I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7807 
To create intergovernmental coordination between State, local, Tribal, and 
territorial jurisdictions, and the Federal Government to combat United 
States reliance on the People’s Republic of China and other covered 
countries for critical minerals and rare earth metals, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 22, 2024 
Mr. OBERNOLTE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To create intergovernmental coordination between State, 
local, Tribal, and territorial jurisdictions, and the Fed-
eral Government to combat United States reliance on 
the People’s Republic of China and other covered coun-
tries for critical minerals and rare earth metals, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Intergovernmental 
Critical Minerals Task Force Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) current supply chains of critical minerals 
pose a great risk to the national security of the 
United States; 
(2) critical minerals are necessary for transpor-
tation, technology, renewable energy, military equip-
ment and machinery, and other relevant sectors cru-
cial for the homeland and national security of the 
United States; 
(3) in 2022, the United States was 100 percent 
import reliant for 12 out of 50 critical minerals and 
more than 50 percent import reliant for an addi-
tional 31 critical mineral commodities classified as 
‘‘critical’’ by the United States Geological Survey, 
and the People’s Republic of China was the top pro-
ducing nation for 30 of those 50 critical minerals; 
(4) as of July 2023, companies based in the 
People’s Republic of China that extract critical min-
erals around the world have received hundreds of 
charges of human rights violations; and 
(5) on March 26, 2014, the World Trade Orga-
nization ruled that the export restraints by the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China on rare earth metals violated 
obligations under the protocol of accession to the 
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World Trade Organization, which harmed manufac-
turers and workers in the United States. 
SEC. 3. INTERGOVERNMENTAL CRITICAL MINERALS TASK 
FORCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the National Mate-
rials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act 
of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1604) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(g) INTERGOVERNMENTAL
CRITICAL
MINERALS 
TASK FORCE.— 
‘‘(1) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the task 
force established under paragraph (3)(B) are— 
‘‘(A) to assess the reliance of the United 
States on the People’s Republic of China, and 
other covered countries, for critical minerals, 
and the resulting national security risks associ-
ated with that reliance, at each level of the Fed-
eral Government, Indian Tribes, and State, 
local, and territorial governments; 
‘‘(B) to make recommendations to the 
President for the implementation of this Act 
with regard to critical minerals, including— 
‘‘(i) the congressional declarations of 
policies in section 3; and 
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‘‘(ii) revisions to the program plan of 
the President and the initiatives required 
under this section; 
‘‘(C) to make recommendations to secure 
United States and global supply chains for crit-
ical minerals; 
‘‘(D) to make recommendations to reduce 
the reliance of the United States, and partners 
and allies of the United States, on critical min-
eral supply chains involving covered countries; 
and 
‘‘(E) to facilitate cooperation, coordination, 
and mutual accountability among each level of 
the Federal Government, Indian Tribes, and 
State, local, and territorial governments, on a 
holistic response to the dependence on covered 
countries for critical minerals across the United 
States. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of 
Congress’ means— 
‘‘(i) the Committees on Homeland Se-
curity and Governmental Affairs, Energy 
and Natural Resources, Armed Services, 
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Environment and Public Works, Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation, Fi-
nance, and Foreign Relations of the Sen-
ate; and 
‘‘(ii) the Committees on Oversight and 
Accountability, Natural Resources, Armed 
Services, Ways and Means, Foreign Af-
fairs, and Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives. 
‘‘(B) CHAIR.—The term ‘Chair’ means a 
member of the Executive Office of the Presi-
dent, designated by the President pursuant to 
paragraph (3)(A). 
‘‘(C) COVERED COUNTRY.—The term ‘cov-
ered country’ means— 
‘‘(i) a covered nation (as defined in 
section 4872(d) of title 10, United States 
Code); and 
‘‘(ii) any other country determined by 
the task force to be a geostrategic compet-
itor or adversary of the United States with 
respect to critical minerals. 
‘‘(D) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘crit-
ical mineral’ has the meaning given the term in 
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section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 
U.S.C. 1606(a)). 
‘‘(E) INDIAN
TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 
Tribe’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5304). 
‘‘(F) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘task force’ 
means the task force established under para-
graph (3)(B). 
‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
President shall— 
‘‘(A) designate a Chair for the task force; 
and 
‘‘(B) acting through the Executive Office 
of the President, establish a task force. 
‘‘(4) COMPOSITION; MEETINGS.— 
‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—The Chair, in con-
sultation with key intergovernmental, private, 
and public sector stakeholders, shall appoint to 
the task force representatives with expertise in 
critical mineral supply chains from Federal 
agencies, Indian Tribes, and State, local, and 
territorial governments, including not less than 
1 representative from each of— 
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‘‘(i) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 
‘‘(ii) the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment; 
‘‘(iii) the Critical Minerals Sub-
committee of the National Science and 
Technology Council; 
‘‘(iv) the Department of Agriculture; 
‘‘(v) the Department of Commerce; 
‘‘(vi) the Department of Defense; 
‘‘(vii) the Department of Energy; 
‘‘(viii) the Department of Homeland 
Security; 
‘‘(ix) the Department of the Interior; 
‘‘(x) the Department of Labor; 
‘‘(xi) the Department of State; 
‘‘(xii) the Department of Transpor-
tation; 
‘‘(xiii) the Environmental Protection 
Agency; 
‘‘(xiv) the Export-Import Bank of the 
United States; 
‘‘(xv) the Forest Service; 
‘‘(xvi) the General Services Adminis-
tration; 
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‘‘(xvii) the National Science Founda-
tion; 
‘‘(xviii) the Office of the United 
States Trade Representative; 
‘‘(xix) the United States International 
Development Finance Corporation; 
‘‘(xx) the United States Geological 
Survey; and 
‘‘(xxi) any other relevant Federal enti-
ty, as determined by the Chair. 
‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—The task force 
shall consult individuals with expertise in crit-
ical mineral supply chains, individuals from 
States whose communities, businesses, and in-
dustries are involved in aspects of critical min-
eral supply chains, including mining and proc-
essing operations, and individuals from a di-
verse and balanced cross-section of— 
‘‘(i) intergovernmental consultees, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(I) State governments; 
‘‘(II) local governments; 
‘‘(III) 
territorial 
governments; 
and 
‘‘(IV) Indian Tribes; and 
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‘‘(ii) other stakeholders, including— 
‘‘(I) academic research institu-
tions; 
‘‘(II) corporations; 
‘‘(III) nonprofit organizations; 
‘‘(IV) private sector stakeholders; 
‘‘(V) trade associations; 
‘‘(VI) mining industry stake-
holders; and 
‘‘(VII) labor representatives. 
‘‘(C) MEETINGS.— 
‘‘(i) INITIAL
MEETING.—Not later 
than 90 days after the date on which all 
representatives of the task force have been 
appointed, the task force shall hold the 
first meeting of the task force. 
‘‘(ii) FREQUENCY.—The task force 
shall meet not less than once every 90 
days. 
‘‘(5) DUTIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the task 
force shall include— 
‘‘(i) facilitating cooperation, coordina-
tion, and mutual accountability for the 
Federal Government, Indian Tribes, and 
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State, local, and territorial governments to 
enhance data sharing and transparency to 
build more robust and secure domestic 
supply chains for critical minerals in sup-
port of the purposes described in para-
graph (1); 
‘‘(ii) providing recommendations with 
respect to— 
‘‘(I) increasing capacities for 
mining, processing, refinement, reuse, 
and recycling of critical minerals in 
the United States to facilitate the en-
vironmentally responsible production 
of domestic resources to meet national 
critical mineral needs, in consultation 
with Tribal and local communities; 
‘‘(II) identifying how statutes, 
regulations, and policies related to the 
critical mineral supply chain, such as 
stockpiling and development finance, 
could be modified to accelerate envi-
ronmentally responsible domestic and 
international production of critical 
minerals, in consultation with Indian 
Tribes and local communities; 
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‘‘(III) strengthening the domestic 
workforce to support growing critical 
mineral supply chains with good-pay-
ing, safe jobs in the United States; 
‘‘(IV) identifying alternative do-
mestic and global sources to critical 
minerals that the United States cur-
rently relies on the People’s Republic 
of China or other covered countries 
for mining, processing, refining, and 
recycling, including the availability, 
cost, and quality of those domestic al-
ternatives; 
‘‘(V) identifying critical minerals 
and critical mineral supply chains that 
the United States can onshore, at a 
competitive 
availability, 
cost, 
and 
quality, for those minerals and supply 
chains that the United States relies 
on the People’s Republic of China or 
other covered countries to provide; 
‘‘(VI) opportunities for the Fed-
eral Government, Indian Tribes, and 
State, local, and territorial govern-
ments to mitigate risks to the national 
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security of the United States with re-
spect to supply chains for critical min-
erals that the United States currently 
relies on the People’s Republic of 
China or other covered countries for 
mining, processing, refining, and recy-
cling; and 
‘‘(VII) evaluating and integrating 
the recommendations of the Critical 
Minerals Subcommittee of the Na-
tional Science and Technology Council 
into the recommendations of the task 
force; 
‘‘(iii) prioritizing the recommendations 
in clause (ii), taking into consideration eco-
nomic costs and focusing on the critical 
mineral supply chains with vulnerabilities 
posing the most significant risks to the na-
tional security of the United States; 
‘‘(iv) recommending specific strate-
gies, to be carried out in coordination with 
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
Commerce, to strengthen international 
partnerships in furtherance of critical min-
erals supply chain security with inter-
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national allies and partners, including a 
strategy to collaborate with governments of 
the allies and partners described in sub-
paragraph (B) to develop advanced mining, 
refining, separation and processing tech-
nologies; and 
‘‘(v) other duties, as determined by 
the Chair. 
‘‘(B) ALLIES AND PARTNERS.—The allies 
and partners referred to in subparagraph (A) 
include— 
‘‘(i) countries participating in the 
Quadrilateral Security Dialogue; 
‘‘(ii) countries that are— 
‘‘(I) signatories to the Abraham 
Accords; or 
‘‘(II) participants in the Negev 
Forum; 
‘‘(iii) countries that are members of 
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; 
and 
‘‘(iv) other countries or multilateral 
partnerships the task force determines to 
be appropriate. 
‘‘(C) REPORT.—The Chair shall— 
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