II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5195 

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, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2022 

Mr. ROMNEY (for himself and Mr. SULLIVAN) 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, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Critical Mineral Inde5 pendence Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ALLIED COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘allied coun2 try’’ means— 

3 (A) a country of the national technology 

4 and industrial base, as defined in section 4801 

5 of title 10, United States Code; or 

6 (B) another country that is an ally of the 

7 United States and is identified by the Secretary 

8 of Defense for purposes of this Act. 

9 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON10 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con11 gress’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

13 Resources, the Committee on Armed Services, 

14 the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the 

15 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

16 Affairs of the Senate; and 

17 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources, 

18 the Committee on Armed Services, the Com19 mittee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee 

20 on Financial Services of the House of Rep21 resentatives. 

22 (3) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘‘critical 

23 mineral’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

24 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 

25 1606(a)). 


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1 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 It is the policy of the United States— 

3 (1) to expand mining and processing of critical 

4 minerals, including rare earth elements, in the 

5 United States and in allied countries to meet the 

6 needs of the United States defense sector so that the 

7 Department of Defense will achieve critical mineral 

8 supply chain independence by 2027; 

9 (2) that the Department of Defense will pro10 cure critical minerals processed by the United States 

11 and allied countries to replenish and expand the Na12 tional Defense Stockpile to meet growing geopolitical 

13 threats by 2027; and 

14 (3) to develop critical mineral supply chains for 

15 the Department of Defense that are not dependent 

16 on mining or processing of critical minerals in coun17 tries that are geostrategic competitors or adversaries 

18 of the United States. 

19 SEC. 4. REPORT ON UNITED STATES AND ALLIED PROC20 ESSING OF CRITICAL MINERALS REQUIRED 

21 TO ACHIEVE DEFENSE SUPPLY CHAIN INDE22 PENDENCE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 

25 of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall submit 

26 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the 


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1 processing by the United States and allied countries of 

2 critical minerals, including rare earth elements, required 

3 to achieve supply chain independence for the United 

4 States Armed Forces and allied countries by 2027. 

5 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

6 (a) shall include the following: 

7 (1) An estimate of the annual demand for proc8 essed critical minerals for the United States Armed 

9 Forces and allied countries. 

10 (2) An outline of the necessary processed crit11 ical minerals value chain required to support the 

12 needs of the Department of Defense. 

13 (3) An assessment of any gaps in the outline 

14 described in paragraph (2), indicating where suffi15 cient United States processing capacity exists and 

16 where such capacity does not exist. 

17 (4) An identification of any Federal funds, in18 cluding any funds made available under title III of 

19 the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 

20 4531 et seq.), being deployed, as of the date of the 

21 report, to support development of United States ca22 pacity to address those gaps. 

23 (5) An estimate of the additional capital invest24 ment required to grow and operate sufficient United 

25 States capacity to address those gaps. 


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1 (6) An estimate of the annual funding nec2 essary for the Department of Defense to procure 

3 critical minerals processed in the United States suf4 ficient to meet the annual needs of the Department, 

5 including consideration of increased investments 

6 from private sector capital. 

7 (7) An estimate of the cost difference between 

8 the Department of Defense— 

9 (A) sourcing critical minerals processed by 

10 the United States; 

11 (B) sourcing critical minerals processed by 

12 allied countries; and 

13 (C) sourcing critical minerals on the open 

14 market. 

15 (8) An assessment of what changes, if any, are 

16 necessary to the acquisition policies of the Depart17 ment of Defense to ensure weapon suppliers use crit18 ical minerals processed by the United States or al19 lied countries. 

20 (9) An assessment of what changes, if any, to 

21 authorities under title III of the Defense Production 

22 Act of 1950 are necessary to enter into a long-term 

23 offtake agreement with respect to critical minerals 

24 processed by the United States or allied countries. 


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1 (10) An assessment of the duration of potential 

2 contracts necessary to prevent the collapse of United 

3 States processing of critical minerals in the event of 

4 price fluctuations resulting from increases in the ex5 port quota of the People’s Republic of China. 

6 (11) Recommendations for international co7 operation with allied countries to jointly reduce de8 pendence on critical minerals processed in or by the 

9 People’s Republic of China. 

10 SEC. 5. STRATEGY TO TRANSITION THE SUPPLY CHAIN FOR 

11 THE NATIONAL DEFENSE STOCKPILE TO 

12 UNITED STATES AND ALLIED-PROCESSED 

13 CRITICAL MINERALS BY 2027. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

15 report required by section 4 is submitted, the Director of 

16 the Defense Logistics Agency, in coordination with the 

17 Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and 

18 Sustainment, shall develop, and submit to the appropriate 

19 committees of Congress, a strategy to transition the sup20 ply chain for critical minerals, including rare earths ele21 ments, in the National Defense Stockpile away from reli22 ance on geostrategic competitors and adversaries of the 

23 United States by 2027, through acquisition of critical min24 erals processed by— 


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1 (1) the United States, with a preference given 

2 to critical minerals processed in the United States; 

3 or 

4 (2) allied countries (excluding critical minerals 

5 processed in a country that is a geostrategic compet6 itor or adversary of the United States), with pref7 erence given to critical minerals processed in such 

8 countries. 

9 (b) FORECASTED NEED OF CRITICAL MINERALS.— 

10 The strategy required by subsection (a) shall be designed 

11 to meet the forecasted need for critical minerals of the 

12 Department of Defense through calendar year 2027 for— 

13 (1) planned procurements; 

14 (2) anticipated adoption of emerging tech15 nology; and 

16 (3) potential increases in the National Defense 

17 Stockpile that would be needed if the Department 

18 implements the guidance included in the Climate Ad19 aptation Action Plan of the Department of Defense, 

20 dated September 2021. 

21 (c) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by subsection 

22 (a) shall include the following: 

23 (1) A list of critical minerals in the National 

24 Defense Stockpile. 


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1 (2) A priority ranking for transitioning the crit2 ical minerals on the list required by paragraph (1), 

3 developed using, for each such mineral— 

4 (A) the percentage of the mineral proc5 essed by foreign sources (excluding allied coun6 tries); 

7 (B) the percentage of operational proc8 essing facilities for the mineral located in the 

9 United States and in allied countries, compared 

10 to foreign sources of the mineral (excluding al11 lied countries); 

12 (C) the quantity of the mineral required to 

13 fulfill the purposes set forth in section 2 of the 

14 Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling 

15 Act (50 U.S.C. 98a); and 

16 (D) any other metric, as determined by the 

17 Director and the Under Secretary, that may be 

18 an indicator of reliance on foreign sources (ex19 cluding allied countries) for the mineral. 

20 (3) A process to replenish 50 percent of each 

21 mineral on the list required by paragraph (1) with 

22 the mineral processed by United States or allied 

23 country processors during the 1-year period after 

24 implementation of the strategy. 


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1 (4) A process to replenish 95 percent of each 

2 mineral on the list required by paragraph (1) with 

3 the mineral processed by United States or allied 

4 country processors during the 3-year period after 

5 implementation of the strategy. 

6 (5) Recommendations to Congress with respect 

7 to any authorities needed to implement the strategy. 

8 (6) Any other matters related to implementing 

9 the strategy as the Director and the Under Sec10 retary consider appropriate. 

11 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Director and the Under 

12 Secretary shall— 

13 (1) coordinate the implementation of the proc14 esses required by paragraphs (3) and (4) of sub15 section (c) with the Department of Defense and ac16 tivities carried out by the Department under title III 

17 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 

18 4531 et seq.); and 

19 (2) to the greatest extent practicable, imple20 ment the strategy required by subsection (a) with re21 spect to acquisition of critical minerals for the Na22 tional Defense Stockpile with funds authorized to be 

23 appropriated under section 7. 

24 (e) BRIEFINGS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the submission of the strategy required by subsection 


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1 (a), and every 180 days thereafter, the Director and the 

2 Under Secretary shall brief the appropriate committees of 

3 Congress on implementation of the strategy. 

4 SEC. 6. FORM OF REPORT AND STRATEGY. 

5 The report required by section 4 and the strategy re6 quired by section 5 shall be submitted in classified form 

7 but shall include an unclassified summary. 

8 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Na10 tional Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund $1,003,500 for 

11 the acquisition of strategic and critical minerals under sec12 tion 6(a) of the Strategic and Critical Minerals Stock Pil13 ing Act (50 U.S.C. 98e(a)). 

Æ 


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