House Natural Resources Committee to Vote on H.R. 4402 Wednesday!

The United States ranked last, tied with Papua New Guinea, in mine permitting delays.  Duplicative regulations, bureaucratic inefficiency, and lack of coordination between federal agencies are threatening the economic recovery of the U.S. and jeopardizing our national security. Decade-long permitting delays are standing in the way of creating high-paying jobs and producing tax revenue for local communities. This bill would streamline the permitting process to leverage our nation's vast mineral resources, while also paying due respect to economic and environmental concerns.

Critical and strategic minerals are fundamental components of thousands of products ranging from cell phones, computers, solar panels, wind turbines, building materials and motor vehicles to personal hygiene products and office supplies.  Currently, the United States is almost 100 percent reliant on foreign countries such as China for certain critical and strategic minerals. Similar to the United State's dependence on foreign energy, America's reliance on foreign critical and strategic minerals weakens our national security and sends billions of dollars and high-paying jobs overseas.