Critical Mineral Independence Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2031 To strengthen the national security of the United States by decreasing the reliance of the Department of Defense on critical minerals from the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, and other geostrategic competitors and adversaries of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 15, 2023 Mr. ROMNEY (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To strengthen the national security of the United States by decreasing the reliance of the Department of Defense on critical minerals from the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, and other geostrategic competitors and adversaries of the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2031.IS S2031 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2031 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Critical Mineral Inde- 2 pendence Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE CRITICAL MINERAL SUPPLY 4 CHAIN INDEPENDENCE FOR THE DEPART- 5 MENT OF DEFENSE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 8 of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall submit 9 to the appropriate committees of Congress a strategy to 10 develop supply chains for the Department of Defense that 11 are not dependent on mining or processing of critical min- 12 erals in or by covered countries, in order to achieve critical 13 mineral supply chain independence from covered countries 14 for the Department by 2035. 15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by subsection 16 (a) shall— 17 (1) identify and assess significant vulnerabilities 18 in the supply chains of contractors and subcontrac- 19 tors of the Department of Defense involving critical 20 minerals that are mined or processed in or by cov- 21 ered countries; 22 (2) identify and recommend changes to the ac- 23 quisition laws, regulations, and policies of the De- 24 partment of Defense to ensure contractors and sub- 25 contractors of the Department use supply chains in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2031.IS S2031 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2031 IS volving critical minerals that are not mined or proc- 1 essed in or by covered countries to the greatest ex- 2 tent practicable; 3 (3) evaluate the utility and desirability of using 4 authorities provided by the Defense Production Act 5 of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) to expand supply 6 chains and processing capacity for critical minerals 7 in the United States; 8 (4) evaluate the utility and desirability of ex- 9 panding authorities provided by the Defense Produc- 10 tion Act of 1950 to be used to expand supply chains 11 and processing capacity for critical minerals by 12 countries that are allies or partners of the United 13 States; 14 (5) evaluate the utility and desirability of 15 leveraging the process for acquiring shortfall mate- 16 rials for the National Defense Stockpile under the 17 Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 18 U.S.C. 98 et seq.) to expand supply chains and proc- 19 essing capacity for critical minerals in the United 20 States and in countries that are allies or partners of 21 the United States; 22 (6) identify areas of potential engagement and 23 partnership with the governments of countries that 24 are allies or partners of the United States to jointly 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2031.IS S2031 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2031 IS reduce dependence on critical minerals mined or 1 processed in or by covered countries; 2 (7) identify and recommend other policy 3 changes that may be needed to achieve critical min- 4 eral supply chain independence from covered coun- 5 tries for the Department; 6 (8) identify and recommend measures to 7 streamline authorities and policies with respect to 8 critical minerals and supply chains for critical min- 9 erals; and 10 (9) prioritize the recommendations made in the 11 strategy to achieve critical mineral supply chain 12 independence from covered countries for the Depart- 13 ment, taking into consideration economic costs and 14 varying degrees of vulnerability posed to the national 15 security of the United States by reliance on different 16 types of critical minerals. 17 (c) FORM OF STRATEGY.—The strategy required by 18 subsection (a) shall be submitted in classified form but 19 shall include an unclassified summary. 20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 22 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 23 gress’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2031.IS S2031 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2031 IS (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 1 the Senate; and 2 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 3 the House of Representatives. 4 (2) COVERED COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘covered 5 country’’ means— 6 (A) a covered nation, as defined in section 7 4872, title 10, United States Code; and 8 (B) any other country determined by the 9 Secretary of Defense to be a geostrategic com- 10 petitor or adversary of the United States for 11 purposes of this Act. 12 (3) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘‘critical 13 mineral’’ means a critical mineral (as defined in sec- 14 tion 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 15 1606(a))) that the Secretary of Defense determines 16 to be important to the national security of the 17 United States for purposes of this Act. 18 (4) SHORTFALL MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘short- 19 fall material’’ means materials determined to be in 20 shortfall in the most recent report on stockpile re- 21 quirements submitted to Congress under subsection 22 (a) of section 14 of the Strategic and Critical Mate- 23 rials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98h–5) and in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2031.IS S2031 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2031 IS cluded in the most recent briefing required by sub- 1 section (f) of that section. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2031.IS S2031 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS