I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3567 

To modify the requirements relating to the acquisition and disposal of certain 

rare earth materials, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself and Mr. COOK) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To modify the requirements relating to the acquisition and 

disposal of certain rare earth materials, 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 ‘‘Securing Americas 

5 Rare Earths Supply Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION AND DISPOSAL OF CERTAIN RARE 

7 EARTH MATERIALS. 

8 (a) GUIDANCE ON STREAMLINED ACQUISITION OF

9 RARE EARTH MATERIALS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and 

4 Sustainment, in consultation with the Under Sec5 retary of Defense (Comptroller), the Vice Chairman 

6 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the appropriate 

7 Under Secretary of State designated by the Sec8 retary of State shall establish guidance to— 

9 (A) enable the acquisition of items con10 taining rare earth materials; and 

11 (B) establish a secure supply chain for 

12 rare earth materials from sources within the 

13 United States and covered foreign sources. 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The guidance required by 

15 paragraph (1) shall encourage the use of rare earth 

16 materials mined, refined, processed, melted, or sin17 tered in the United States and include— 

18 (A) a determination of when best value 

19 contracting methods should be used to ensure 

20 the viability of a rare earth material supplier; 

21 (B) a guide to the applicability of relevant 

22 statutes, including sections 2533b and 2533c of 

23 title 10, United States Code, and other statu24 tory or regulatory restrictions to defense con25 tracts and subcontracts; 


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1 (C) information on current sources within 

2 the United States and covered foreign sources 

3 of rare earth materials along with commonly 

4 used commercial documentation and review 

5 processes; 

6 (D) directives on budgeting and expending 

7 funds for the qualification and certification of 

8 suppliers of rare earth materials within the 

9 United States to meet national security needs; 

10 and 

11 (E) any exceptions to the Joint Capabili12 ties Integration and Development System Man13 ual and Department of Defense Directive 

14 5000.01. 

15 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 

17 Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustain18 ment, in consultation with the appropriate Under 

19 Secretary of State designated by the Secretary of 

20 State, shall submit to the congressional defense com21 mittees, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

22 House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

23 Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on— 

24 (A) the guidance required by paragraph 

25 (1); and 


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1 (B) the efforts of the Secretary of Defense 

2 to create and maintain secure supply chain for 

3 rare earth materials from sources within the 

4 United States and covered foreign sources. 

5 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

6 (A) COVERED FOREIGN SOURCE.—The 

7 term ‘‘covered foreign source’’ means a source 

8 located in a foreign country that is not an ad9 versary of the United States, as determined by 

10 the Secretary of Defense. 

11 (B) RARE EARTH MATERIAL.—The term 

12 ‘‘rare earth material’’ means a concentrate, 

13 oxide, carbonate, fluoride, metal, alloy, magnet, 

14 or finished product whose chemical, magnetic, 

15 or nuclear properties are largely defined by the 

16 presence of— 

17 (i) yttrium; 

18 (ii) scandium; or 

19 (iii) any lanthanide series element. 

20 (b) AUTHORITY TO DISPOSE OF AND ACQUIRE MA21 TERIALS FOR THE NATIONAL DEFENSE STOCKPILE.— 

22 (1) DISPOSAL AUTHORITY.—Pursuant to sec23 tion 5(b) of the Strategic and Critical Materials 

24 Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 98d(b)), the National 

25 Defense Stockpile Manager shall dispose of 


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1 3,000,000 pounds of tungsten ores and concentrates 

2 contained in the National Defense Stockpile (in ad3 dition to any amount previously authorized for dis4 posal). 

5 (2) ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.— 

6 (A) AUTHORITY.—Using funds available in 

7 the National Defense Stockpile Transaction 

8 Fund, the National Defense Stockpile Manager 

9 may acquire the following materials determined 

10 to be strategic and critical materials required to 

11 meet the defense, industrial, and essential civil12 ian needs of the United States: 

13 (i) Aerospace-grade rayon. 

14 (ii) Electrolytic manganese metal. 

15 (iii) Pitch-based carbon fiber. 

16 (iv) Rare earth cerium compounds. 

17 (v) Rare earth lanthanum compounds. 

18 (B) AMOUNT OF AUTHORITY.—The Na19 tional Defense Stockpile Manager may use up 

20 to $37,420,000 in the National Defense Stock21 pile Transaction Fund for acquisition of the 

22 materials specified in subsection (b). 

23 (C) FISCAL YEAR LIMITATION.—The au24 thority under subsection (b) is available for purVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3567.IH H3567

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1 chases during fiscal year 2020 through fiscal 

2 year 2024. 

3 (c) NATIONAL DEFENSE STOCKPILE SALES.— 

4 (1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

5 Congress that tantalum should be designated as a 

6 strategic and critical material under the Strategic 

7 and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. 

8 98 et seq.) required to meet the defense, industrial, 

9 and essential civilian needs of the United States. 

10 (2) NATIONAL DEFENSE STOCKPILE SALES OF

11 TANTALUM.—Section 2533c(d)(1) of title 10, United 

12 States code, is amended— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (C) adding at the end the following new 

18 subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(E) tantalum.’’. 

20 (3) PROHIBITION ON SALES OF MATERIALS.— 

21 Section 2533c(a)(2) of title 10, United States Code, 

22 is amended by striking ‘‘covered’’ before ‘‘material’’. 

Æ 


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