Bruce Westerman: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. We have spoken about the link…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. We have spoken about the link between hard rock minerals and national security today, but there is one resource highlighted by this amendment that must be discussed, and that is uranium. Domestic uranium is essential for national security, given its role in nuclear deterrence and empowering the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. Uranium also supports the United States biomedical community because it is vital to the production of medical isotopes. As the gentleman has pointed out, the majority of our uranium supply comes from Russia and former Soviet Bloc countries, unfortunately. We have ample deposits of uranium here in the United States. We just have to mine it and process it, and we need to use more of it to create more nuclear power. I thank the gentleman for bringing this amendment. I support it.”