Click here to watch ranking member Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), delivered the following remarks at a full committee hearing. The purpose of this hearing is to examine opportunities to counter the People’s Republic of China’s control of critical mineral supply chains through increased mining and processing in the United States as well as international engagement and trade.

The hearing featured testimony from the The Honorable Tommy P. Beaudreau, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior; Dr. Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman, S&P Global; and Mr. Mark Compton, Executive Director, American Exploration & Mining Association.

For more information on witness testimony click here.

Senator Barrasso’s remarks: 

“Well thanks so much Mr. Chairman on your very strong statement on the importance of the hearing today and why we’re holding the hearing.

“Because as a nation, I agree with you Mr. Chairman, we are highly dependent on imports of critical minerals and materials.

“Many of the countries that supply these resources are adversaries and they clearly as you said do not share our values.

“A Biden administration official went so far as to call our mineral dependence a ‘clear and present danger’ – and he met with members of this committee just last week, as we sat around and discussed the concerns that we share.

“That’s one of the few statements from this administration that I agree with.

“Because the projected mineral demand is increasing in an amount that is well-known to all of us and it doesn’t seem to be understood by the administration.

“The world demand for copper is expected to increase by 300 percent by 2040.

“The Economist last week had an article about this. Where are you going to go for the copper? This administration has shut down a copper mine in Northern Minnesota – so where are they going to go?

“The Economist pointed out in their article – well there is this place between Iran and Pakistan that we can go to get the copper when we need and the demand is up by 300 percent.

“Nickel demand is expected to increase by 1,900 percent.

“Graphite demand is expected to increase by 2,500 percent.

“Lithium demand to increase by 4,200 percent.

“Much of this demand has been generated from President Biden’s policies compelling, mandating the use of electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines.

“The United States depends on imports for the vast majority of the minerals used in these products.

“China is a top producer of lithium and rare earth elements.

“The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a major producer of cobalt and copper.

“And Indonesia produces nearly half of the world’s nickel.

“These nations don’t share our values.

“China ruthlessly exploits a religious and ethnic minority as a source of forced labor in its mining industry.

“The Congo has tens of thousands of children mining cobalt.

“Indonesia is clear cutting vast areas of its tropical rainforest to access its nickel reserves.

“No moral or ethical sacrifice, including slavery and child labor, seems to be too great for Joe Biden’s so-called “green transition.”

“America’s dependence on foreign minerals is not only shameful and reckless, is unnecessary.

“We have more of the resources we need right here at home, including copper, including lithium, including nickel, graphite, and cobalt.

“Yet the Biden administration’s boneheaded policies make it nearly impossible to access them.

“Recently, Mr. Chairman, scientists reported that the United States may be home to the largest known lithium deposit in the world.

“In fact, our nation’s lithium reserves are estimated to be more than three times larger than China’s. 

“Yet China’s lithium production was 27 times larger than ours.

“You can see it on this chart. Look at these comparisons. Where we get things from and where they exist.

“The two bar graphs show lithium production and lithium reserves listed by country. We are number two in terms of availability and China is number three in terms of production.

“Even compared to countries with robust environmental standards, we are laggards.

“Australia has less than half of our reserves, but it produces 88 times more lithium than we do.

“This is ridiculous and it is unacceptable.

“The Biden administration seems gleefully intent on keeping us dependent on foreign minerals.

“It senselessly revoked leases for a project in Minnesota that would have produced nickel and cobalt for electric vehicle batteries.

“It carelessly revoked approval of a road in Alaska that is needed to develop copper.

“It recklessly delayed a land exchange necessary for a copper mine in Arizona.

“And it foolishly proposed withdrawing 10 million acres from mineral development across six states in the west, including Wyoming.

“If it weren’t enough, the Biden administration recently issued recommendations that would make it even harder to mine on federal lands.

“There is an Interagency Working Group – and it’s headed by Mr. Beaudreau and he’s one of our witnesses today – and the working group wants to fundamentally change the mining claim system.

“It wants to add new fees and propose more authority for the administration to withdraw lands from mineral production.

“Since many of our nation’s mineral resources are on federal lands, the Group’s recommendations will mean less – not more – mineral production here in the United States.

“And more dependence on our enemies.

“It’s a disgrace.

“I’ve said before: Biden’s agenda is not a transition from fossil fuels to sunshine and wind.

“It’s a transition from American energy to foreign minerals.

“It is transition from American strength and independence to American weakness and dependence.

“We must change the reckless course that we are on.

“We have abundant mineral and energy resources here at home.

“We only need an administration with the courage and commonsense to use them.

“Thank you Mr. Chairman.”