II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3525 

To encourage the extraction and processing of rare earth metals in the 

United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 19 (legislative day, JANUARY 18), 2022 

Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To encourage the extraction and processing of rare earth 

metals in the United States, 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 ‘‘Restoring Essential 

5 Energy and Security Holdings Onshore for Rare Earths 

6 Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘REEShore Act of 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

5 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Com6 mittee on Finance, and the Select Committee 

7 on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

9 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 

10 on Ways and Means, and the Permanent Select 

11 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep12 resentatives. 

13 (2) PROCESSED OR REFINED.—The term ‘‘proc14 essed or refined’’ means any process by which raw 

15 rare earth metals are changed, mixed, or otherwise 

16 manipulated to render the metal usable for manufac17 turing everyday items, including computer chips or 

18 circuit boards. 

19 (3) RARE EARTH METALS.—The term ‘‘rare 

20 earth metals’’ means beryllium, cerium, cobalt, dys21 prosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, graphite, 

22 holmium, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, manganese, 

23 neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, 

24 scandium, tantalum, terbium, thulium, tungsten, yt25 terbium, and yttrium. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGIC RARE EARTH 

2 METAL AND RARE EARTH METAL PRODUCTS 

3 RESERVE. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the storage of 

5 substantial quantities of rare earth metals and rare earth 

6 metal products will— 

7 (1) diminish the vulnerability of the United 

8 States to the effects of a severe supply chain inter9 ruption; and 

10 (2) provide limited protection from the short11 term consequences of an interruption in supplies of 

12 rare earth metal products, particularly such prod13 ucts required for defense manufacturing and use. 

14 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

15 United States to provide for the establishment of a stra16 tegic rare earth metals and rare earth metal products re17 serve. 

18 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Defense 

22 shall jointly submit the appropriate congressional 

23 committees a report describing— 

24 (A) the strategic requirements of the 

25 United States regarding stockpiles of rare earth 


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1 metals and processed and refined rare earth 

2 metal products; and 

3 (B) the requirements for such metals and 

4 products to support the United States for one 

5 year in the event of a supply disruption. 

6 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the re7 port required by paragraph (1), the Secretary of the 

8 Interior and the Secretary of Defense shall take into 

9 consideration the needs of the Armed Forces of the 

10 United States, the defense industrial and technology 

11 sectors, and any places, organizations, physical in12 frastructure, or digital infrastructure designated as 

13 critical to the national security of the United States. 

14 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 3 years after 

15 submission of the report required by subsection (c), the 

16 Secretary of the Interior shall take such actions as are 

17 necessary to procure all types of rare earth metals and 

18 processed and refined rare earth metal products in appro19 priate quantities to support the strategic requirements de20 scribed in the report. 

21 (e) REASSESSMENT OF REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec22 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Defense shall— 

23 (1) jointly reassess the strategic requirements 

24 described in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) and the 


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1 considerations described in paragraph (2) of that 

2 subsection; and 

3 (2) not less frequently than annually, submit to 

4 the appropriate congressional committees a report 

5 on— 

6 (A) that reassessment; and 

7 (B) describing any activities relating to the 

8 establishment or use of a strategic rare earth 

9 metals and rare earth metal products reserve 

10 during the preceding year. 

11 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES CONCERNING RARE EARTH METALS 

12 BY CONTRACTORS OF DEPARTMENT OF DE13 FENSE. 

14 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

15 require that any contractor that provides to the Depart16 ment of Defense a system with a rare earth metal perma17 nent magnet disclose, along with delivery of the system, 

18 the provenance of the magnet. 

19 (b) ELEMENTS.—A disclosure under subsection (a) 

20 shall include an identification of the country or countries 

21 in which— 

22 (1) the rare earth metals used in the magnet 

23 were mined; 

24 (2) the rare earth metals were refined into ox25 ides; 


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1 (3) the rare earth metals were made into metals 

2 and alloys; and 

3 (4) the magnet was sintered or bonded and 

4 magnetized. 

5 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN TRACKING

6 SYSTEM.—If a contractor cannot make the disclosure re7 quired by subsection (a) with respect to a magnet, the Sec8 retary shall require the contractor to establish and imple9 ment a supply chain tracking system in order to make the 

10 disclosure not later than 180 days after providing the 

11 magnet to the Department of Defense. 

12 (d) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than December 

13 31, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of De14 fense, after consultation with the Secretary of Commerce 

15 and the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the ap16 propriate congressional committees a report that in17 cludes— 

18 (1) a summary of the disclosures made under 

19 this section; 

20 (2) an assessment of the extent of reliance by 

21 the United States on foreign countries, and espe22 cially countries that are not allies of the United 

23 States, for rare earth metals; 


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1 (3) a determination with respect to which sys2 tems are of the greatest concern for interruptions of 

3 rare earth metal supply chains; and 

4 (4) any suggestions for legislation or funding 

5 that would mitigate supply chain security gaps. 

6 SEC. 5. RESTRICTION ON USE OF CHINESE-MADE RARE 

7 EARTH METALS IN MILITARY TECH8 NOLOGIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall re10 quire that, for any contract entered into or renewed on 

11 or after December 31, 2026, for the procurement of a sys12 tem the export of which is restricted or controlled under 

13 the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), 

14 no rare earth metals processed or refined in the People’s 

15 Republic of China may be included in the system. 

16 (b) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the restric17 tion under subsection (a) upon a determination that— 

18 (1) rare earth metals of sufficient quantity and 

19 quality are not available at reasonable prices from 

20 sources outside of the People’s Republic of China; 

21 and 

22 (2) such a waiver is in the interests of national 

23 security. 


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1 SEC. 6. COMPLIANCE WITH CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 

3 2022, and every 2 years thereafter, the Comptroller Gen4 eral of the United States shall audit the extent of compli5 ance or noncompliance with the requirements of sections 

6 4 and 5 of this Act, and section 2533c of title 10, United 

7 States Code, through a random sampling of contracts en8 tered into by the Department of Defense during the 2- 

9 year period preceding the audit. 

10 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 days 

11 after the completion of an audit under subsection (a), the 

12 Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate con13 gressional committees an assessment of— 

14 (1) the inclusion by the Department of Defense 

15 of necessary contracting clauses in relevant con16 tracts; and 

17 (2) compliance by contractors of the Depart18 ment with sections 4 and 5 of this Act and section 

19 2533c of title 10, United States Code. 

20 (c) REFERRAL.—The Comptroller General shall pro21 vide the Department of Justice with the resources and au22 thorities needed for any enforcement actions against enti23 ties that have failed to comply with the requirements of 

24 section 4 or 5 of this Act or section 2533c of title 10, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 7. INVESTIGATION OF UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES. 

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

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the United States Trade 

4 Representative, in coordination with the Secretary of Com5 merce, shall initiate an investigation under title III of the 

6 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.) to determine 

7 whether acts, policies, and practices of the Government of 

8 the People’s Republic of China related to technology trans9 fer, intellectual property, or innovation with respect to 

10 rare earth metal mining, separation, metallization, 

11 alloying, or magnet manufacturing, or related processes, 

12 are acts, policies, and practices described in subsection (a) 

13 or (b) of section 301 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 2411). 

14 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

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

16 after initiating the investigation required by sub17 section (a), the Trade Representative shall submit to 

18 the appropriate congressional committees a report 

19 assessing the necessity of trade enforcement actions 

20 to deter the Government of the People’s Republic of 

21 China from further interference in the rare earth 

22 metals market. 

23 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para24 graph (1) shall include— 


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1 (A) a summary of actions taken by the 

2 Government of the People’s Republic of China 

3 to disrupt supply chains for rare earth metals; 

4 (B) a summary of the world market for 

5 rare earth metals at each stage of the supply 

6 chain, including the ability of producers in the 

7 United States and countries that are allies of 

8 the United States to meet the national security 

9 and commercial needs of the United States; 

10 (C) determinations with respect to whether 

11 further action under title III of the Trade Act 

12 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411 et seq.), section 232 

13 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 

14 1862), or any other provision of law is nec15 essary to deter the Government of the People’s 

16 Republic of China from further interference in 

17 the rare earth metals market; and 

18 (D) recommendations for such other au19 thorities as the Secretary considers necessary to 

20 deter the Government of the People’s Republic 

21 of China from further interference in the rare 

22 earth metals market. 


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1 SEC. 8. PRODUCTION IN AND USES OF RARE EARTH MET2 ALS BY UNITED STATES ALLIES. 

3 (a) POLICY.—It shall be the policy of the United 

4 States to encourage countries that are allies of the United 

5 States to eliminate their dependence on non-allied coun6 tries for rare earth metals to the maximum extent prac7 ticable. 

8 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than December 

9 31, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of De10 fense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall 

11 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re12 port— 

13 (1) describing in detail the discussions of such 

14 Secretaries with countries that are allies of the 

15 United States concerning supply chain security for 

16 rare earth metals; 

17 (2) assessing the likelihood of those countries 

18 discontinuing the use of rare earth metals from the 

19 People’s Republic of China or other countries that 

20 such Secretaries deem to be of concern; and 

21 (3) assessing initiatives in other countries to in22 crease rare earth metals production capabilities. 

Æ 


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