{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mikerogers.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4127", "ICYMI, Yellowhammer News: Army turns to Anniston to break China\u2019s stranglehold on graphite", "2026-06-30", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Mike Rogers", "R000575", "mikerogers.house.gov", "mikerogers", "https://mikerogers.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Anniston, AL \u2013 Yellowhammer News published the following story detailing a new conditional agreement between the U.S. Army and Titan Mining Corporation to build a critical mineral processing plant for graphite at the Anniston Army Depot.\n\nRead the full story in Yellowhammer News here and below.\n\nArmy turns to Anniston to break China\u2019s stranglehold on graphite\n\nGrayson Everett\n\nJune 30, 2026\n\nAnniston Army Depot is about to become part of America\u2019s effort to break China\u2019s grip on the minerals that power modern weapons.\n\nTitan Mining Corporation, the only end-to-end producer of natural flake graphite in the United States, has been conditionally selected by the U.S. Army to build graphite purification plants on military land, according to details first reported by The Wall Street Journal.\n\nOne of the two sites is Anniston. The other is Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. Together they would form the first commercial critical-minerals processing operation ever sited on U.S. defense installations. China controls roughly 90% of the world\u2019s graphite processing \u2014 the material inside the lithium-ion batteries that run drones, vehicles, and the AI-driven weapon systems the Pentagon is racing to field.\n\nMuch American-mined graphite is still shipped overseas for refining and shipped back, a dependency the Army is now moving to close. As Army officials told WSJ, there is always a risk that China cuts off access to the minerals.\n\n\u201cThere is a ticking clock here,\u201d Jeff Waksman, the Army\u2019s principal deputy assistant secretary for installations, energy and the environment told WSJ. \u201cWe recognize that there is always a risk that China can cut us off from these minerals.\u201d\n\nUnder the Army\u2019s new Strategic Capital Initiatives program, Titan\u2019s subsidiary Empire State Mines would design, finance, build, and operate the plants on leased federal ground for up to 50 years, bearing the entire cost. The Army keeps the land and takes infrastructure improvements instead of cash \u2014 its return is a more resilient domestic supply chain.\n\nAnniston is the secondary site at roughly 97 acres, behind Pine Bluff\u2019s 245-acre primary parcel, but the label understates the logic. The depot is already one of the Army\u2019s premier heavy-industrial installations, built for exactly this kind of complex, hazardous work, and it has anchored American military readiness for generations.\n\nNext-generation mineral processing there continues that mission.\n\nAlabama\u2019s congressional delegation sees what is at stake.\n\n\u201cDomestic critical mineral production is incredibly important to 21st century defense,\u201d U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks), whose district includes the depot, said in a statement to Yellowhammer News.\n\n\u201cI am very excited to see Anniston Army Depot at the forefront of this issue. This agreement with Empire State Mines for graphite will facilitate huge boosts for both our country\u2019s national security and Alabama\u2019s local economy.\u201d\n\nConstruction is targeted for the second half of 2027. The selection remains conditional, with negotiations underway, so Anniston\u2019s exact role and timeline will firm up as the deal advances, possibly on a later schedule than Arkansas, but the direction is crystal clear.\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-01T06:34:07Z", "2026-07-01T06:35:35Z"]], "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://mikerogers.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4127"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9451231453567743, "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"}