Lankford Wants Results Not Rhetoric on Ending US Mineral Dependence on China

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today continued to press for solutions to decrease US dependence on China for critical minerals for electronics and energy infrastructure. This week, the Biden Administration offered its limited and short-sighted approach to our mineral dependence that lacks key components because of Biden’s insistence on his climate-change activism agenda.

“Biden is forcing us to be mineral and energy dependent on nations like Russia and China because he and the progressive wing of his party put their climate-change and environmentalist activism ahead of common sense and US national interests,” said Lankford. “Biden is obsessed with getting us to electric-only vehicles and renewables, both of which are dependent on minerals we currently don’t produce or refine in the quantities needed. Biden is cancelling traditional energy produced in America to support mining activities in China. His solution for our growing mineral dependence on China appears to be even more regulations on US mining on federal lands that would result in even less mining in the US. To truly reduce the potentially decade-long permitting process for mining in the US, we must work with our mineral-rich allies and open up US federal lands to meet our mineral and energy needs. Contrary to the current progressive fantasy, energy to keep our houses warm, move our products, and fuel our economy requires mining, drilling, and transmission; all of which America does better than anywhere else in the world.” 

Lankford remains a leading voice for vigilance against China’s aggressive behavior and the need to break free of our dependence on China for critical minerals and other commodities. Lankford introduced amendments to the Trade Act of 2021 and FY22 National Defense Authorization Act to establish a secure supply chain for critical minerals among the countries of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Lankford opposed Senator Schumer’s bloated United States Innovation and Competition Act, a bill that seeks to address US competitiveness with China but was not focused, strategic, or affordable.

Lankford continues to push for solutions to our dependence on China for minerals by ensuring US mining operations can offer alternative sources here at home. However, due to the excessive, often 10-year long permitting process, Lankford introduced a bill to improve the quality and timeliness of federal permitting and review processes with respect to critical mineral production on federal land and bring the mineral supply chain back to the US.

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