{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressmen-moore-lamborn-and-newhouse-co-lead-bill-protect-american-mining", "Congressmen Moore, Lamborn, and Newhouse Co-Lead Bill to Protect American Mining", "2023-12-20", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Blake D. Moore", "M001213", "blakemoore.house.gov", "blakemoore", "https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON -- House Republican Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore, Natural Resources Vice Chairman Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05), and Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) introduced a bill to block the Biden administration from damaging vital mining and mineral refining in the United States.\n\nRecently, the Biden administration proposed a new rule limiting the scope of the minerals that are eligible for coverage and expedited permitting under Title 41 of the Fixing America\u2019s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41). Limiting the scope to critical minerals will harm America\u2019s ability to quickly and effectively produce minerals like copper, iron, and host minerals from which we derive critical minerals.\n\n\u201cThe Biden administration\u2019s proposed rule will prevent the U.S. from meeting our domestic mining production goals and reducing our reliance on China,\u201d said Congressman Moore. \u201cUtah\u2019s mining industry consists almost entirely of materials that are not on the Department of Energy\u2019s critical minerals list, yet it supports over 43,000 jobs and contributes over $5.2 billion to the state\u2019s GDP every year. At a time when legacy mineral demand has never been higher, the federal government needs to leverage every tool to meet our energy manufacturing and infrastructure needs rather than sending the wrong signal to industry. I\u2019m proud to co-sponsor this bill that would overturn President Biden\u2019s rule and ensure Utah mining projects qualify for FAST-41 status.\u201d\n\nAs China works to put a chokehold on mining and refining of minerals, the Biden administration\u2019s latest action to slow down the mining permitting process will only put U.S. supply chains at further risk. To read the full text of the legislation Congressmen Moore, Lamborn, and Newhouse introduced to block this action, click here.\n\n\u201cAs Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, I have consistently pushed back against the Biden administration to protect American energy production,\u201d said Congressman Lamborn. \u201cOur bill will ensure a secure domestic mineral supply chain and push back against China\u2019s chokehold on the production and refinement of minerals.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt a time when America should work to secure domestic supply chains, the Biden Administration is redefining the process to make starting new projects harder for minerals not listed as \u2018critical\u2019 by USGS,\u201d said Congressman Newhouse. \u201cThis rule change would make the United States even more reliant on Communist China for minerals, putting our national and economic security at risk. I\u2019m proud to join Western Caucus Vice Chair Lamborn on this legislation to overturn the Administration\u2019s changes to FAST-41 that will slow down project approval for certain new mines, such as copper mines. The Western Caucus is committed to securing and strengthening America\u2019s domestic mineral production.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy severely limiting the mining sector\u2019s ability to utilize the benefits of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC), the Biden administration is contradicting its own stated goal of streamlining permitting,\u201d said the National Mining Association. \u201cMineral demand is at its highest in history \u2013 and growing \u2013 and we need to jumpstart more domestic, responsible mining; instead, the proposed FPISC rule would increase our dependence on minerals sourced from countries like China and Russia. This bill, combined with other bipartisan congressional efforts urging the FPISC to rescind its proposed rule, will support and enable greater investments in domestic energy, defense, and manufacturing supply chains essential to U.S. economic and national security.\u201d\n\nFAST-41 Background\n\nThe Fixing America\u2019s Surface Transportation Act was enacted on December 4, 2015. Title 41 of the act (FAST-41) established new coordination and oversight procedures for infrastructure projects being reviewed by federal agencies.\n\nFAST-41 is intended to:\n\nImprove early consultation and coordination among government agencies;\n\nIncrease transparency through the publication of project-specific timetables with completion dates for all federal authorizations and environmental reviews; and\n\nIncrease accountability through consultation and reporting on projects.\n\nIn 2021, mining was added as a sector under FAST-41, and projects could then work through the 18 possible criteria to be expedited. These range from renewable and conventional energy production to semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Many of these projects are critical to America\u2019s leadership in the economic and energy sectors.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressmen-moore-lamborn-and-newhouse-co-lead-bill-protect-american-mining"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0161469001322985, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}