    [House Hearing, 119 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                      SECURING AMERICA'S MINERAL FUTURE:
                      UNLOCKING THE ECONOMIC VALUE BENEATH
                      OUR FEET

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                          COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
                                 UNITED STATES
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                  HEARING HELD
                                 JUNE 24, 2025

                                   __________

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                Small Business Committee Document Number 119-015
                 Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov

                                    __________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    60-853                     WASHINGTON : 2025

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

                        ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas, Chairman
                            PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
                            DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
                             BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
                               JAKE ELLZEY, Texas
                             MARK ALFORD, Missouri
                             NICK LALOTA, New York
                            BRAD FINSTAD, Minnesota
                              TONY WIED, Wisconsin
                          ROB BRESNAHAN, Pennsylvania
                              BRIAN JACK, Georgia
                             TROY DOWNING, Montana
                 KIMBERLYN KING-HINDS, Northern Marina Islands
                             DEREK SCHMIDT, Kansas
                            JIMMY PATRONIS, Florida
                   NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member
                           MORGAN MCGARVEY, Kentucky
                           HILLARY SCHOLTEN, Michigan
                          LAMONICA MCIVER, New Jersey
                            GIL CISNEROS, California
                           KELLY MORRISON, Minnesota
                            GEORGE LATIMER, New York
                             DEREK TRAN, California
                           LATEEFAH SIMON, California
                           JOHNNY OLSZEWSKI, Maryland
                            HERB CONAWAY, New Jersey
                        MAGGIE GOODLANDER, New Hampshire

                     Lauren Holmes, Majority Staff Director
                     Melissa Jung, Minority Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page
    Hon. Roger Williams..............................................     1
    Hon. Hillary Scholten............................................     2

                                   WITNESSES

    Mr. Aaron T Dowd, Chief Executive Officer, Rare Earth Salts,
      Beatrice, NE...................................................     5
    Mr. Harvey Kaye, Executive Director, U.S. Critical Materials.....     6
    Mr. Ken Mushinski, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rare
      Element Resources, Littleton, CO...............................     8
    Dr. Laura Stoy, PhD., Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
      Rivalia Chemical, Lemont, IL...................................     9

                                    APPENDIX

    Prepared Statements:
        Mr. Aaron T. Dowd, Chief Executive Officer, Rare Earth Salts,
          Beatrice, NE...............................................    35
        Mr. Harvey Kaye, Executive Director, U.S. Critical Materials.    38
        Mr. Ken Mushinski, President and Chief Executive Officer,
          Rare Element Resources, Littleton, CO......................    41
        Dr. Laura Stoy, PhD., Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
          Rivalia Chemical, Lemont, IL...............................    47
    Questions for the Record:
        None.
    Answers for the Record:
        None.
    Additional Material for the Record:
        Alliance for Mineral Security Letter.........................    51
        Ecological Economics Letter..................................    57
        National Science Foundation (NSF) Letter.....................    66
        Outdoor Alliance Letter......................................    73
        ReElement Technologies Letter................................    77
        Robert Anderson Letter.......................................    79

        SECURING AMERICA'S MINERAL FUTURE: UNLOCKING THE ECONOMIC VALUE
                                BENEATH OUR FEET

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2025

                      House of Representatives,
                   Committee on Small Business,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:08 a.m., in Room
    2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Roger Williams
    [chairman of the Committee] presiding.
        Present: Representatives Williams, Stauber, Meuser, Alford,
    Finstad, Bresnahan, Downing, Patronis, Scholten, McIver,
    Cisneros, Morrison, Tran, Simon, Olszewski, and Goodlander.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Good morning, everyone. I now call the
    Committee on Small Business to order. And without objection,
    the Chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at
    any time. I recognize myself for my opening statement.
        Welcome to today's hearing entitled Securing America's
    Mineral Future: Unlocking the Economic Value Beneath Our Feet.
    Thank you to all our witnesses for joining us today. We
    appreciate you taking time away from your busy businesses to
    participate in today's conversation. So today, we will examine
    how to secure our mineral supply chains against hostile foreign
    adversaries such as the Chinese Communist Party and how
    America's small businesses, national security, and ability to
    create new, innovative technologies rely on these essential
    materials.
        Rare earth minerals and the broader category of critical
    minerals used in the manufacturing process of batteries,
    magnets, computers, and medical devices, to name a few, are
    vital to the functioning of the American economy.
    Unfortunately, far too long, burdensome regulations have made
    the production and refining of rare earth and critical minerals
    difficult in America, contributing to China's dominance in this
    market.
        Now, to combat the CCP's monopoly, President Trump issued
    several executive orders aimed at bolstering domestic mineral
    production and reducing our reliance on foreign adversaries.
    Currently, the Mountain Pass Mine in California is the only
    active mine in the United States that extracts rare earth
    minerals. As a result, approximately 80 percent of the critical
    minerals used in America are supplied from foreign sources. The
    lack of domestic production undermines our national security
    and hinders small business innovation.
        Thankfully, the Trump administration is working to unleash
    American energy production, safeguarding national security and
    allowing American small businesses to compete on a global
    stage. Small businesses are at the forefront of American
    innovation. The enhancement of the defense industry that
    provides our homeland relies on groundbreaking technology often
    developed by small businesses that need rare earth minerals to
    produce.
        I want to thank our witnesses again for their contributions
    to end U.S. reliance on foreign rare earth elements and
    critical minerals. We look forward to your testimony.
        With that, I will yield to the distinguished Ranking Member
    today from the great state of Michigan, Ms. Scholten, for her
    opening remarks.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to
    our incredible witnesses and thank you for your patience. We
    had a very important caucus meeting this morning. It kept me
    tied up. I am so grateful, Mr. Chairman, that we are holding
    this hearing this morning. Critical minerals are pivotal to our
    nation's clean energy transition and national security. On
    this, we agree there is a lot of common ground. That is why I
    am so grateful that we are having this hearing.
        These minerals are an essential component of our
    smartphones, electric vehicles, and, importantly, military
    hardware. Yet the supply chains for these 50 materials often
    run offshore and through the influence of our adversaries, most
    notably China, as you mentioned. That is why federal policy
    should redirect our critical mineral supply chains through our
    shores and the shores of our allies, not our enemies.
        Every critical mineral is unique. Some, like aluminum, are
    relatively easy to extract and process into usable material.
    Others, like certain rare earth elements, are less concentrated
    in ore. Therefore, they require advanced, complex refinement
    methods that are developed by and accessible to only a handful
    of countries and companies. And crucially, some critical
    minerals just aren't deposited within U.S. territory, meaning
    they can't be mined here. The diversity of these materials,
    their properties, and extraction and refinement techniques
    means that the avenues to onshoring them must be equally
    diverse.
        It is a complex problem, and we need a complex solution to
    make these minerals accessible. In other words, Mr. Chairman,
    we can't only mine our way out of our critical mineral needs.
    The federal government must prioritize and maintain investments
    in recycling, waste recovery, friend shoring, and industrial
    policy if our nation is to reclaim control over our critical
    mineral supplies.
        In particular, I want to mention the invaluable boosts to
    domestic critical mineral sourcing, processing, and component
    manufacturing found in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
    Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, two landmark pieces of
    legislation signed under the previous administration. Democrats
    stand ready to defend and expand upon the massive long-term
    investments the federal government has already made in this
    space. We want to make it better.
        I would also be remiss if I didn't highlight the downsides
    of mining when not done properly. When a new mine is opened,
    America gains another source of minerals, yes, but it often
    loses unique pristine land that would have yielded far more
    economic activity and value through tourism, hunting, fishing,
    and other outdoor recreation business. In my family, we are
    avid outdoorsmen and women, year-round anglers. This matters
    deeply to us. Communities near mine often have to contend with
    new large competitors for wastewater resources and pollution of
    what remains with mining waste and byproducts. Sometimes, new
    mines even run roughshod over long-standing treaties and
    agreements with neighboring tribes. It is vital that we, as
    federal policymakers, consider the tradeoffs of expanding
    mining and the harm it can pose to nearby towns, tribes, and
    small businesses.
        It is also important to remember that hard rock mining in
    America is not governed by an outdated law from the 1870s. You
    heard me right. Not the 1970s, but the 1870s. Nearly 150 years
    ago. Long before the concepts of land preservation and
    environmental protection and even consumer automobiles entered
    the mainstream.
        Before we consider any changes to mining regulation, we
    have to reform the underpinning mining law to further balance
    the interests of miners and other industries and make mining
    activities more sustainable for the environment. To ensure that
    we can all continue to use these vital resources on shoring our
    critical mineral supply chain is a complicated issue
    intertwined with many other topics and policy areas. But I have
    trust in this committee, our witnesses here today, and our
    shared commitment to making sure that the vast majority of
    these critical earth minerals are not sourced only through our
    competitor.
        I look forward to the hearing, Mr. Chairman, and I yield
    back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentlelady yields back. And I will now
    introduce our witnesses.
        Our first witness here with us today is Aaron Dowd. Mr.
    Dowd is the chief executive officer of Rare Earth Salts in
    Beatrice, Nebraska. Mr. Dowd has more than two decades of
    experience leading efforts at the intersection of global
    business strategy, government affairs, and national security.
    Mr. Dowd previously served as chief of staff in the U.S. Senate
    and supported high-level policy work at the Atlantic Council
    and Department of Energy. Mr. Dowd earned a Master's degree in
    Business Administration from Duke, Home of the Blue Devils,
    right, University, and Bachelor's degree in Political Science
    from Marquette University. Thank you for being with us today,
    and we look forward to our conversation.
        Our next witness here with us today is Mr. Harvey Kaye. Mr.
    Kaye is the executive director of U.S. Critical Materials in
    Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. Kaye has over 45 years experience in
    finance, strategic planning, and executive leadership across
    both public and private companies. Mr. Kaye has served as
    Founder, Chairman, and now Director of Zero Gravity Solutions,
    an agricultural biotechnology firm. Mr. Kaye also held various
    leadership roles at Latitude Solutions, a company specializing
    in water remediation and treatment. He received his Bachelor of
    Science degree in Marketing from Temple University. So we are
    glad you are here today and look forward to your testimony.
        Our next witness is Mr. Ken Mushinski. Mr. Mushinski is the
    President and chief executive officer of Rare Element Resources
    in Sundance, Wyoming. Mr. Mushinski has over 30 years
    experience in corporate development, mergers and acquisitions,
    and regulatory navigation across the mining and nuclear energy
    sectors. Mr. Mushinski previously served as vice president of
    corporate planning and acquisitions for General Atomics
    Technologies Corporation. Mr. Mushinski earned a Master's
    degree in Business Administration and Bachelor's of science in
    Mechanical Engineering from San Diego State University, where
    the Aztecs are. And we appreciate you being here today.
        And I now recognize the Ranking Member Ms. Scholten from
    Michigan to briefly introduce our last witness.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
        Dr. Laura Stoy is an environmental engineer and the founder
    and CEO of Rivalia Chemical, an Illinois startup developing a
    novel method to chemically recover rare earth elements from
    coal ash and other mining waste. Rivalia Chemical patented the
    process and has been working on commercializing it since 2022.
    Additionally, the firm enjoys access to the Argonne National
    Laboratory in Lamont under the Department of Energy's Lab-
    Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, LEAP. Previously, Dr. Stoy
    served at the Environmental Protection Agency as a National
    Science Foundation intern fellow. At the EPA, Dr. Stoy worked
    on an environmental assessment of rare earth extraction from
    mining waste, precisely the process that she is developing and
    using now. While at school, Dr. Stoy also helped create an app
    named RocketJudge, which automates judge work for competitions
    such as fashion shows, barbecue festivals, and professional
    conferences. It is safe to say, Mr. Chairman, that Dr. Stoy is
    a serial innovator. Dr. Stoy holds a Bachelor's of Arts degree
    in Chemistry from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in
    environmental engineering from Georgia Tech. Welcome, Dr. Stoy.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Welcome again to all of you. And then,
    before we begin to recognize the witnesses, we do have a few
    rules around here. Got to go over the rules, all right? And I
    would like to remind all of you that your oral testimony is
    restricted to 5 minutes in length. If you see the light turn
    red in front of you, it means your 5 minutes has concluded, and
    you should wrap up your testimony. If you keep talking, you
    will hear me do this. That is a kind way of saying, quit
    talking. Okay? And so, and also on another note, you
    periodically will recognize or will see some of our panel move
    in and out. That is because we got other hearings going on. It
    has nothing to do with whether you said the right thing or the
    wrong thing. We will be moving in and out, but you will see
    that.
        So with that in mind, I now recognize Mr. Dowd for his 5-
    minute opening remarks.

    STATEMENTS OF MR. AARON T. DOWD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, RARE
    EARTH SALTS; MR. HARVEY KAYE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, U.S. CRITICAL
      MATERIALS; MR. KEN MUSHINSKI, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE
      OFFICER, RARE ELEMENT RESOURCES; AND DR. LAURA STOY, PHD.,
         FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, RIVALIA CHEMICAL

           STATEMENT OF AARON T. DOWD, CEO, RARE EARTH SALTS

        Mr. DOWD. Chairman Williams, Congresswoman Scholten, and
    distinguished Members of the committee, thank you for the
    invitation to testify on the critical issue of securing
    America's mineral future. I appear before you today
    representing Rare Earth Salts, a Nebraska-based small business
    at the forefront of addressing one of our nation's challenges.
        The United States confronts an unprecedented threat to our
    economic sovereignty and national security through China's
    control of the rare earth elements supply chain. Rare earths
    are a set of 17 elements in the periodic table that play a
    critical role in our national security, energy independence,
    environmental future, and economic prosperity. These elements
    are far more than mere commodities; they form the backbone of
    modern technological advancements. From powering batteries and
    electric vehicles to enabling medical equipment, military
    systems, smartphones, and wind turbines, rare earths are
    foundational to the innovation driving our technological
    civilization.
        The age of technology is indeed the age of critical
    minerals with vast geopolitical implications. The need for
    securing both domestically sourced rare earth elements and
    domestic rare earth processing infrastructure is vital.
        Today, China controls 90 percent of the global downstream
    rare earth market, impacting the rest of the world's supply
    chain and giving them significant control in restricting
    America's access to materials vital for manufacturing and
    defense capabilities. This was not always the case. From the
    1960s until the 1990s, the U.S., specifically California's
    Mountain Pass mine, led global production. However, China's
    deliberate industrial policy systematically captured market
    control, creating the vulnerable supply chain we face today.
    Though China's dominance in the rare earth market has prompted
    global efforts to find alternative sources and processes to
    produce these critical compounds, producers outside of China
    continue to face formidable challenges, struggling to compete
    with the highly competitive pricing of China's domestic market.
        The challenge extends beyond supply security to economic
    competitiveness. China's current market dominance stems from
    their large-scale use of Solvent Extraction, which were
    developed and implemented in the U.S. in the 1960s. These
    processes require hundreds of separation stages and generate
    excessive chemical waste. Western companies utilizing this
    proven method face higher production costs due to necessary
    environmental and worker protections. This cost differential
    has created a market failure where Western innovation cannot
    compete with Chinese production, despite superior technology
    and environmental stewardship. For small businesses like ours,
    this represents both a challenge and an extraordinary
    opportunity to innovate and lead.
        Founded in 2012 by Dr. Joseph Brewer, Rare Earth Salts
    exemplifies how America's small business innovation can address
    strategic national challenges. Rare Earth Salts addresses the
    global need for a cost-effective, sustainable, and
    environmentally friendly rare earth separation process.
        Prior to developing our proprietary processes, we evaluated
    the strengths and weaknesses of every separation process used
    since the 1940s. That allowed us to invent a revolutionary
    electrochemical process from the ground up based on sound basic
    chemistry. The separation process advancements by Rare Earth
    Salts represent industry-changing solutions demanded by the
    rare earth supply chain to profitably compete with Chinese
    production and maintain a low environmental footprint.
        Rare Earth Salts has been working closely with the U.S.
    government and has received multiple grants and awards for its
    separation technologies from the Department of Defense and the
    Department of Energy. These private-public partnerships
    demonstrate how federal investment in small business innovation
    can yield strategic returns for national security while
    building defense industrial capacity. Rare Earth Salts recently
    received an award from the Department of Defense to increase
    production of heavy rare earth elements, specifically Terbium.
        The rare earth challenge represents more than supply chain
    vulnerability; it is a defining opportunity for American small
    businesses to lead the next generation of critical mineral
    production. Companies like Rare Earth Salts exemplify how
    American innovation can compete globally.
        Supporting domestic innovation in mineral processing can
    help ensure the United States does not merely secure its
    mineral future but leads the world in sustainable, competitive
    production of these essential materials. By supporting small
    businesses developing innovative separation technologies, we
    can reestablish America's leadership in this critical sector.
        Rare Earth Salts stands ready to contribute to America's
    mineral independence. The mission requires collective effort.
    With a robust policy framework that acknowledges the strategic
    importance of domestic critical mineral production, American
    small businesses can help transform this challenge into a
    competitive advantage. The technology is ready. The market need
    is undeniable. The national security imperative is urgent. We
    need to now unlock the economic value beneath our feet and
    secure America's mineral future.
        Chairman Williams, Congresswoman Scholten, and
    distinguished Members of the committee, thank you again for the
    invitation to testify, and I look forward to your questions.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Thank you.
        I now recognize Mr. Kaye for his 5-minute opening remarks.

      STATEMENT OF HARVEY KAYE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, U.S. CRITICAL
                                MATERIAL

        Mr. KAYE. Thank you Mr. Chairman and Members of the
    Committee for allowing us to testify today. This is an issue
    that has taken 15 years to come to the point that we are at
    right now. We have all talked about Chinese dominance. It is
    actually 90 or 95 percent dominance in terms of its ability to
    process rare earths. Their concerns about the environment are
    not the same as ours. It is no longer acceptable to spend 20 or
    29 years to get a project online.
        To that end, U.S. Critical Materials controls 339 claims
    covering approximately 11 square miles in a place called Sheep
    Creek, Montana. Montana in the past has been known as the
    Treasure State. Our objective is to make it the Treasure State
    again.
        To that end we have a two-point point of our spear to
    accomplish those goals. First, is the rare earths that
    encompass our deposit have been considered now the highest-
    grade rare earths ever found in America, averaging 9 percent
    up. We also have a very robust deposit of gallium. Gallium is a
    mineral, a critical mineral that has 3,800 military
    applications. We now face a geopolitical situation that we are
    all aware of. It is in the front page news. To that end, we
    have expanded a great amount of the critical minerals and rare
    earths required for missiles, for radar, for advanced aircraft,
    the F47, et cetera. We cannot be dependent upon the Chinese to
    be our supply of these materials.
        Therefore our focus and the focus I hope of this committee
    is to assist companies such as ourselves to accomplish those
    goals. What do we need to do that? We need help in accelerating
    permitting. Today, as the congresswoman stated, there is
    regulations that we are dealing with since 1870. Okay? We have
    made an attempt to fix that through Fast-41. Okay? Now, it
    requires cutting the red tape, unchaining the American
    entrepreneurial spirit in order to accomplish the goals. We
    have it here. It should be found in America.
        We also have now entered into a venture with one of the
    prestigious American National labs called Idaho National Lab.
    Dr. Robert Fox is an acknowledged expert in the world of
    developing processes and technologies to process these kinds of
    minerals. We did a full-court press with them, and at the end
    of a year, they have accomplished the goal of setting forth the
    flow diagrams and the methodology for a process that we call an
    electrochemical membrane reactor. It is environmentally
    conscious. It has the ability to process rare earths in an
    efficient environmental manner.
        To that end, therefore, we are working very hard to
    cooperate with the government. This committee can help us and
    the entire industry enormously. We need to do what we did with
    Sputnik. We need to do what we did with the Manhattan Project.
    This country can no longer have the Chinese knee on our neck.
    Therefore, as a group, we need to work together, government-
    private partnerships. And what is required? What is required is
    help in permitting. What is required is for us to establish a
    permanent market for the offtake so the Chinese can no longer
    utilize price manipulation to hurt our domestic marketplace.
    And we need to work together as a team in order to make the
    United States critically mineral independent and sovereign
    again. And so with that, I yield with 22 seconds left.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. You are going to go far in this company.
    Thank you for the testimony.
        I now recognize Mr. Mushinski for his 5-minute opening
    remarks.

      STATEMENT OF KEN MUSHINSKI, PRESIDENT AND CEO, RARE ELEMENT
                               RESOURCES

        Mr. MUSHINSKI. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Scholten,
    and esteemed Members of the committee, thank you for the
    opportunity to address this committee on issues of vital
    importance to this nation-securing critical minerals and, in my
    case specifically, rare earths, for our National defense and
    high-tech industries and supporting small businesses in meeting
    that need.
        RAR is a publicly traded company with a critical rare earth
    deposit and state-of-the-art innovative rare earth processing
    and separation demonstration plant in Wyoming. We have invested
    over $170 million in developing our USGS-recognized world-class
    rare-earth deposit and proprietary separation technology.
        I know you are all well-versed in why rare earths are
    critical components in our modern technology, essentially, in
    everything from smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines,
    and defense systems. Our rare earth elements are enablers to
    the evolution of our high-tech world and vital to our American
    defense system.
        It is also widely known that China dominates the rare earth
    industry and is taking deliberate action to control the entire
    processing and manufacturing supply chains where rare earths
    are utilized for downstream products. This has created an
    untenable National and economic scenario. Chinese dominance and
    manipulation of the rare earth extraction, processing and
    separation, and permanent magnet production is an existential
    risk to our modern world. Further, this dominance allows China
    to influence global prices, making it risky for competitors to
    invest.
        Small businesses like RER have unique technologies and the
    potential to innovate and contribute to domesticating the rare
    supply chain from mine to magnets. However, our small companies
    face challenges that have distinct needs and must be addressed
    to ensure a sustainable domestic rare earth supply chain.
        As an example of the obstacles faced by RER, we have
    completed our resource confirmation and commenced the arduous
    NEPA permitting of the Bear Lodge Project in 2011. We spent
    over $30 million and many years progressing that effort, an
    effort that was ultimately derailed through Chinese market
    manipulation whereby rare earths supplied by the Chinese
    flooded the market, and prices bottomed out. As a result, RER's
    access to capital quickly disappeared and, ultimately,
    resulting in cessation of operation and almost bankrupting our
    company.
        Realizing we could not compete with predatory Chinese
    market dominance, RER, in conjunction with its now majority
    shareholder and affiliate of General Atomics, pivoted to
    proving our novel and proprietary rare earth material
    separation technology so that we and potentially other domestic
    rare earth companies would not be reliant on China to
    economically and efficiently separate the rare earth
    concentrates produced here in the United States. Our goal is to
    compete with China in rare earth production and also create a
    path for processing and separation that is economically and
    environmentally superior--adhering to all U.S. Environmental
    regulations while supplanting the environmentally detrimental
    and costly steps in conventional Chinese technology.
        With that challenge in front of us, RER, with partial
    funding from the Department of Energy and the state of Wyoming,
    have constructed and will soon begin operating our over $66
    million demonstration plant that is intended to prove our
    separation technology on an industrial scale. Even with the
    expected success from this plant's operation, without
    additional support from the government, RER and other
    innovative small businesses face monumental hurdles.
    Specifically, access to capital requires a certain level of
    market stability that is thwarted by Chinese ability to
    manipulate the rare earth market.
        Small businesses like RER, unfortunately, find themselves
    in a paradox whereby investors and potential industry supply
    chain partners require certainty in the markets, and yet this
    is not possible with the ongoing threat of Chinese market
    interference.
        We believe addressing this nascent market's unique
    challenges, especially for small and innovative businesses,
    requires a multifaceted approach to market stabilization. RER
    encourages Congress to pursue policies and support funding to
    support small businesses that are innovating and progressing a
    secure domestic rare supply chain, including government
    purchasing to establish strategic stockpiles as potentially
    envisioned, but with the $2.5 billion critical minerals
    included in the recently passed reconciliation package,
    government grants to unlock industry innovation, government
    incentives and guarantees to encourage private investment in
    loans and permitting reform to bring surety to project
    timeliness.
        We believe these types of initiatives will remove the
    significant market obstacles and barriers to progress for small
    businesses engaged in rare supply chain so that collectively,
    we can become a solution to a very real and present danger to
    our nation's defense and high-tech industries.
        I am honored to be here today to share with you RER's
    unique experience as a small business in the rare earth
    industry, and I look forward to addressing your questions.
    Thank you very much.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentleman yields back.
        And now recognize Dr. Stoy for her 5-minute opening
    remarks.

     STATEMENT OF LAURA STOY, FOUNDER AND CEO, RIVALIA CHEMICAL CO.

        Ms. STOY. Chairman Williams, esteemed Member Scholten,
    Members of the committee, thank you so much for the opportunity
    to speak today. It is an honor to discuss this issue that is
    critical to the future of U.S. mining and materials, securing
    our critical mineral supply chains for national defense,
    technological innovation, and manufacturing strength.
        My name is Dr. Laura Stoy, and I am the CEO and founder of
    Rivalia Chemical Company. At Rivalia, we are pioneering new
    chemical extraction technologies to cover valuable rare earth
    elements from industrial wastes, including coal fly ash and
    other coal combustion byproducts, phosphogypsum, acid mine
    drainage, and mine tailings. Our patent-pending process
    extracts rare earths from these materials and separates them
    from their major elements in a single step. A significant
    challenge in traditional mining processing for rare earths.
    Using this method and by using wastes, we can avoid the
    environmental and economic costs of mining while minimizing
    hazardous waste generation.
        The U.S. has approximately 2 million metric tons of rare
    earths and reserves. However, there is far more locked in our
    waste materials. Researchers at UT Austin estimate that there
    are 11 million metric tons of rare earths and coal ash alone.
    Oak Ridge National Lab found millions of tons of rare earths in
    phosphogypsum. Duke University did research that found that
    abandoned mine drainage releases 500 to 3,400 tons of rare
    earths annually through acid mine drainage. These waste streams
    are often overlooked, but they present an opportunity to both
    recover rare earths and remediate environmental damage in local
    communities.
        There are currently no companies producing rare earths from
    waste at scale in the U.S. right now, though I will note to
    this committee that there are many small businesses and
    startups addressing this opportunity space.
        Rivalia's focus is on mining rare earths from waste, but I
    want to emphasize that it is likely that this is just one
    component of a broader rare earth element supply chain along
    with traditional mining. Building a broader, more diverse
    supply chain for rare earths will make our system overall more
    resilient to disruption and manipulation by our adversaries.
        To achieve supply chain stabilization, the U.S. can't only
    mine. We can't mine our way out of this. We also need to
    separate, find, materialize, and produce the finished
    products--the permanent magnets.
        China's dominance in rare earths comes from its control
    over this entire supply chain, which includes processing
    minerals both from its own mines and from international
    partners. To compete globally, U.S. rare earth producers must
    have robust midstream processing. This requires a skilled
    workforce, innovation, and efforts to derisk the market for
    private investors, especially given the price volatility caused
    by China's outsized market influence. Our market also must be
    cost competitive. China has subsidized their supply chains,
    enabling their businesses to offer products at significantly
    lower costs. Competing with that will require American
    ingenuity and innovation to lower our production costs and make
    U.S. rare earths attractive to both customers and investors.
        I founded Rivalia after completing my PhD in environmental
    engineering at Georgia Tech, where I was fortunate enough to
    receive both government and private funding, the National
    Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship, as well as
    funding from Georgia Power, one of the major utilities in the
    Southeast. This funding allowed me to develop the core
    technology behind Rivalia.
        Since then, we participated in TechStars, a prestigious
    startup accelerator which included raising venture capital.
    This also allowed us to secure a future pilot with Southern
    Company. We have also raised non-dilutive funding through the
    National Science Foundation's SBIR program, which is helping us
    to de-risk our technology and validate it with other materials.
    We also have obtained funding through the Department of Energy
    EnergyWerx Vouchers Program as well as the Department of Energy
    Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program called LEAP. And through
    that, we have gained access to critical expertise and
    facilities at Argonne National Lab. This support has been
    crucial to scaling our technology and positioning it for high
    market impact.
        For hard tech startups like Rivalia and my colleagues here,
    government funding is essential. It provides early-stage
    capital that is needed for high-risk project with immense
    potential but limited investor interest. Government funding
    acts as a third-party validation, attracting private capital
    and allowing us to make tangible progress on critical
    milestones. Hard tech ventures require significant upfront
    capital from prototyping, testing, and compliance, and without
    government support, companies like ours would face much greater
    challenges in bringing new game-changing technologies to
    market.
        The U.S. is at a critical juncture in securing its mineral
    future. We need to embrace innovation, leverage public and
    private funding, and develop new technologies to ensure a
    robust and diverse critical supply chain here. Government
    support for startups like Rivalia are essential for maintaining
    U.S. leadership and technology, national security, and economic
    competitive--competitiveness.
        Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentlelady yields back. We will now move
    to the Member questions under the 5-minute rule, and I will
    recognize myself for 5 minutes.
        Throughout the Biden and Harris administration, the
    government has burdened small businesses with endless
    regulatory red tape. These regulations have slowed business-
    building projects and mining efforts. And I think we can all
    agree that we should get the government out of the way to let
    small businesses do what they do best. Now, Mr. Kaye, can you
    provide us with some examples of how the government has stood
    in your way?
        Mr. KAYE. We have had these claims for better than 35
    years. They--our approach is to do this with a great amount of
    environmental consciousness. Therefore, we deal with the U.S.
    Forest Service. The response many times is slow to get back.
    There has been a great amount of progress, however, recently
    with the advent of Fast-41. We have filed an application for
    that. And what it does is it holds the various agencies that
    are responsible for approvals to a very strict timetable.
        Our plan is to be able to extract from our deposit
    literally this year, to be able to, in effect, stand on the
    steps of the White House and or Congress with a bag of gallium
    rare earths that were found in Montana, processed with American
    technology, and available for the defense of this country and
    indeed the free world. So it is starting to change. And we are
    seeing the effect of that because there is now a recognition
    that there is an issue, and we can't wait 15 or 20 years to
    bring a deposit online. So we feel that things are getting much
    better, and for that, we are grateful.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Good. Let's book that date, okay?
        Mr. KAYE. Yep.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Domestic mining of rare earth elements
    and critical minerals faces numerous challenges, and one of
    which is that America has few known large deposits of pure rare
    earth elements. Despite these challenges, the United States is
    well positioned to quickly build its rare earth refining
    capacity. So, Mr. Dowd, can you please explain the innovative
    approach your company has taken in the refining process and
    what impact those innovations have on the entire mining
    industry?
        Mr. DOWD. Thank you, Sir. We believe the enormous demand
    for non-Chinese rare earth supply will only be met with the
    reimagining of innovative, nontraditional clean separation
    technologies. Our processes have a significant advantage over
    existing separation technologies in an industry that has not
    seen much viable refining innovation in more than three-
    quarters of a century. Our technology significantly reduces the
    cost of producing rare earths from concentrate, be it from
    recycled material, rare earth elements, specific mining
    operations, or as a byproduct of a mining operation. Our
    patented processed capital expenditure and operating expense
    are highly cost-competitive versus traditional rare earths
    refining. Our processing time from concentrate to first
    finished products is days with very limited separation steps
    versus months and dozens of steps with solvent extraction. Rare
    Earth Salts provides an immediate opportunity to reestablish
    domestic commercial production. The capability of our
    technologies has been thoroughly validated.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay, thank you. And now, quickly in the
    time I have got left, rare earth mining extraction is a heavily
    regulated industry that we have talked about today. Well, rare
    earth mines must comply with a substantial number of
    regulations intended for traditional mines. Rare earth mines
    also must navigate Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements.
    So Mr. Mushinski, how is your business dealing with this
    complicated web of regulations? How can it be simplified?
        Mr. MUSHINSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do have a NRC
    possession license because as with most REE ore, it does have
    some naturally occurring thorium and uranium in it. So, we do
    have a license. That was quite a detailed and lengthy process.
    They, the NRC, did their own environmental assessment in
    addition to what is required by the EPA for a mine. It was
    costly, expensive and took a significant amount of time. We do
    have that license. That license is valid through 2027. However,
    we, like others, have a deposit that is on National Forest
    Service. We also have invested and had various meetings with
    the permitting council and are progressing toward Fast-41
    permitting of our mine. That (Fast-41) is a much welcome
    improvement to the permitting process, and I will admit it is
    not a Trump administration policy, it is a previous
    administration that started Fast-41, but it is this
    administration that has advanced it into the mining sector. And
    we are very appreciative of that, and that is looked at as
    being helpful to our processing.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentleman yields back.
        I now recognize the Ranking Member for her 5 minutes of
    questioning.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Stoy, I am
    wondering if you could just start out and elaborate on the
    recovery process Rivalia is developing. Talk to us about how
    you are getting these minerals out of waste.
        Ms. STOY. Absolutely. Thank you so much for the question.
    So Rivalia's patent pending technology employs a recyclable
    ionic liquid in a closed-loop process that selectively extracts
    rare earths from the starting material. So again, this starting
    material might be coal ash, bauxite residue, phosphogypsum,
    mining tailings, acid mine drainage magnets, for really any
    rare earth element-rich waste is in our realm. So, we have some
    physical separation processes optimized to isolate higher rare
    earth element contained fractions within the original material.
    This helps improve our downstream efficiency. And depending on
    the material we also might have some chemical pretty treatment
    steps.
        But our core innovation is that our method both extracts
    the rare earths from the starting material and does the
    separation from the bulk in one single step. We use this
    using--or we do this using proprietary chemistry to selectively
    bind with the rare earths while leaving most of the elements
    behind. This approach achieves higher selectivity than
    conventional acid leaching methods, reducing chemical
    consumption and waste generation. Following extraction, the
    chemical chemicals are recovered and recycled through the
    system, so they are ready for reuse, while the residuals are
    conditioned for beneficial use applications.
        We generate two valuable rare earth element product
    streams. Scandium oxide product, which is a valuable rare earth
    used in solid oxide fuel cells, high-performance aluminum
    alloys, and specialized lighting applications. Second, we
    produce a mixed rare earth element concentrate containing
    multiple elements, including neodymium, cerium, lanthanum,
    terbium, europium, yttrium. All of these have significant roles
    in different applications that we have talked about already.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. Thank you. For my second question and
    sticking with you, Dr. Stoy, how much of the rare earth in
    existing products currently are we recycling?
        Ms. STOY. Thank you for the question. To my knowledge,
    there is very limited recycling of rare earths in the U.S. I
    don't know of any companies doing this at scale right now. For
    some products, it is fundamentally challenging to extract rare
    earths from them. You know, consider consumer electronics, you
    know, your cell phone, your laptop is not designed to easily
    pull the rare earth elements out. You also have to collect them
    from the consumers. And that is not trivial. This is the same
    for EV motors. Permanent magnets in the motors will need to
    recover those. Industrial wastes don't have that kind of
    spatial distribution issue. In that way, they are almost more
    like a mine. But there is no one really recycling rare earths
    at this time.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. So, as a follow-up to that, can you describe
    the potential for recycling to add to the rare earths supply
    that we have here?
        Ms. STOY. Yeah, absolutely.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. And be as specific as you can. I know it is
    not currently being done, so it is hard to sort of, you know,
    get into specifics. But in terms of percentages.
        Ms. STOY. Yeah, there is a lot of potential here. It is
    hard to quantify and be forward-looking here. There is a
    researcher at Ames National Lab in Iowa, Dr. Kenneth Nlebedim,
    and one of the things he suggested was in the next 10 years,
    more than 25 percent of the demand for rare earths could come
    from recycling efforts.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. Okay, very good. I agree with your comments
    about, you know, the pressing nature of this problem requiring
    a bit of an all of the above approach. Traditional mining, as
    well as recycling. How would you characterize added returns
    created by new mines individually, but as well as opposed to
    recycling or in contrast to recycling?
        Ms. STOY. Yeah, I think all of the above is really the
    answer here. You know, we, right now, we have one active mine.
    Would it be helpful if we had more? I can imagine so, but it is
    hard to say, right? Is five new mines the new--is the right
    answer. 50? 500? At a certain point, we do reach diminishing
    returns. Frankly, you know, what all of these minds do really
    need is refining. And I know some of my colleagues here are
    talking about integrating that into their processes. And that
    midstream or refining, in my opinion, is much more important
    and a higher priority than opening a new mine. Because if we
    don't have that refining capacity, we are sending our
    concentrate abroad for refining. And 99 percent of the time,
    that is going to be in China. We don't have--we won't have--you
    know, we could have dozens of mines, but if we are still
    sending the concentrate abroad, we haven't solved the problem.
        Ms. SCHOLTEN. Okay, thank you. Very enlightening. I yield
    back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentlelady yields back. I now recognize
    Mr. Stauber from the great state of Minnesota for 5 minutes.
        Mr. STAUBER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The
    development of America's abundance of resources is critical,
    and rare earth minerals are of deep importance to me in my
    district. The Minnesota's 8th Congressional District holds the
    biggest untapped copper-nickel find in the world. The previous
    administration banned 224,000 acres of it and took two leases
    away from a mining company that they had since 1966. Just last
    week, Talon Metals in Tamarack, Minnesota, brought an
    exploratory drill section: 28 percent nickel. The highest in
    the world. I don't know if you all knew that. Talon Metals,
    Northeastern Minnesota, drill hole, 28 percent nickel. Nowhere
    in the world can we do that? Northeastern Minnesota is ready,
    able, and willing to deliver these critical minerals to this
    great nation for our strategic national security.
        I sit on the Natural Resources Committee. There was a
    Democrat witness when we were talking about mining. I said to
    her, I said, ``You say it is too wet in Minnesota to mine. It
    is too dry in Arizona to mine. Where would you like us to
    mine?'' And her answer, she said it out loud, ``Nowhere.'' We
    have an anti-mining political agenda in this nation that is
    crippling our security, our strategic national security.
    Northeastern Minnesota mines the iron ore that makes 82 percent
    of this nation's steel that helped us win two world wars. And
    we continuously have to battle for these good union jobs in
    this town. The prior administration was the most anti-mining
    administration in the history of this country.
        We will follow all environmental and labor standards. Allow
    us to do so. And when we do that, we will bring the economic
    engine to our communities. We will bring good-paying jobs to
    the iron range of Northern Minnesota, which jobs start at
    $90,000 a year without overtime, health benefits, et cetera.
    The median household income for the district that I represent
    is under $74,000. One mining job can make up for that. This is
    how important domestic mining is to our nation, to our
    strategic national security, to our economy.
        And, ma'am, you are right. Recycling is part of it. That is
    part of the concern. And bring it on. But we are--the demand is
    so much more right now.
        There are 17 rare earth minerals, right? China just stopped
    selling six of their critical rare earth minerals to the world.
    15 of the 19 industrial mines in the Congo are owned by the
    Chinese communist party, who use child slave labor. We can't
    accept that anymore. We should never enter into a memorandum of
    understanding with the communist country of China for our rare
    earths. Never. Yet the past administration did.
        We have the opportunity to mine in this country. We can
    mine in Minnesota. We can mine in Alaska. We can mine in Utah.
    We can mine in Nevada. We can mine in California. We can mine
    in Washington. We can mine in Pennsylvania. And the list goes
    on and on. We have to have the political will to do it. It will
    be an economic boom for our communities. The jobs. What an
    opportunity do we have? Let's not miss it. And it starts with
    all of us understanding the importance of mining and the value
    that it can bring to our economy and our strategic national
    security, the state of Minnesota, and Northeastern Minnesota. I
    want you to understand the iron range and the Duluth complex,
    which is the copper, nickel, and cobalt--we have the
    opportunity to bring it to the nation.
        I am so proud of each and every one of you here to talk
    about this opportunity. Mr. Chair, we cannot miss this
    opportunity. Our nation is depending on it. Our small
    businesses are depending on it. Our strategic national security
    is depending on it, and our communities and our minors need it.
    And I yield back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentleman yields back. I now recognize
    Ms. McIver from the great state of New Jersey for 5 minutes.
        Ms. MCIVER. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank
    you to our Ranking Member for convening this hearing today. I
    want to thank each witness for being here today with us.
        Critical minerals are the foundation of our national
    security and economic resilience. And we must ensure that
    Congress supports the responsible development, processing, and
    reuse of these essential resources. Small businesses, from
    clean technology startups to equipment manufacturers to
    recycling innovators, are the engine of American creativity.
    They must be at the center of any National critical mineral
    strategy. That means leveling the playing field, ensuring fair
    access to capital, and providing consistent federal support to
    help them compete with larger and often state-subsidized global
    players. We must continue to build on the historic investments
    made through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the
    Inflation Reduction Act, not roll them back. These programs
    support responsible development, promote environmental
    innovation, and empower the small businesses driving the next
    generation of American innovation. America's energy future,
    security, and economic leadership depend on it.
        I have two questions, and these are both for Dr. Stoy. Some
    of my colleagues from across the aisle argued that repealing
    clean energy investments made under the Bipartisan
    Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will save money
    for our nation and its small business owners. Can you speak
    about how repealing the investments made under these laws will
    cost us in the critical mineral--minerals industry?
        Ms. STOY. Absolutely. Thank you so much for the question. I
    will say I am not an expert on the Inflation Reduction Act. But
    my understanding is that, you know, as we seek to build out the
    entire supply chain in the U.S. as we seek to, you know,
    bolster manufacturing, we need to have incentives all the way
    down the line, especially given that we are dealing with a non-
    market player. The IRA includes many provisions that help
    bolster that. And if we cripple the end of the process by
    removing customer-consumer incentives, we are terminating the
    line. And ultimately, what that means is that our products will
    not end up being sold in the U.S. They won't end up being
    refined in the U.S. They will go abroad.
        Ms. MCIVER. Thank you for that. Given how far behind we
    already are in securing critical mineral supply chains,
    wouldn't further funding rollbacks be a national security risk,
    in your opinion?
        Ms. STOY. Yes, I would agree with that.
        Ms. MCIVER. Thank you. With that, I yield back.
        Mr. MEUSER. [Presiding.] Gentlelady Yields back. I now
    recognize myself for 5 minutes.
        Folks, we have got a very serious discussion here. I think
    Mr. Kaye brought that out very well initially, and it is
    certainly being repeated over and over. So we got to figure out
    what we can do about it. Something tells me you all have some
    good ideas and perhaps a written plan, white paper, on what,
    not just what we need to do over the next 10 years, but even
    over the next 2 or 3 immediately, right? We have one mining
    company of rare earths elements in the United States, MP in
    Southern California, one processing refinery, I believe owned
    by MP. Now, China provides 70 percent of the world's rare
    earths. What are we doing, right? So this is a very important
    meeting, and hopefully, this is just the beginning.
        I have a bill, and frankly, looking at it now, I think this
    just scratches the surface offering for rare earth elements
    production, tax credits $9 within a ton--on a ton of coal for
    refuse, $20 per kg on REEs extracted and sold from coal, $3 tax
    credit per barrel on brine water that we are about to introduce
    and et cetera, a couple of others. Now, I am not sure that is
    going to do the trick. It might be a step in the right
    direction. Mr. Kaye, what are your thoughts on some of my
    comments here?
        Mr. KAYE. I think you hit the nail on the head. It goes
    this way. 15 years it has taken for us to do nothing while the
    Chinese have dominated. They and their government have been
    extremely supportive of their ability to create world dominance
    in this. And it was part of a strategy because they think in
    that context.
        The first thing we need to think about is creating a
    stockpile. Why a stockpile? If we have a strategic oil reserve,
    then we need to have a strategic critical mineral reserve. What
    we intend to do, just to comment on it, is we intend to deliver
    a reasonable amount of gallium by the end of this year. That
    means that we will stockpile the other rare earths, perhaps on
    a military base, which is part of an executive order that said
    let's use the Pentagon, let's use military bases. We are in
    discussions regarding a project such as that today.
        Secondly, with a little bit of government support that
    Idaho National Labs has agreed that they can cut a year off the
    development of the plant that we are putting online. That will
    be a full-blown demonstration plant, at least 2 tons a day, and
    we can start delivering actual rare earths to our Defense
    Department, to various other. They talk about the Stargate
    project. We have allocated $500 billion artificial
    intelligence, medical applications. Nobody has ever talked
    about medical. Well, guess what? You can't have diagnostic
    equipment. You can't have the new technologies that are coming
    out without rare earths.
        Mr. MEUSER. So let's hear now, Mr. Mushinski, I am going to
    ask you on the type of tax credits, incentives, and regulatory
    reform, some of your thoughts on what we need to do to
    springboard and blast off, if you will, or at least get off the
    ground.
        Mr. MUSHINSKI. Thank you, Congressman. For me and for RER,
    and I assume the other businesses here, it is market stability
    that is important. We have tried to start up businesses before,
    and the Chinese are very aware. The Chinese are very smart
    people. They can flood the market and deplete prices and drive
    us out of business. You will recall that even MP, Mountain
    Pass, at the time, was driven into bankruptcy by that exact
    point. So, I agree a strategic stockpile is important. This is
    a nascent industry in the United States, and the companies
    here, mine included, need a foothold. We are not looking for
    the government to give us a complete handout. We need a
    foothold so that we can get investors. So that we can have
    bankable contracts. So that we can go to capital markets and
    have a business plan that they don't have to be concerned about
    market manipulation.
        Mr. MEUSER. All right, quickly, Ms. Stoy, do you agree?
        Ms. STOY. Yes, absolutely. The thing that I talk to when I
    talk to investors is they say, well, what about China? What
    about the market? Like for me to deliver a 5-year financial
    plan, I need to have pricing information, and we have an opaque
    market with non-market players on non-exchange traded metals.
        Mr. MEUSER. Well, as I opened with, this is very, very
    important. Perhaps rather than call it the Manhattan Project,
    as I am from Pennsylvania, we will call it something other,
    maybe the Pennsylvania Project. But we look forward to
    continued conversations very much so. Thank you. I yield back.
        I now recognize Mr. Tran from California for 5 minutes.
        Mr. TRAN. Thank you so much, Chairman. Welcome, witnesses.
    Thank you for being here. Dr. Stoy, in 2024, the Select
    Committee on China released a bipartisan report revealing that
    the Chinese communist government supplies over 50 percent of
    the U.S. demand for 24 critical minerals, including 90 percent
    of rare earth elements. The report also emphasized that
    advanced recycling technologies offer a scalable solution to
    strengthen the domestic supply chain for these minerals and
    reduce our reliance on China. However, the Trump administration
    has reduced staffing in the Department of Energy's loan and R&D
    programs, the various resources needed to help reduce U.S.
    dependence on China for critical minerals. In fact, over 77
    billion in funding at the Department of Energy remains frozen.
    How does that affect their capacity to invest and award
    contracts to businesses like yours, Dr. Stoy?
        Ms. STOY. Thank you so much for the question. This is
    something that I think about very often is how, you know, to
    fund, you know, the--the projects that we will be building, the
    projects that we will be financing. These will take high
    amounts of capital. The Department of Energy has been
    instrumental in putting together different loan offices,
    different programs for startups like mine and many others.
    Without staff at these agencies, they are not able to do their
    jobs. They are not able to evaluate loans. It is a huge problem
    for me, especially as I go out to investors, to say, here is my
    plan for building a facility. You know, I am going to use this
    contracting agency, this loan office. If they are not
    considered reliable, then my plan is no longer reliable. Thank
    you.
        Mr. TRAN. And are you concerned that these cuts would cede
    America's global STEM leadership to the PRC?
        Ms. STOY. Absolutely. I mean, one thing I also think about
    a lot is the training that comes from loans just like these.
    You know, China has, I think, 80 universities dedicated to
    mineral processing and mining. We don't have any. You know, if
    we are serious about building talent, the talent that we need
    to run our businesses, we need to have those funding agencies
    in place.
        Mr. TRAN. Yeah. In fact, President Trump's proposed cutting
    of the National Science Foundation staff by half and reducing
    its grants awards, which would threaten the agency's ability to
    fund critical R&D nationwide and further advantage the PRC's
    technological competition with the U.S.
        Mr. Chairman, I asked for unanimous consent to insert an
    R&D World article about the impacts of the proposal and
    existing Trump cuts into the record.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved.
        Mr. TRAN. Thank you.
        Next question goes to Mr. Dowd. In September 2024, your
    company received a 4.2 million contract from the Department of
    Defense to expand domestic production of rare earth element
    terbium, one of the most difficult to obtain rare earth
    elements from recycled fluorescent light bulbs. Can you explain
    how important government contract like this one are to your
    business?
        Mr. DOWD. Yeah, absolutely. You know, when we talk about
    government support and kind of step back, big picture, you
    know, 35 years ago, the leader of China said that rare earths
    are going to be to China what oil is to the Middle East. And
    that is before this electrified world that we live in today,
    right? And so the government of China really instigated a
    deliberate industrial policy to systematically capture this
    market and the U.S. and the rest of the world now have to turn
    on all across the supply chain, mine to metal, so that we are
    no longer reliant upon China for the sources of material in any
    way. And that is not going to happen overnight. Obviously, that
    is going to take a decade or two or more. That is exactly what
    China has done. But it really needs necessary long-term policy
    that will transcend administrations, Republican and Democrat.
        And specifically to us, terbium is only otherwise produced
    in China. We are the only other company in the world producing
    terbium. The Department of Defense award allowed us to be able
    to scale up and produce what is necessary for military
    applications, for the U.S. government in the defense sector.
        Mr. TRAN. That is amazing. And you would agree that it is
    important for us to continue federal investments in promoting
    recycling and a circular economy for these critical minerals,
    yes?
        Mr. DOWD. I think turning on mining, recycling all sources
    of material is vital for the future of the country.
        Mr. TRAN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
        I now recognize Mr. Finstad from the great state of
    Minnesota for 5 minutes.
        Mr. FINSTAD. Thank you, Chairman Williams. Thank you for
    holding this important hearing today, and thank you to the
    witnesses for being here. As a Member of this Committee and
    then also on the House Armed Services Committee, I am excited
    to have you here today to discuss the important role critical
    minerals play in our national security interests and our
    overall economy in this country.
        The state of Minnesota is home to a large majority of our
    nation's domestic critical mineral reserves, including nickel,
    cobalt, platinum, and copper. And after hearing Congressman
    Stauber's comments, I used to think his roads were paved in
    gold, but I guess they are going to be paved in nickel here now
    soon up in Northern Minnesota. Those Minnesota grown companies
    have been unable to renew their federal leases due to both the
    Obama and Biden administrations pulling the rug out from
    underneath them and putting up roadblocks.
        So, with that being said, Mr. Kaye, the United States has
    the strictest environmental and labor standards in the world,
    yet we have become reliant on China and other adversarial
    nations to control a large majority of the world's global
    supply chain. In your experience, what environmental and labor
    standards do these countries have in place for their
    operations?
        Mr. KAYE. They are very supportive of their homegrown
    industries and China particularly has been extremely robust in
    making it easy for it to happen. I believe that now it is an
    all-hands-on-deck approach for this. It is regulatory, it is,
    as my colleagues have said, support for the offtake agreements.
    We are in discussions with multiple country companies both in
    the defense industry and the automotive industry for supply
    even if it takes 3, 4, 5 years to come on stream.
        So what we would need is, as everyone has said, we need
    support so that China cannot manipulate the price. We need fast
    tracking to permit. Even Mountain Pass is partially owned by
    the Chinese. Even some of their concentrate is shipped to China
    to be processed. That can't be good.
        So it is, I believe, public-private partnerships. I believe
    it is regulatory relief. You know, as one of my colleagues
    said, unchain us and let American entrepreneurialship, let us
    do what we know how to do. And it is always now with an
    environmental concern because the environment is sensitive. But
    the pendulum has switched too far to that side. It can't take
    29 years.
        Mr. FINSTAD. So, Mr. Kaye, just as a follow up, just to be
    very clear, so our strictest in the world environmental
    standards, our state-of-the-art best that can be labor
    standards in this country, China isn't competing at that same
    level, correct?
        Mr. KAYE. Absolutely not.
        Mr. FINSTAD. Okay. So to my colleagues here, I mean, I
    guess the question we have to ask ourselves, are we content
    putting our head in the sand and pretending that they are
    playing by the same rules? And the answer is no. And so it is
    incumbent upon us and our government to do better in this area.
        I would like to move on to Mr. Dowd. My constituents would
    rather rely on our neighbors in northern Minnesota, heck, even
    Nebraska, to extract and refine these minerals for our domestic
    supply chain. We trust our neighbors. We can have a healthy
    discussion about environmental standards, labor standards, and
    then we can, through our government and through our policy and
    through our process, make sure those standards are met. And we
    can do that face to face, neighbor to neighbor.
        Given your experience operating and innovating in this
    space, what are the biggest challenges preventing American
    companies right now from leading the world in critical mineral
    development? And a lot of times we in this Committee, you know,
    people will come and say, well, it is the regulations or it is
    this or it is that. If you were to leave here today and say, I
    got this off my chest, here is the four or five things that
    this Committee and this Congress can help us do, what is it?
        Mr. DOWD. Thank you, sir. You know, it is, as I said
    earlier, China, 35 years ago, said that rare earths are to
    China what oil is to the Middle East, and that is before this
    electrified world we live in today. We are literally in the
    infancy of this industry. It was referenced, perhaps a
    Rockefeller moment, where this is oil 100 years ago. I think
    that is absolutely to be true.
        China controls this industry, one, because they made it a
    deliberate policy, but, two, the Chinese government subsidizes
    the industry, so there is no ability for this country to be
    able to compete on level ground if our government is not also
    part of that equation.
        Mr. FINSTAD. My time is up here. I would just say this, we
    are ripe for critical minerals permitting reform 2.0 in our
    country. Let's reimagine the next 50 years and not try to fix
    broken policies of the last hundred.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman's time is up.
        Mr. FINSTAD. I yield back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
        I now recognize Mr. Olszewski from the great state of
    Maryland for 5 minutes.
        Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you
    to our witnesses for joining us today. I appreciate the
    opportunity to discuss America's economic and technological
    growth alongside the need for a stable supply of critical
    minerals.
        In addition to my service here, I am honored to serve on
    the House Foreign Affairs Committee and in the Africa
    Subcommittee in particular, where we have recently also
    discussed the need to support Africa's critical mineral sector
    as a driver for economic growth. We know that this conversation
    must also include conversations about support for families,
    children, and local communities. These are groups that are
    often exploited through forced labor and small-scale informal
    mines across the continent, often in deadly work environments.
        So I am concerned both about the action of this
    administration working to dismantle the National Institute of
    Occupational Health and Safety in terms of our own safety in
    that work here in America. I also know that we are currently
    facing a fairly chaotic landscape from a President who has
    unilaterally enacted tariffs on nearly every import from every
    country. These tariffs affect 35 of the 50 critical minerals
    that we discussed today, which raises prices for American
    businesses and consumers and causes higher prices for mining
    and for refinery equipment.
        The reality is that this is an important conversation, but
    we cannot only mine our way out for reliable and ethical
    critical mineral supply chain. So I look forward to working
    with all of you in the years ahead, as well as my colleagues on
    this critical issue, while doing so not backtracking on issues
    like workers' rights and protections and removing some of the
    barriers to our success.
        To that point, I have two quick questions. One is on
    tariffs and one is on grants. I will start with you, Dr. Stoy.
    According to the U.S. Geological Service, the U.S. has little
    to no reserves for many critical materials. So obviously, as we
    discussed, we are trading to acquire them. Can you talk a
    little bit about how tariffs affect our ability to buy them
    from abroad?
        Ms. STOY. Absolutely. Thank you so much for the question.
        I am not an expert on tariffs. I am not an economist. But
    what I can say is that when I look for investors, when mining
    companies globally look for investors, investors are looking
    for stable markets. They are looking for stable capital.
    Refiners that I think personally is the most important thing
    right now beyond just mining, you know, to build up these
    facilities, we need stable markets. And tariffs, I think, pose
    issues to that. And consistent pricing is important. We have
    talked about a lot of different levers that the government can
    use here, you know, stockpiles, ensuring price floors. There is
    different things we can use here, but all of them can be
    negatively impacted by tariffs.
        Mr. OLSZEWSKI. I appreciate that, and I want to make sure I
    have it right. As a fellow ``ski,'' is it Mr. Minishski?
        Mr. MUSHINSKI. Mushinski.
        Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Mushinski, Olszewski. We got it. Okay. I
    appreciated your testimony and your calls for unlocking grants
    for commercialization efforts. I think that is critically
    important as one way to increase capital access for this work.
    So I just want to, I guess, pose to you, would you be concerned
    if very large grant makers, and in particular, thinking about
    the federal government, right, if we froze our grants and other
    funding sources, that certainly would be a challenge to that
    and would erase some of the capital landscape? Is that a fair
    assessment?
        Mr. MUSHINSKI. Of course.
        Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Yeah. And so, yeah, just to that point, to
    my colleagues, we are seeing a lot of the dismantling of these
    kinds of programs, not just in this space, but across the
    government. And I think we want to try to work with our
    partners across the aisle to find ways that here and in other
    spaces that I think the federal government actually does have a
    key role to play in spurring innovation, safety, and success in
    the private sector.
        And so, again, I want to just thank our witnesses to today,
    Mr. Chairman, for their insights and their wisdom. Look forward
    to working with them and you and our colleagues in the years
    ahead.
        And with that, I will yield back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlemen yields back.
        I now recognize Mr. Bresnahan from the great state of
    Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
        Mr. BRESNAHAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and to the Ranking
    Member, for holding today's hearing, and especially to the
    witnesses for taking time out to come and testify today.
        Securing our supply chains for rare earth minerals and
    other critical resources is not just an economic priority. It
    is a matter of national security. These materials are essential
    components in a wide range of technologies, from smartphones to
    electric vehicles and advanced defense systems. Yet, despite
    their importance, the United States has fallen behind over
    other nations, particularly China, in both the mining and
    refining of these vital resources. China's dominant position in
    these supply chains have given them significant leverage on the
    global stage, leverage that can threaten our economic
    competitiveness and our security. To address this challenge, we
    must bring about commonsense permitting reform that allows us
    to responsibly develop these resources here at home.
        My district lies within the Marcellus Shale region in
    Pennsylvania. Fracking has been a key driver of our country's
    energy dominance and Pennsylvania's economic growth for the
    last 20 years. But fracking can potentially deliver more than
    just oil and gas. Recent studies by the National Energy
    Technology Laboratory have found that the water used in
    fracking can unlock up to 1,160 metric tons of lithium. That is
    almost 40 percent of the current demand for lithium, which is
    3,000 metric tons per year. This is comparable to the lithium
    produced in the brine ponds in Chile, the world's second
    largest lithium producer.
        In Wayne County in my district, there is roughly $1 billion
    of natural gas deposits that we cannot tap into because of
    governors in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware
    have banned it based on some science and under pressure from
    some environmental activists. If our country is going to reduce
    emissions and have a cleaner grid, we need these rare earth
    minerals like lithium to achieve these goals.
        Sadly, the prior administration stifled their own green
    energy goals with overregulation by trying to ban natural gas
    exports, trying to ban fracking, the IRA's methane tax, and use
    of ESG's metrics and investments, and not approving pipelines
    quickly enough. Instead of American energy powered by clean
    American fuel sources and rare earth minerals processed under
    the American environmental standards, we have been forced to
    rely on Chinese imports, which are produced under horrendous
    environments and labor conditions.
        Our goal must be to provide essential raw materials that
    fuel our economy, support our national defense, empower the
    innovative technologies of tomorrow. We can, we must, and
    uphold our commitment to environmental stewardship while
    advancing economic growth. The false choice between economic
    progress and protecting our environment has held us back far
    too long.
        With that, I am going to start with my first question to
    Mr. Dowd. I want to echo on Mr. Finstad's questions a little
    bit earlier. If you can point to just one specific action that
    Congress can deploy to help us in the progress, would it be
    towards workforce development? Would it be permitting? Would it
    be regulation? If you can point to just one thing, and you had
    mentioned China in the prior answer, but is there anything else
    beyond China that we can be of assistance with?
        Mr. DOWD. Yeah, as a rare earth element separation company,
    at least the way we do, how we do our refining, there is no
    regulatory or regulation that is permitting us from doing what
    we are doing. The workforce is really not a challenge where we
    are, fortunately. I would say the big thing is continuing, as
    the government has through the Department of Defense and
    Department of Energy, funding companies like us to boost the
    defense industrial base to have the capability and the capacity
    in this country to compete with China.
        Mr. BRESNAHAN. What do you mean ``funding''? Is that
    through grant processes? Is that through R&D? What kind of
    funding do you reference?
        Mr. DOWD. Yeah, sure. Our company has received a handful of
    grants and awards over the last handful of years, which have
    really furthered us to where we are today. The Congressman
    earlier mentioned we received a Defense Production Act through
    the Department of Defense for $8.67 million back in September.
    That really enabled us to be able to produce terbium, which
    cannot be found anywhere else in the world other than China.
        Mr. BRESNAHAN. So why is that the responsibility of the
    American taxpayer to provide economic grants to a company like
    yours?
        Mr. DOWD. Yeah, I think it is a real question for the
    Committee or for the country in terms of the responsibility of
    government to help fund what is necessary to be able to have
    this capability in this country. And I think if the government
    does not compete, given that the Chinese government is
    subsidizing the industry, we will be fully reliant on China for
    rare earths for a long period of time. And that is obviously a
    geopolitical supply chain issue.
        Mr. BRESNAHAN. My time has expired. I yield.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
        I now recognize Ms. Goodlander from the great state of New
    Hampshire for 5 minutes.
        Ms. GOODLANDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to
    our witnesses for being here today for this important hearing.
        You have each testified that the rare earth challenge is a
    really critical one to our national security. Our supply chain
    vulnerability is core to addressing, to keep our country safe.
    But it is also an extraordinary opportunity that small
    businesses across our country are seizing. And I am seeing it
    all across my home state of New Hampshire.
        What I would say is our hearing today, the title of the
    hearing today, I note is ``Securing America's Mineral Future:
    Unlocking the Economic Value Beneath Our Feet.'' The economic
    value I think is more than just beneath our feet. And I saw
    this firsthand in visiting an extraordinary service-disabled,
    veteran-owned small business in the Monadnock Region of my
    state that more than 6 years ago predicted that we would have a
    germanium crisis in this country. Germanium is used, as many of
    you know, in high-speed computer chips, plastics, and a wide
    range of military applications from night vision devices to
    satellite imagery sensors.
        My constituents started a company, they self-funded the
    research and development costs of a cost-effective, ecofriendly
    germanium recycling effort and they began production. They have
    encountered a lot of challenges in getting the support that
    they need for small businesses to actually tackle this. And I
    wanted to ask you, Mr. Dowd, can you speak to your experience?
        I also serve on the Armed Services Committee and, knock on
    wood, we are going to have a National Defense Authorization Act
    this year where we have an opportunity to really take a look at
    ways in which we can improve the way that the Department of
    Defense does business with small businesses in our country. Can
    you speak to your experience contracting with the Department of
    Defense and what challenges you encountered?
        Mr. DOWD. Yeah, our experience with the Department of
    Defense and, specifically, receiving funding through the
    Defense Production Act has really been incredibly positive. I
    really don't have a negative thing to say about that.
        Ms. GOODLANDER. Really?
        Mr. DOWD. I can only speak from the award that we are
    currently in and our experience in receiving that award in the
    last year.
        Ms. GOODLANDER. Dr. Stoy, could you tell us a little bit
    about the challenges you have encountered in contracting with
    the federal government and getting the kind of investment that
    small businesses like yours need to bring us to the next
    generation of recycling critical minerals?
        Ms. STOY. Absolutely. My experience has largely been very
    positive in applying for funding. I will say there were--there
    have been a handful of Department of Energy grants that
    required really an extensive amount of paperwork for small
    businesses to apply. As an example, I think there was a grant
    that was for $500,000, which is not--it is a sizable amount of
    money, but not huge, that I think I ended up writing, you know,
    100 pages of content for on, you know, economic development.
    And, you know, 500K for a 3-year grant is not really enough
    money to have an outsized impact on, you know, your local
    community. So I think there are ways to streamline grant
    processes that would make it easier for small businesses to
    take advantage of.
        Ms. GOODLANDER. Well, we welcome any and all ideas that you
    have on this front. We are all about cracking down on waste,
    fraud, and abuse, and making it easier for small businesses
    like yours. Just note that the funding cuts that we have seen
    across our federal government have made it very difficult for
    these important programs to reach their intended small business
    recipients.
        I want to ask you about the impact of the President's
    unilateral trade wars, which have impacted 35 of 50 critical
    minerals, 10 of 16 rare earth elements. You have each spoken to
    just the time that it takes to build up our domestic
    manufacturing base. Many on our Committee have supported an
    exemption for small businesses. But I wanted to ask you to the
    President's unilateral tariffs because they threatened to put
    so many essential small businesses out of business. I want to
    ask you about the uncertainty that you are seeing across the
    industry and the markets and the customers who you work with in
    this moment of absolute uncertainty for our country.
        Ms. STOY. Yeah, you know, customers, investors, everyone is
    looking for stability and these tariffs add uncertainty. One of
    the big things--I have been a little bit insulated because I
    have been housed at Argonne National Lab, which has been a
    tremendous opportunity that--you know, it is a very small
    program. There is maybe five innovators per year. This is not--
    it is not a big enough program for many small businesses to
    benefit from that if they have to buy their own equipment. I
    mean, I am deeply impressed that someone from your state was
    able to self-fund a recycling project. So I think that that is
    something that we need to work on is adding that stability.
        Ms. GOODLANDER. Thank you. I yield back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back.
        I now recognize Mr. Downing from the great state of Montana
    for 5 minutes.
        Mr. DOWNING. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the
    witnesses. I come from Montana, the Treasure State. If you want
    it, we can probably grow it or mine it or produce it. So we are
    blessed with incredible reserves in critical minerals.
        So I am going to start in my backyard with Mr. Kaye. You
    are on the front lines of critical minerals discovery and
    extraction in Montana. Your company, U.S. Critical Materials,
    is set to develop the Sheep Creek site in Ravalli County into a
    major producer of rare earth elements. In your testimony, you
    note the remarkable nature of the mineral concentrations at the
    Sheep Creek site. Can you explain to us more about the unique
    abundance of rare earth elements at the site?
        Mr. KAYE. Thank you for your question. We have
    concentrations that range about 9 percent and in some cases
    higher. That means as a comparative to Mountain Pass, they
    average about 5 percent. It literally, as confirmed by
    Activation Labs, the blue chip lab for evaluating purity of the
    product, and Idaho National Labs who did extensive work in our
    (phonetic 25:29) ore, which, by the way, is very low in thorium
    and very high in grade. That means we are below the standards
    required to seek nuclear regulatory authority, which is a boon
    to us in being able to get our product online quickly.
        It is an extraordinary deposit because it is carbonatites.
    And carbonatites, geologically, 150 million years ago have come
    up from the earth, have penetrated through dikes and fissures
    and have extended above the surface within just three adits,
    which are horizontal tunnels that have been drilled into the
    side of the mountain 35 years ago, there are 62 carbonatites.
    We have sampled them all. They all show mineralization down at
    depth. And there is a theory going right now that we are
    working to prove this summer that there is a continuous source
    that lies below. So while----
        Mr. DOWNING. Hey, just in the interest of time, the
    critical, and I appreciate that, the critical minerals mined at
    Sheep Creek support--how do they support the manufacturing of
    technologies critical to national security?
        Mr. KAYE. The answer to that is samarium, which is not
    found in the United States. We have an abundant supply.
    Gallium, which, as mentioned earlier, has 3,800 military uses.
    The Chinese have banned it to export about a year ago. We have
    180 to 380 parts per million. We are working with Idaho
    National Labs now. We expect that we will be able to extract
    gallium and be able to present it for the use of this country
    within this year.
        Mr. DOWNING. So on that note, how are small businesses
    uniquely positioned to initiate American critical mineral
    independence from China?
        Mr. KAYE. We have the entrepreneurial spirit that has grown
    this country. We are entrepreneurs. We understand risk-reward
    and we have the attitude of it has to happen, we will make it
    happen. And with the support of the regulatory authorities,
    state government, and the like, it will occur.
        Mr. DOWNING. Thank you, sir. In my district, we have
    experienced firsthand the difficulties of competing with
    mineral dumping by foreign adversaries. The Sibanye Stillwater
    Mine in Stillwater County is the United States' only platinum
    and palladium mine. Unfortunately, Russia's dumping of cheap
    minerals into the international market forced the Sibanye
    Stillwater owners of the mine to scale back its operations and
    lay off 700 workers at the end of last year.
        I am going to move to Mr. Mushinski. In your testimony, you
    outline how your company, Rare Element Resources, experienced
    similar hardships from Chinese dumping. Can you elaborate on to
    what degree you believe this dumping effort by Chinese
    producers was coordinated and deliberate?
        Mr. MUSHINSKI. I think it was 100 percent coordinated and
    100 percent deliberate. If you go back to the 2016 timeframe,
    when there were restrictions on--I am sorry, it may not be
    before 2016, the Chinese deliberately put restrictions on
    exports of rare earths. That spiked the price. As with any
    mining business, when the price goes up, the exploration goes
    up, the technology goes up, and it is a continuous curve.
        The mining companies, Mountain Pass at the time, took off.
    Their stock went over $100 a share. A mere 4 years later, the
    Chinese absolutely flooded the market. The prices cratered,
    Mountain Pass went bankrupt. That is when our company almost
    went bankrupt in the middle of our permitting process.
        Mr. DOWNING. Unfortunately, I have run out of time. Mr.
    Chair, I yield.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
        I recognize Mr. Cisneros from the great state of California
    for 5 minutes.
        Mr. CISNEROS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        As a Member of the House Armed Services Committee and
    previously serving at the Department of Defense, I deeply care
    about our national security. And I understand and agree with
    the importance of securing our critical mineral supply chain
    and I support the small businesses helping address this vital
    need. However, this hearing is not focused on what we can
    actually do to help these small businesses, but rather it is
    another attempt to infomercial the President's agenda to
    deregulate.
        The House Natural Resource Committee already had a hearing
    on domestic mining for U.S. national security on February 6.
    The House Energy and Commerce Committee already had a hearing
    on enhancing our critical mineral supply chains on May 21. If
    we want to stretch the bounds of the House Small Business
    Committee to also talk about critical minerals, let's talk
    about federal funding opportunities like the small business
    research grants that help companies like Rivalia. This hearing
    is not talking about SBA programs to help these small
    businesses. It is not talking about funding from other agencies
    for these small businesses. It is not diving into federal
    contracting to support these businesses. I urge my colleagues
    to engage with us in meaningful discussions on how to better
    support small business, not just rubber stamp an agenda.
        So, Ms. Stoy, could you kind of go into detail a little bit
    more about SBIR, how it helped you get started, and really the
    importance of programs like this to encourage investment in
    other businesses like yours that could help, like you said,
    recycle these minerals instead of them just going to waste
    after they have been used?
        Ms. STOY. Absolutely. You know, I founded Rivalia using a
    blend of government funding, SBIR funding, and private venture
    capital. I think, you know, to prove that you should be a
    company in the market, you need to have that kind of buy-on
    from, you know, a private group. But, you know, programs like
    the SBIR help front load some of the high capital costs that
    come with hard tech startups. I mean, we are all in mining. You
    know, this requires equipment, this requires labs, this
    requires resources.
        The SBIR program has been incredibly helpful to me. There
    is also some programs offered alongside the SBIR program,
    including a business boot camp where they help you do customer
    discovery, engage with your customers and the partners. You
    know, we are dealing with very complex supply chains here. And
    learning how to have those conversations was something I
    learned through the NSF SBIR program.
        The Chain Reactions Innovations Program that I am a part of
    at Argonne National Lab, the LEAP program is also, I think,
    incredibly useful as a tool to help small businesses access
    resources that they otherwise wouldn't have access to.
        Mr. CISNEROS. Thank you very much for that. And again, I
    think the importance of research and funding these grants in
    order to help small businesses like yours get started is of
    vital importance and something that we should be discussing
    today more than about how regulation is getting in the way.
        Mr. Mushinski, hopefully I said that right, I hear your
    company is exploring training and education programs with
    universities in conjunction with the Bear Lodge Project. Can
    you speak to the importance of a strong STEM workforce in
    career and technical education programs for projects like that?
        Mr. MUSHINSKI. Thank you for the question. We do, we
    currently have three interns from the University of Wyoming and
    South Dakota, the School of Mines, which is dedicated to
    minerals and mining. And we live--our process and our facility
    is in a very small town of Upton, Wyoming, 800-and-something
    people. We are relatively close to other population centers.
    But the ability to recruit STEM employees is difficult in that
    area and that is a very important issue for us. Where do we
    locate our final plant because of those issues?
        We fortunately live in a very pro mining state, which is
    Wyoming. And the governor and the University of Wyoming and all
    the Members within that legislation are very supportive to us.
    You know, it is junior colleges, it is colleges, it is
    technical trades. A mining and processing facility is not just
    STEM. You need all the blue collar work as well, and that is a
    very important concern.
        Mr. CISNEROS. No, thank you for that answer. I am a big
    believer in education and training and everything that we need
    to put into it. You said this isn't a field that most people
    probably grow up thinking they are going to get into, but it is
    vital importance to make sure that we invest in the technology
    and the training for that.
        So with that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
        I now recognize Mr. Patronis from the great state of
    Florida for 5 minutes.
        Mr. PATRONIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you all
    for participating in speed dating. It is kind of back and forth
    and, you know, the input that we are getting is really helpful.
        For the last 8 years I regulated mining and blasting in the
    state of Florida. And I have learned of the proponents and the
    opponents and specifically understanding, at least in the case
    of the state of Florida, whenever we have what seems to be good
    policy or good proposed legislation, how it dramatically could
    potentially change your cost of business or where your
    customers may do their business. I look at what you are
    providing. You are providing quality jobs in a heavily
    regulated environment with a sensitivity to supply chain needs
    and also what you need to do to balance the environment. And I
    don't envy what you do, but I am glad you are able to find a
    margin to make you want to continue pursuing it.
        I have always been a big proponent for predictability in
    the timelines when it comes to permitting. I don't want to
    belabor this because I know it was kind of touched on a little
    bit by you, Mr. Kaye, but I am going to ask you to elaborate
    more on it and maybe even a little bit of a comparison of the
    timeline of how China has the ability to bring goods to market
    versus the United States and how much of a difference there is
    in that timeline because does this create an advantage for
    China?
        Mr. KAYE. I have a couple of comments that I think would be
    relevant. One of which is that to the former--the congressman
    over there who said, how do you attract young people? Okay, the
    answer is technology. Technology makes it a lot more glamorous
    than a pick and a shovel. We are using artificial intelligence,
    predictive analytics for fast tracking exploration. It brings a
    whole other kind of person to the table.
        Secondly, today we made an announcement that retired four-
    star General Steven Townsend has become a senior advisor to us.
    He testified in front of the Senate some years ago about the
    need for critical minerals. He told us that in Africa when he
    was running AFRICOM, he wanted to find out how many mines, rare
    earth and critical mineral mines, were owned by the United
    States versus China. He found none owned by the United States,
    all owned by China, except for one, a Canadian company, which
    turned out when he put his intelligence team to it, to be a
    front for the Chinese. So somebody asked earlier about Africa.
        As to your question, fast tracking is everything right now.
    Okay. Speed and time. Speed is most important. Time is our
    enemy. And, therefore, the ability to have access to the
    decision-makers, to be able to have a meeting such as this, to
    be able to understand what their requirements are and how we
    can fast track application for DPA grants or Department of
    Defense or the movement of money from, you know, environment to
    defense is critically important. How can we manage the
    bureaucracy so that it makes it easier for us instead of
    cutting the red tape and drowning in the things that all my
    colleagues have just talked about, years and years of going
    through these things? It is getting better.
        Mr. CISNEROS. And it is not--the technology's not going
    away and the demand is not shrinking. I guess my also concern
    is just, if you can just expand on it a little bit is the
    national security concerns we have about being beholden to
    China on our pipeline.
        Mr. KAYE. Yeah. Thank you. The F-35 requires 920 pounds of
    rare earths. A submarine is 5,000. The new F-47, which is now
    being proposed, requires large amounts of rare earths. The
    newest radar that we are working on requires rare earths. The
    missiles, we expended a tremendous amount of our armaments with
    Israel, with the Ukraine war, et cetera. You got to rebuild the
    stockpiles, and yet they require rare earths.
        So it is got to be domestic supply, and it is got to happen
    now. We don't have 5 more years. And so, therefore, that is why
    we are focused so hard on being able to deliver gallium by the
    end of this year, because it is required in 3,800 different
    defense systems that our government requires.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman's time is up.
        Mr. CISNEROS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Mr. KAYE. Thank you.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. Next, I recognize Dr. Morrison from the
    great state of Minnesota for 5 minutes.
        Ms. MORRISON. Thank you, Chairman Williams and Ranking
    Member Velazquez, for holding this hearing. And I want to thank
    our witnesses for being here and taking the time to testify and
    share your expertise about the critical mineral industry.
        This is a topic we will return to again and again as demand
    for critical minerals continues to grow during the coming
    decades. The International Energy Agency projects that growing
    investments in clean energy will double global demand for
    minerals by 2040. Growing demand for electric vehicles could
    increase the need for minerals such as lithium and graphite by
    as much as 4,000 percent over the next few decades.
        And by the way, I am thrilled by the enthusiasm for mining
    critical minerals I have heard here. So I assume that everyone
    on this Committee will be voting against clawing back the IRA
    and clean energy tax credits.
        One of the mines that my colleague from Minnesota, Mr.
    Stauber, referenced, is on public lands in the watershed of the
    Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most visited
    wilderness in the United States and a major economic engine in
    Northeastern Minnesota. One point I want to make regarding
    proposed hard rock mines in Minnesota is that this kind of
    mining has never been done in Minnesota before. We have a proud
    tradition of iron ore taconite mining. It is very different
    kind of mining that carries very different risks than copper,
    nickel, and other hard rock mining.
        And the proposed mines, respectfully to my other colleague
    from Minnesota, are not Minnesota grown. They are owned by
    Glencore, Rio Tinto, and Antofagasta. These are not small
    businesses. These are not homegrown, and they are not American
    companies. They are international mining conglomerates with
    some of the worst labor and environmental records in the world.
        I would like to point out a study that found that the
    proposed mine in the watershed of Minnesota's Boundary Waters
    Canoe Area Wilderness would cause a net economic loss in the
    long term, due in part to the job and revenue losses, for the
    thriving outdoor recreation industry that that area depends on.
        So, Mr. Chairman, I request unanimous consent to insert the
    study into the record.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved.
        Ms. MORRISON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Dr. Stoy, can you comment on some of the tradeoffs of
    unrestricted, minimally regulated mining in terms of
    environment impacts? Are there any negatives or is it just all
    upside?
        Ms. STOY. Thanks for the question. Wouldn't that be
    wonderful if there were only upsides? You know, as we discussed
    securing a domestic supply chain for rare earths, you know, we
    have to talk about these trade-offs. There are benefits. You
    know, we can increase our domestic supply long term. We can
    reduce our dependence on foreign sources. We can support
    national security. We might bring jobs and investment to rural
    areas that didn't have access to that before. But, of course,
    there are significant costs. You know, there is the timeline.
    We have to consider what is going to happen environmentally
    here.
        The environmental impact, you know, we are talking about
    disturbing large areas of land. We are consuming water, we are
    producing hazardous tailings that include radioactive elements,
    like thorium, uranium. This is, you know, especially concerning
    and sensitive ecosystem or near indigenous lands or, frankly,
    anywhere where people live.
        There is also, you know, community opposition. Many
    proposed mines face strong pushback from Tribal Nations,
    environmental groups, and local residents who are simply
    concerned about the place they live, you know, water quality,
    land access, the long-term plan for these sites. These projects
    carry legal, social, and reputational risks.
        In contrast, recovering rare earths from existing
    industrial waste avoids new land disturbance. It leverages
    materials already above the ground and offers a faster, cleaner
    pathway to supply security. So while I think new mining may
    play a role in the long term and, of course, in the entire
    economic picture, we have to be clear-eyed about the costs and
    pursue lower impact alternatives when they are available.
        Ms. MORRISON. I appreciate that perspective. Thank you.
        I want to just take a moment before my time expires to brag
    about a Minnesota company that is doing innovative work to
    reduce our dependence on critical minerals. Niron Magnetics is
    the world's only producer of high-performance rare earth-free
    permanent magnets, which are used in everything from cars to
    audio systems to medical devices. Niron Magnetics uses
    technology that was developed through research at the
    University of Minnesota and they received an SBIR award in 2024
    to explore the use of their magnets in DOD applications,
    exemplifying, I think, how well-designed innovations system can
    support our small businesses and address pressing issues.
        Mr. Dowd, we have talked a little bit about SBIR and STTR
    programs. Can you just speak to how federal grants and awards
    can be mutually beneficial to both small businesses and
    government agencies?
        Mr. DOWD. Yeah. For my company, who has been in business
    for about a dozen years, we have had a handful of grants and
    awards with the Department of Defense and with the Department
    of Energy, which has really helped further us to where we are
    today. And I am not sure without the support of the government,
    we would have been able to achieve what we have achieved.
    Because what we do is not easy. If it was, we wouldn't be
    having this issue today, this conversation today. A lot of R&D
    goes into getting to where we are today. Thank you.
        Ms. MORRISON. Thank you, Mr. Dowd. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back.
        I recognize Mr. Alford from the great state of Missouri for
    5 minutes.
        Mr. ALFORD. Well, thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for
    our witnesses for being here today.
        Rare earth minerals, elements like neodymium, cerium,
    lanthanum are critical for modern technology from smartphones
    to electric vehicles to defense systems. Missouri's role in
    their mining has a rich history and untapped potential, but
    government overreach is holding us back. In the mid-20th
    century, Missouri was a leader in rare earth exploration. The
    Pea ridge Mine in Washington County, operational since the
    1960s, revealed significant deposits of rare earths alongside
    iron ore. And by the 1980s, studies confirmed Missouri's
    geological potential with deposits in the southeast region
    rivaling global hotspots.
        However, low prices and foreign competition, mainly from
    China, stalled development. China now dominates, producing more
    than 60 percent of the world's rare earths, leaving the U.S.
    dependent on imports for more than 70 percent of our supply.
        Today, Missouri stands at a crossroads. The Pea Ridge Mine,
    now dormant, holds an estimated 600,000 tons of rare earth
    oxides, enough to bolster domestic supply. This is just outside
    my district.
        Private companies are eager to restart operations, but
    progress is slow. Why? Excessive regulation. Permitting for new
    mines can take over a decade in the United States of America
    compared to just a year in competitors' nations. Environmental
    reviews, while important, are often redundant, delaying
    projects without code clear benefits. Meantime, communist China
    tightens export controls, threatening our supply chains.
        The government must act decisively. First, streamline
    permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act to cut
    timelines without sacrificing safety. Secondly, offer tax
    incentives for rare earth processing facilities as refining is
    a bottleneck. Third, fund research into cleaner extraction
    methods to address environmental concerns. These steps will
    unleash Missouri's potential, create jobs, and secure our
    national interest. Missouri's rare earths are a sleeping giant.
    It is my intent to help them wake up by getting government out
    of the way.
        Mr. Kaye, critical minerals are not only essential for the
    long-term economic success of the U.S., but also for its
    national security. Could you please explain the importance of
    the resources in your minds to our national security, sir?
        Mr. KAYE. Thank you for your question. We spoke about
    gallium. Gallium is critical. There is no supply here in the
    United States. The Chinese have embargoed it. Our gallium is in
    a very pure mineralized form found in the carbonatites
    themselves, which means it is relatively easy to bring them out
    and properly refine them.
        Samarium, there is no supply here in the United States. And
    so we have the same situation with that.
        Third is our government understands now, particularly the
    Department of Defense, and the reason that General Townshend
    has become an advisor to us is exactly that reason. He
    understands what the problems are. He understands what national
    defense means. And the Chinese are betting that we are going to
    keep slow like we have been. But that is not going to happen
    anymore.
        And so we believe that the 17 rare earths and natural and
    critical minerals that are important to all aspects, artificial
    intelligence, chips, new radar, new aircraft, new ships, new
    technologies leading to the future, have to be domestically
    sourced. And we and our colleagues are determined to make that
    happen. Our attitude now these days is while we are all
    friendly competitors, we are all Americans. And whatever we can
    do to help each other, whether it is technology, whether it is
    cooperation, whether it is working together to make us
    critically mineral independent again and, therefore, critically
    mineral sovereign again, is our number one mission. And so we
    are all working toward accomplishing that goal. And thank you
    for your question.
        Mr. ALFORD. Thank you, Mr. Kaye, Mr. Dowd, Mr. Mushinski,
    and our other witness, we really appreciate you being here
    today. This is a national security issue.
        And with that, I yield back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlemen yields back.
        I now recognize Ms. Simon from the great state of
    California for 5 minutes.
        Ms. SIMON. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is an honor to be
    sitting by you. And I do believe that you have the best tie in
    the room today, sir. It is amazing. Yes, sorry. I apologize.
        I am so happy to be having this conversation with you all.
    In fact, as you all were talking, what came to me was a writing
    from Bernice Johnson Reagon, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. And
    she was one of the leaders of the Student Nonviolent
    Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement. And
    one of her writings was called ``Battered Earth.'' And one of
    the stanzas in the piece said, ``If the earth could run away,
    she would be running for her life.'' And I really appreciate
    this very timely conversation.
        I also appreciate, Dr. Stoy, you talked about being
    supported in your graduate studies as a young scientist. And it
    is not missed on me or anyone on this dais that you are the
    only woman on the panel. My daughter is in the biological
    sciences. My eldest, go Aggies at UC Davis, and she told me she
    was one of the few folks who crossed the stage an undergrad
    focused again on our earth, on biology.
        I wonder what we would be talking about if, in fact, the
    United States paid homage to young scientists and fully
    supported their educations. And once they got out of grad
    school, fully nurtured their labs, fully nurtured your staffing
    process, provided support for your insurances. I wonder what we
    would be thinking about as we try to juxtapose where we are in
    terms of earthing rare minerals with our adversaries like
    China. It is hard to compare and contrast when you have
    countries around the world that fully support young people
    advancing in the sciences. But like Bernice Johnson Reagon
    says, our adversaries don't care about the earth. And if she
    could run away, she absolutely would.
        You know, just a few months ago, I was able to visit an
    amazing small business in West Oakland, where I am from. A
    small company that has developed fascinating technology to
    extract lithium directly from brine using significantly less
    land and water than conventional evaporation methods. And in
    talking to the founders, young, brilliant, scrappy, they don't
    wear suits, they wear Converse, they are amazing and super
    smart and they have PhDs and they are physicians. That is crazy
    smart, amazing folks, right, again, in a low-income community
    in the Bay Area doing everything that they could to create a
    sustainable model moving forward. They talked to me about how
    difficult it was not just in the last administration, but also
    in this administration to acquire resources. In fact, they are
    waiting on money right now to keep their staffing levels up.
        We are talking not just about rare minerals, we are talking
    about a finite Earth. And so when you have innovators, like
    some of you all on this panel, committed, committed to
    sustainable practices, committed to new opportunities and
    innovations that will literally save, save the lands of our
    dear country, you can't go in a gazillion times, right? The
    Earth is, in fact, finite.
        I am curious, Dr. Stoy, when you talk about--well, you
    talked about, I would say in your testimony rather beautifully,
    how, in fact, it was difficult in this moment, and it has been,
    and a number of you have also repeated this, to receive the
    resources that you need and deserve to move forward. Dr. Stoy,
    can you talk to me about, in the perfect world, how would,
    whether it is SBA or other government agencies, truly support
    young innovators like yourself? So that instead of sitting at a
    computer writing 100 pages for $500,000 divided by 3, and those
    of us who staffed institutions, we know that that is only a
    couple of staff with a little bit of health insurance and not
    for their kids, maybe just for them, what would it be like if
    you could truly be the scientist that you were trained to be?
    What would you need?
        Ms. STOY. So I think I have talked about a lot of visions I
    have had. You know, in a dream world I am running a team of a
    dozen people. We are all in the lab. We have folks dedicated on
    building out the rest of the supply chain, talking to all the
    partners, building out the network. You know, this is something
    that I, instead of using government funding, I will go out and
    fundraise later this summer, you know, a couple million dollars
    to start building out that team. And I am trading that for
    equity, and I am trading that for, you know--that is betting
    against the money I will need in the future to build a plant.
    You know, there is--for startups, you know, you can be scrappy,
    but you can only do so much with so little money.
        So I appreciate your question and I think, you know,
    betting on young innovators is a win for us.
        Ms. SIMON. I appreciate you and I appreciate all those who
    came out today to listen, and those are folks who came to
    testify.
        Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
        Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back.
        I would like to thank our witnesses for their testimony and
    for appearing before us today. Without objection, Members have
    5 legislative days to submit additional materials and written
    questions for the witnesses to the Chair, which will be
    forwarded to the witnesses. I ask the witnesses to please
    respond promptly.
        So if there is no further business, without objection, this
    Committee is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 12:02 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
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