Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment No. 121 that prevents any funds in today's bill from being used to implement recommendations made by the Biden administration's Interagency Working Group on Mining. This last September, the Working Group released a 168-page report containing 65 different recommendations. There are a few recommendations in this report that were helpful but, unfortunately, the vast majority further undermine, rather than facilitate, our industry and congressional efforts to secure our own domestic mineral supply. The Biden administration knows and acknowledges that a strong U.S. mining supply chain is critical. They are aware that demand for minerals is skyrocketing, doubling over the last 5 years and will continue to grow. They know that we are dangerously dependent on overseas suppliers, in particular adversaries like China, Russia, and other unstable countries, for minerals that are essential to our economic competitiveness and national security. Examples of this can be seen in countries like Peru and Chile, which combined produce about 40 percent of the world's supply of copper. Peru has gone through seven Presidents in the last few years. In Chile, the government is now making plans to nationalize the country's lithium supply. Despite acknowledging this as a national security issue, the Biden administration continues to attack our American suppliers with layer, upon layer, upon layer of burdensome, duplicative, and unworkable regulations.…”