Goodyear, AZ – Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-09), Chairman, House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, issued the following statement after hosting Members of Congress for a site visit and a field hearing before a packed audience to discuss the importance of accessing American critical minerals in order to secure supply chains and ensure national security:
“Minerals are integral to our modern way of life. Rapid growth in renewable energy technologies is expected to drive mineral demand up by several orders of magnitude, exacerbated by the irrational goals pledged by the Biden administration.
Today, the United States has an alarming reliance on foreign nations to meet our demand for minerals. Disturbingly, China controls nearly two-thirds of the world’s critical mineral supply and is the largest source of imports for 26 of the 50 minerals classified as critical by the U.S. government.
Sadly, the Biden administration is hellbent on stopping mining in this country, including Arizona. Despite the exponential demand for minerals and America’s dangerous reliance on China for minerals, recent actions from the Biden administration have shut down domestic mining projects and severely limited America’s capacity to meet the demands of increased renewable energy sources and the challenges posed by China’s mineral dominance. The anti-mining actions by the Biden administration hurt America’s economy, threaten our national security, and push mineral production abroad.
Today’s field hearing exposed the irrationality of the Biden administration and highlighted the access to minerals we have here in America, particularly in the Southwest, if only our federal bureaucracy could get out of the way. I would like to thank all those who attended. I appreciate Mr. Misael Cabrera, Mr. James Carlson, Mr. Steve Crim, Mr. Jeremey Harrell and Mr. Craig Wiita for their important testimony and sincerely thank Vice Chairman Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and U.S. Representatives Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) and Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) for participating in today’s hearing,” stated Congressman Gosar.
To learn more about the witnesses and their testimony or to watch the full hearing, click here.
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