this bill, literally years.

I put it out to all of you it's what I asked both on the first panel and this was the issue of forecasting and better--trying to better understand what we might need in terms of these critical minerals.

I have to admit I am a little bit disappointed in the written testimony that you have provided

I think you did, I mean I think when Congress looks at any of these issues related to reforms or permitting processes you have to look through that--you have to look through the lens of what's politically possible as well.

If critical minerals are so important why have you not formed an opinion one way or another that you would like to relay publicly?

We need to realize that unless we do more to ensure our own domestic supply, we may have no way to present--prevent a crisis next time around.

We ought to make sure, with respect to hard rock minerals, that we're looking at every possible way to reduce delays for mining projects that would extract critical minerals.

I recognize the hard work of Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Murkowski, the cosponsors of the Critical Minerals Act of 2013.

I would hope that as we move forward, not only with this legislation, but just in the efforts that are out there, that when we talk about the interagency coordination that that is more than just good buzz words.

MSIC commends Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Murkowski, the cosponsors of the Critical Minerals Act of 2013, and the members of this Committee for recognizing the national importance of critical minerals and for your efforts to address…

I have just one very quick one for Dr. Meinert and you mentioned the assessment going forward and what I am curious about and would like to understand better is, what's our analytical capacity here in assessing future supply and demand?

I hope that the bipartisanship of the Senate bill will infiltrate into the other body because their bill was not largely bipartisan.

the study authorized by this bill evaluate.

So Mr. Sims from the producer side you know you're getting push from industry that says we need it, we need it, how do we get more folks like Molycorp engaged?

I think the most significant that I hear from people about is the permitting process.

I think it's worthy of our committee's support and I would hope that we will reach that point very soon.

We commend Senators Murkowski, Wyden, and Udall for crafting comprehensive and bipartisan legislation that will help create a more secure and domestic supply chain for critical minerals.

What has helped to either bring new companies, new investment to this state, what has hurt investment opportunities within the mining industry?

The Critical Minerals Policy Act, submitted by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R- AK), Ron Wyden (D- Ore), Mark Udall (D- Col.), Dean Heller (R- Nev.) and 13 others, if fully enacted, will prevent supply shortages of critical materials and reduce…

I do appreciate the fact that you have scheduled up this hearing today.

I'm thrilled and delighted, thank you.

It's encouraging to hear from each of you, your support for the legislation.

We therefore strongly urge the Congress to appropriate funding for CSC on a mandatory basis.