[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 22, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5276-S5277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 3521. A bill to provide for the reestablishment of a domestic rare 
earths materials production and supply industry in the United States, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
in the Senate to help the United States minerals industry resume 
production of rare earths in this country. These metals are 
increasingly important to our military, strategic, and economic 
priorities due to their use in clean energy technologies and many other 
high-tech applications.
  For many years the United States was a leader in the mining and 
processing of rare earths--a group of 17 elements that, while 
widespread in nature, are difficult to find in concentration, extract 
from the earth, and process for commercial use. Rare earths are 
increasingly vital to a host of modern defense technologies, from radar 
and sonar systems to weapons systems and advanced lasers. They are 
essential to the production of clean energy technologies, including 
advanced batteries, electric motors, high-efficiency light bulbs, solar 
panels, and wind turbines.
  The U.S. is estimated to contain 15 percent of the world's rare earth 
reserves, but with the closure of the nation's only operating rare 
earth mine at Mountain Pass, CA, America has become dependent upon 
China for imports of nearly all rare earths, oxides, and alloys. In 
fact, China now produces 97 percent of the world's rare earth supply.
  More importantly, China recently moved to implement rules announced 
in March that will cut production and exportation of rare earths in an 
effort to raise world prices for the minerals. While the world demand 
for rare earths tripled to 120,000 tons per year over the past decade, 
China announced on June 2nd that it will stop issuing new domestic 
licenses for rare earth production and cap production at 89,200 tons 
for this year. As a result, only 35,000 tons of rare earths will be 
exported annually over the next five years, on average.
  These actions may work out well for China, but they will harm the 
United States. Fortunately, we can do something about it. Rather than 
sit on our hands while China corners the market on these strategic 
minerals, we can and should pursue timely production of the rare earth 
supplies that exist within our own borders.
  Efforts are currently underway to reopen Molycorp Minerals' 
California mine and Ucore Uranium is continuing exploration of a large 
rare earth deposit found near Bokan Mountain in Alaska, about 37 miles 
from Ketchikan. Ucore's new Alaska subsidiary, Rare Earth One LLC, has 
been working to study the deposit on Dotson Ridge at Bokan Mountain 
since 2007. The U.S. Bureau of Mines more than 20 years ago estimated 
the site contains at least 374 million pounds of recoverable rare 
earths, which is more than enough to break China's stranglehold on the 
market and protect America's access to the rare earths that are vital 
to the production of cutting-edge technologies in this country.
  So what should we be doing to reestablish domestic rare earth? My 
answer is a companion measure to legislation introduced earlier this 
spring in the House by Rep. Mike Coffman, a fellow Republican from 
Colorado. My bill would establish it as the policy of the

[[Page S5277]]

United States to take appropriate actions to increase investment in, 
exploration for, and development of domestic rare earths. To do that it 
would require--under the leadership of the Secretary of the Interior--
the Secretaries of Energy, Agriculture, Defense, Commerce, and State 
along with the Director of OMB and the Chairman of CEQ to expedite 
permitting, review supply chains, and consider strategic stockpiling of 
rare earths. The bill would also provide the rare earth industry with 
access to federal loan guarantee programs meant to advance clean energy 
technologies.
  There is a great deal of emphasis on the need for expansion of clean 
energy manufacturing in the United States. Promises of ``green jobs'' 
abound, but they will only be realized if American industries have 
access to the raw materials needed to produce these new technologies. 
This legislation represents an important first step in our efforts to 
grow domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies. The bill will 
also help to create more jobs in America's minerals industry, where 
firms provide good, high-wage jobs and pay taxes that will help to 
reduce our deficit. Furthermore, decreasing our reliance on foreign 
minerals will reduce our balance of payments deficit and strengthen 
national security.
  I hope this bill advances quickly, and I encourage my colleagues to 
join as cosponsors of the measure. We have an ambitious agenda given 
the small amount of time that remains in the current Congress, but 
there is too much at stake for our military strength and our clean 
energy goals to ignore the problems we have in accessing affordable and 
secure supplies of rare earths.
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