Political Quotes

“I think it is a very important piece of legislation for, certainly, the national defense and the economy of our country. I ask: What would happen to our national defense if we could no longer build a jet engine, vehicle batteries or advanced targeting systems? What are the chances that our country would become energy independent if we could not produce hybrid cars, wind turbines or other alternative energy products? What would happen to our economy if the technologies we depend on to make business work were no longer available? These are questions we would have to answer if China cut off our supply of rare earth materials--vital components to nearly every piece of advanced technology we use in our national defense and throughout business and industry. For the past decade, the United States has been almost entirely dependent on China for its supply of rare earth materials despite the fact that we have an abundant reserve of these materials within our own borders. China currently accounts for as much as 90 percent of the world's available supply of rare earth materials, but they are reducing the amount of these materials going into the global market.”