Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing to examine six bills that will unleash American resources and help secure domestic mineral supply chains. Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) issued the following statement in response:

“America's mineral security faces a variety of challenges, with burdensome regulations, weaponization of the judicial system and market manipulation from foreign adversarial nations chief among them. As demonstrated by today’s hearing, House Republicans are prepared to take decisive action. These measures will help unlock American resources, expedite responsible development and ensure the United States can lead in the development of the minerals essential to our success in the 21st Century.”

Background

H.R. 1501, the Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.), codifies mining as a covered sector under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and prevents any future administration from finalizing a Biden-era proposed rule that would narrow FAST-41 coverage for mining projects, severely impeding domestic mineral investment and resource independence.

H.R. 2969, the Finding Opportunities for Resource Exploration Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), alters the U.S. Geological Survey's process for entering into memoranda of understanding with foreign nations and identifies key objectives for negotiating and administering such agreements.

H.R. 4781, the Rare Earth Solutions and Carbon Utilization Enhancement (RESCUE) Act of 2025, introduced by U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), would amend the FAST Act to classify efforts to recover critical minerals and rare earth elements from coal, coal waste, acid mine drainage and mine tailings as eligible for the FAST-41 expedited permitting and review process.

H.R. 5929, the Critical Minerals Supply Chain Resiliency Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), would add actions authorized under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to the list of covered projects eligible for the FAST-41 expedited permitting process.

H.R. 7126, the Securing Essential and Critical U.S. Resources and Elements (SECURE) Minerals Act of 2026, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), provides the federal government with a new suite of financial tools with which to stabilize critical mineral prices and create predictable markets conducive to investment, taking a similar approach to the Trump administration's Project Vault. The bill also provides funding to create a Strategic Resilience Reserve. 

H.R. 7458, the Domestic Opportunities for Resource Exploration (ORE) Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), expands the threshold for notice-level mineral exploration activities on Bureau of Land Management lands to 25 acres, and establishes the same criteria on U.S. Forest Service-managed lands.