Bipartisan House members who have worked for months to counter China’s dominance over critical mineral supply chains will hold their final meeting Wednesday and release a legislative blueprint — at least, in part — for how to proceed.
The Critical Minerals Policy Working Group, led by Reps. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) under the umbrella of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, is slated to unveil three bills to counter China’s grip on the mining and processing of minerals, as well as the United States’ lagging workforce.
Wittman and Castor are releasing the legislation as demand for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel soar. The duo has for weeks taken input from companies and other advocates and telegraphed their goal of releasing a product by year’s end.
Among the bills will be language from House China Chair John Moolenar (R-Mich.) and Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York, the “Critical Minerals Workforce Enhancement Act,” which aims to address the nation’s lagging number of workers in the mining sector. It would amend immigration and cultural exchange laws, and allow the president to back education exchanges and federal officials to grant employment-based visas if focused on critical minerals.
