[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 23, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 5948. Mr. BENNET submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle E of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1050. REPORT ON CRITICAL MINERALS FOR USE BY DEPARTMENT 
                   OF DEFENSE.

       Not later than October 1, 2026, the Secretary of Defense 
     shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the 
     Senate and the House of Representatives a report that 
     includes--
       (1) for each mineral on the most recent list of critical 
     minerals required by section 7002(c) of the Energy Act of 
     2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c))--
       (A) an assessment of whether the mineral is an input 
     required for production of a material integral to the defense 
     industrial base;
       (B) a description of the geographical dispersion of 
     deposits of the mineral, refining and processing facilities 
     for the mineral, and recycling facilities for the mineral; 
     and
       (C) an assessment of the potential for byproduct recovery 
     of the mineral at existing mines by foreign countries, with 
     particular attention to portions of the supply chain that are 
     concentrated in countries of concern such as the People's 
     Republic of China;
       (2) a description of strategic investments, loans and loan 
     guarantees, procurement policy reforms, grants, and other 
     methods available to the Secretary to accelerate materials 
     science, extraction and processing technologies, recycling, 
     and tailing and byproduct recovery of critical minerals in 
     the United States, and development of a mining workforce in 
     the United States, to reduce the dependence of the Department 
     of Defense on the People's Republic of China or other 
     countries of concern;
       (3) an assessment of opportunities for strategic 
     international partnerships to increase the security of supply 
     chains for critical minerals; and
       (4) an assessment of opportunities for the Secretary to 
     maximize recycling of decommissioned military waste to obtain 
     critical materials.
                                 ______