[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S4989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-123. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the State of 
     Alaska relative to the mining and processing of rare earth 
     elements in Alaska and to the stockpiling of rare earth 
     elements; and urging Congress to pass H.R. 4866; to the 
     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

                          Senate Resolve No. 8

       Whereas the United States once was largely self-sufficient 
     in rare earth elements; and
       Whereas mineable concentrations of rare earth elements are 
     not commonly found; and
       Whereas rare earth elements are exceptionally valuable 
     because of their unique chemical, electrical, and physical 
     properties; and
       Whereas the unique chemical, electrical, and physical 
     properties of rare earth elements make them indispensable for 
     a wide variety of emerging critical technologies, and, in 
     particular, technologies needed for defense and clean energy 
     applications; and
       Whereas the United States has become almost entirely 
     dependent on foreign sources of yttrium, niobium, and rare 
     earth elements, as well as associated elements of tantalum 
     and zirconium; and
       Whereas dysprosium and terbium are among the scarcest, most 
     valuable, and most sought after rare earth metals needed for 
     green technology and military applications; and
       Whereas the value-added technology and skill to allow both 
     the recovery of rare earth elements from mineral forms in ore 
     and the manufacture of finished products, such as magnets, 
     from rare earth elements has almost entirely migrated to 
     China, as has the actual mining of rare earth ores; and
       Whereas China currently accounts for 97 percent of the 
     world's production of rare earth elements; and
       Whereas China has reduced its exports of rare earth 
     elements; and
       Whereas a future in which manufacturing of wind turbines, 
     solar panels, advanced batteries, and geothermal steam 
     turbines are produced only outside of the United States poses 
     a risk to the country; and
       Whereas, after extraction of rare earth ores, processing, 
     refining, and production are needed to provide the United 
     States with self-reliance in these technologies; and
       Whereas, in contrast to rare earth element deposits found 
     elsewhere in the United States, Bokan Mountain discoveries on 
     the southern end of Prince of Wales Island are rich in the 
     heavy rare earth elements of europium, gadolinium, terbium, 
     dysprosium, thulium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, 
     and yttrium; and
       Whereas continued exploration, together with the 
     establishment of secondary processing and research facilities 
     in Alaska, would result in new career opportunities for 
     Alaskans; and
       Whereas current economic opportunities on Prince of Wales 
     Island and throughout Alaska have significantly decreased; 
     and
       Whereas the federal Tongass National Forest Land and 
     Resource Management Plan has been completed and the Bokan 
     Mountain area zoned for mineral development; and
       Whereas the state's Prince of Wales Island Area Plan has 
     been completed and the Kendrick Bay area classified for 
     mineral and forestry access and development; and
       Whereas overland access and transport requirements in the 
     Tongass National Forest are mitigated by immediate access to 
     the mining property by ocean transport; and
       Whereas H.R. 4866 has been introduced in the United States 
     Congress to reestablish a competitive domestic rare earth 
     elements production industry, a domestic rare earth 
     processing, refining, purification, and metals production 
     industry, a domestic rare earth metals alloying industry, and 
     a domestic rare earth-based magnet production industry and 
     supply chain in the United States; Be it
       Resolved, That the Senate urges the United States Congress 
     expeditiously to pass H.R. 4866; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Senate recommends continued exploration 
     of rare earth deposits in Alaska, the issuance of permits, as 
     promptly as allowed by law, for extraction, processing, and 
     production of rare earth materials on the Bokan Mountain 
     properties, and commencement of planning for extraction, 
     processing, and production of rare earth materials by 
     industry.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Ike Skelton, Chair of the Armed Services Committee of the 
     U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Sander M. Levin, 
     Acting Chair of the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. 
     House of Representatives; the Honorable Barney Frank, Chair 
     of the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 
     Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don 
     Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation 
     in Congress; and all other members of the 111th United States 
     Congress.

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