[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H2264-H2265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CRITICAL MINERALS ARE THE BACKBONE OF OUR COUNTRY

  (Mr. Wittman of Virginia was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight the importance 
of critical minerals. They are the backbone of our economy, but the 
U.S. has ceded supply chain dominance to China, our primary adversary.
  In recent decades, China has overtaken the United States and our 
allies in production, processing, and smelting of critical minerals. 
Take rare earth elements, for example. Rare earths, a type of critical 
mineral, are crucial inputs into various consumer technologies, 
including smartphones, laptops, batteries, and cars.
  China controls 70 percent of rare earth mining, 90 percent of rare 
earth separation and processing, and 93 percent of rare earth magnet 
production.
  They exercise their monopoly in two ways: first, by dumping their 
product onto the global market to deliberately undercut U.S. producers; 
and second, by threatening to cut off our access to their exports, as 
they recently did in October of 2025.

[[Page H2265]]

  We have outsourced our supply chains to them, allowing them to engage 
in unfair trade practices that put our Nation's strategic and economic 
security at great risk.
  The Trump administration has long recognized the threat China poses 
to our critical mineral supply chains and has taken bold actions that I 
applaud. Additionally, I have introduced several pieces of legislation 
that will help counter China's threat.
  In January, I introduced the SECURE Minerals Act, which is aimed at 
supporting domestic critical mineral supply chains. The SECURE Minerals 
Act would establish a Strategic Resilience Reserve that would be tasked 
with stabilizing critical mineral prices and supporting domestic 
production and extraction supply chains.
  The Strategic Resilience Reserve established under this bill would 
send a signal to the private sector that the United States Government 
is ready to take action, ultimately aggregating demand, stabilizing 
mineral prices, and reshoring critical advanced manufacturing.
  We cannot counter China's choke hold on the global mineral 
marketplace alone. If we are to break their monopoly, we have to 
coordinate with our allies. I have also introduced the Finding ORE Act, 
which would enable the administration to work in coordination with our 
allies to map critical mineral research around the globe.
  Madam Speaker, the time is now to act to save our future. Our 
economic and national security depend on it.


                     Protecting Our Marine Wildlife

  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, recently the House Committee on Natural 
Resources voted favorably to report H.R. 4294, the Mitigation Action 
and Watermen Support Act, better known as the MAWS Act. It is an effort 
I co-led with Congresswoman Elfreth.
  Having grown up on the Chesapeake Bay, I understand how important it 
is to protect our marine wildlife and restore the Bay's ecosystem. 
Since their introduction, the blue catfish have become an invasive 
species, posing a growing threat to the biodiversity of the region's 
waters and inflicting severe economic damage to seafood industries that 
rely on the Bay.
  This legislation aims to direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration through its existing Chesapeake Bay office to coordinate 
with non-Federal partners to accelerate the removal of invasive blue 
catfish from the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
  This effort will incentivize the harvest and sale of blue catfish, 
while providing valuable data for future efforts to combat invasive 
species in our waterways.
  I would be remiss if I didn't thank Representative Elfreth for her 
work on this effort, as well as her staff member, Allie.
  I also thank the House Natural Resources Committee staff. They 
include Richie, Kirby, Doug, Jackson, and Hannah on the majority and 
Rachel on the minority staff.
  Finally, I thank the many stakeholders who have helped in 
understanding the issues and supporting this legislative effort 
including the National Fisheries Institute, the Pet Food Institute, and 
the American Sportfishing Association, among many others.
  Madam Speaker, I look forward to seeing the full House consideration 
of this important bill very soon.

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