William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I feel like I am in the movie ``Groundhog Day.'' My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are repeating one of their famous mantras, ``Not this mine, not this place,'' their standard refrain because they do not support any mining anywhere.

This amendment is nothing short of a full-scale attack on the livelihoods of many of my constituents. It sets back our Nation's national security and strengthens Putin's Russia. This amendment imposes a million-acre land grab permanently banning mining in an area nearly the size of Delaware. However, none of this land is in the district of the sponsor of this amendment, Mr. Speaker.

My colleagues falsely frame this amendment as an effort to protect the Grand Canyon, which is, of course, completely disingenuous. No one wants to mine within the Grand Canyon. This entire area is miles away from the boundaries of the buffer around the Grand Canyon National Park.

Bipartisan negotiations led to the Arizona Wilderness Act in 1984, which set aside this area for multiple-use activities, including mining. It placed 387,000 acres of land into the National Wilderness Preservation System in exchange for leaving 540,000 acres for multiple use, which now makes up a large portion of this withdrawal.

Estimates show that the passage of this amendment would cost the six directly affected counties in Arizona and Utah between 2,000 and 4,000 jobs and $29 billion in economic activity. This would completely and utterly devastate these rural communities.

The area in question is home to the highest grade and largest quantity of uranium deposits in the country, so this amendment does not just negatively affect Arizona, it harms the national security of the entire country.

By passing this amendment, we play right into the hands of Russia, who along with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are deliberately trying to corner the global uranium market. China is also joining in the game, buying up uranium mines in Africa.

Successful uranium mining occurred in the 1980s in this exact area. These mines were reclaimed so well that you can't even tell where they once existed. And there was no damage done to the Grand Canyon watershed--in fact, it may have improved it.

Mr. Speaker, I think this House is slowly becoming fully aware of the problem we face as a nation when it comes to our reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals, especially in light of the current pandemic. In fact, many Democrats are starting to come to the table to work with us to rectify this problem.

However, there are still many hurdles to cross, like the fact that my colleagues continue to try to block mining in northern Arizona, much like they do in northern Minnesota and the Resolution Copper Mine in the southern part of my district.

There is no question that this amendment will hurt local revenues, kill jobs, and undermine American energy security. It is opposed by the people of my district, and, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in opposition.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two letters: one being a veto threat from the administration related to the bill form of this amendment, H.R. 1373; and the other being a letter from a number of industry groups opposing this amendment. Statement of Administration Policy H.R. 1373--Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act--Rep. Grijalva, D-AZ, and 122 cosponsors

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 1373, the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act. This bill would permanently make more than 1 million acres of Federal lands in Arizona off limits to development and uses that would otherwise be permissible under Federal laws governing public lands, mining, mineral, and geothermal leasing. The Administration opposes such a large, permanent withdrawal, which would prohibit environmentally responsible development, as determined through site-specific analysis, of uranium and other mineral resources.

The United States has an extraordinary abundance of mineral resources, both onshore and offshore, but this legislation would restrict our ability to access critical minerals like uranium in an area known to have them in large supply. Moreover, the size of the withdrawal included in H.R. 1373 is inconsistent with the Administration's goal of striking the appropriate balance for use of public lands described in two executive orders. This withdrawal would conflict with the objectives set forth in Executive Order 13783, Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, and Executive Order 13817, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals. Development of our Nation's mineral resources is essential to ensuring the Nation's geopolitical security, and this bill would not help us achieve that goal.

If H.R. 1373 were presented to the President, his advisors would recommend that he veto it. ____ October 29, 2019. Hon. Raul Grijalva, Chairman, House Natural Resources Committee, Washington, DC. Hon. Rob Bishop, Ranking Member, House Natural Resources Committee, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Grijalva and Ranking Member Bishop: The signatories to this letter urge you to vote in opposition to the ``Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act'' (H.R. 1373), an act that fails to acknowledge our nation's alarming reliance on foreign sources of minerals and would further weaken the already vulnerable supply chains for key U.S. industry sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure, energy and defense.

Federal lands--predominantly in the western U.S.--are the source of much of our nation's mineral endowment. Of these federal lands, half are either off limits or under restrictions to mineral development. While mining is certainly not appropriate on all federal lands, maintaining responsible access to the very resources that drive innovation, feed economic growth and improve our nation's quality of life is essential. Given the vast amount of federal lands already closed to mining operations, caution should be exercised when determining whether additional lands should be placed off limits.

H.R. 1373 targets over a million acres of mineral rich lands, including world-class uranium ore deposits that are located well beyond the boundaries of the Grand Canyon National Park. The park as created already includes a built- in buffer zone to protect park resources from activities taking place outside the park boundaries and an additional million-acre buffer zone is not justified. H.R. 1373 deliberately disregards our dangerous dependence on countries like Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Niger to meet our nation's need for uranium to fuel our nuclear Navy and supply 20 percent of our nation's electricity.

Furthermore, H.R. 1373 ignores not only the comprehensive framework of federal, state and local environmental regulations that govern every aspect of mining but the findings of the Department of the Interior that the park was not at risk from mining given these existing protections. This unwise and unwarranted mineral withdrawal is bad public policy that ignores the vast sectors of our economy that depend upon a reliable and secure supply chain of minerals and metals. Access to our nation's vast and diverse resources and fair regulatory policies that promote certainty in the mine permitting process are the elements of sound public policy that should be considered when addressing resource development on federal lands. We urge you to vote against this misguided bill and support policies that promote responsible resource development. Sincerely, American Exploration & Mining Association. Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Arizona Mining Association. National Mining Association. Wyoming Mining Association.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, once again, this is about the management of the land. As we stated earlier, the buffer around the Grand Canyon, this is miles away from this.

And this is about national security. Critical minerals, uranium, they are very important to the makeup of this country and its energy sector. We cannot be reliant, and we saw that all too easily displayed in this COVID crisis. We have to be the purveyors of our future.

Mr. Speaker, I ask everybody to vote against this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I demand the yeas and nays.

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Mr. GOSAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment, floor amendment No. 154 of the NDAA.

Currently, the United States relies on China for 20 different critical minerals, which includes several rare earth materials defined by the Department of Defense.

Rare earth materials are used in numerous modern technologies, including missile guidance, control systems, lasers for enemy mine detection, satellite communications, radar, and sonar on submarines, to name a few. Any interruption of rare earth exports from China would drastically impact defense manufacturing, American economic growth, and overall combat readiness.

Madam Speaker, as a producer of nearly 80 percent of the world's rare earth materials, China wields considerable leverage against our country and its allies and did so with Japan earlier. My amendment would direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to issue guidance that ensures the elimination of the United States dependency on rare earth materials from China by fiscal year 2035.

This very same amendment was made in order last year and passed by voice; however, it was not included in the final conference report.

Madam Speaker, I strongly urge adoption of my amendment.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article from Department of Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. [From the Hill, July 20, 2020] A Safe, Prosperous Nation Requires Secure Supply Chains (By Dan Brouillette)

The coronavirus pandemic opened Americans' eyes to the vulnerability of our supply chains and our over-reliance on critical goods from foreign nations. Many people suddenly realized, at the height of the pandemic, that the important medical products we urgently needed--like masks and ventilators--were coming from abroad.

And it is not just medical products. We are dependent on countries that are not reliable trading partners for automotive parts, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and even naturally occurring materials like uranium and critical minerals.

The United States must take strong action to secure our most critical supply chains, and, predominantly through research and development, the Department of Energy (DOE) is playing an important role in the Trump administration's efforts to do just that. Three areas of recent focus, in which DOE is striving to reduce import reliance, are critical minerals, uranium, and critical infrastructure components.

Critical minerals, including rare earth elements (REEs), are used in electronic products like smart phones, computer and TV screens, and LED lights. But they are also needed to build important defense systems like aircraft and guidance systems, make batteries, and refine crude oil. Currently, the United States imports more than half of the annual consumption of nearly all critical minerals, and we rely on China for 80 percent of REEs. Our lack of domestic supply for these minerals is an economic security threat we must take seriously.

DOE is developing solutions to our critical mineral challenges by finding ways to diversify supply, develop substitutes, and drive recycling and reuse of critical minerals and REEs. One promising project will test the economic viability of extracting these minerals from our coal reserves in Appalachia and the western basins. Our research shows that there may be as much as 10 million tons of critical minerals in these reserves. Another effort underway involves using a highly absorbent material to capture lithium--a key component in batteries--from the working fluid used in geothermal power production. And there are numerous other ongoing projects which we believe in time will greatly reduce America's reliance on foreign-sourced critical minerals and REEs.

After decades of neglect, the U.S. commercial nuclear sector is at risk of insolvency. Meanwhile, other nations, notably Russia and China, are moving to advance their nuclear capabilities and export their technology to gain increased geopolitical influence. If we are to regain our place as a world leader in nuclear technology, we must start at the beginning of the nuclear fuel cycle and start mining and converting uranium on a wide scale again.

The element uranium not only fuels 95 civilian reactors, providing about 20 percent of U.S. electricity each year, it powers the U.S. Navy's fleet of nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Despite its importance, the United States currently relies on imports for 90 percent of its uranium.

Our lack of a significant domestic uranium supply chain threatens energy reliability and national security.

To reverse this trend and reinvigorate the entire nuclear energy industry, DOE recently unveiled the Nuclear Fuel Working Group's ambitious ``Strategy to Restore American Nuclear Energy.'' An important component of the working group's strategy is boosting domestic uranium mining and conversion. To that end, the working group recommended, and the president's 2021 budget included, funding to establish a domestic uranium reserve. Like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the domestic uranium reserve will boost the domestic uranium mining industry, support strategic nuclear fuel cycle capabilities, and provide critical assurance of uranium availability in the event of a market disruption.

Finally, we must secure our Nation's Bulk Power System (BPS) supply chain from the threat of foreign interference. The BPS includes power substations that transmit electricity to the distribution system before it reaches homes and businesses, and the automated industrial control systems that are used in water treatment facilities and manufacturing operations. Our BPS may be vulnerable to malicious advanced cyberattacks by countries like Russia, Iran, and China, threatening the backbone of our nation's electric power grid.

To meet the challenge, President Trump recently signed an executive order directing DOE to lead an interagency effort aimed at eliminating vulnerabilities within the existing system and developing policies to keep it safe for years to come. The first important action we will take is to prohibit future use of BPS equipment from any country or individual deemed a foreign adversary by our national security experts, the failure of which would pose a risk to the safety of Americans. The department will also review federal energy infrastructure procurement to ensure that safeguarding national security is at the foundation of our policies.

A safe, prosperous nation requires secure supply chains. The Department of Energy is leading the way in protecting our economic and national security by advancing the Trump administration's policies to produce more critical minerals and REEs, uranium supplies, and BPS components within the United States' borders.

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