{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.daines.senate.gov/2025/07/30/daines-in-foreign-relations-subcommittee-we-need-to-end-americas-dependence-on-russias-critical-minerals/", "Daines\u00a0in Foreign Relations Subcommittee:\u00a0We Need to End America\u2019s Dependence on Russia\u2019s Critical Minerals", "2025-07-30", "2025", "2025-07", "Republican", "Senate", "MT", "Steve Daines", "D000618", "www.daines.senate.gov", "daines", "https://www.daines.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "U.S. SENATE \u2013 U.S. Senator Steve Daines today spoke with Jonathan Pratt, the Senior Bureau Official at the Bureau of African Affairs, and Scott Woodard, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment in a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing. Daines expressed his sympathy for the recent loss of life at Montana\u2019s Stillwater Mine and emphasized the need to end America\u2019s reliance on Russia for critical minerals.\n\nWatch the full exchange HERE.\n\nDaines addressed the recent loss of life at Montana\u2019s Stillwater Mine:\n\nDaines: Before engaging on this topic, I want to take a moment to recognize a community at the Stillwater Mine in Montana. That\u2019s a palladium and platinum producer. As we confront these pressing geopolitical and economic threats at the mine it\u2019s the people on the ground, the hard -working folks and their families who are truly the heart of the community. This past weekend there was a tragic loss of life incident at the Stillwater Mine. Our hearts break for the family and all those involved. It was an electrician, there was an electrical related incident that sadly resulted in a fatality. As you know, when that kind of thing happens, it\u2019s a gut punch to everybody. [Stillwater] is a wonderful operation. [I\u2019ve] been there. Leadership is fantastic. This has been a tough, tough several days. We\u2019ll be working with close with the mine and the federal regulators to reaffirm our commitment for a safe and secure future for everybody at the mine and the broader community at large.\n\nDaines emphasized the need to work with Africa and stop U.S. dependence on Russian critical minerals\n\nDaines: There are three locations in the world that mine platinum and palladium. Very important components for catalytic converters found in automobiles. The three places are Russia, South Africa, and Montana. In Montana the Stillwater and East Boulder mines are the only primary producers of platinum and palladium in the United States and right now they\u2019re being targeted by dumping from the Russians. For over a year Russia has been dumping palladium on the market to drive down prices in hopes of closing the mines in Montana, and making the United States dependent on Russians for this critical mineral. The irony behind all this is they\u2019re dumping palladium in the United States, driving the price down. The mine had to lay off 700 workers because of the low prices, and yet we\u2019re buying Russian palladium to help fund Vladimir Putin\u2019s war against Ukraine. If we don\u2019t act soon, this crisis is only going to grow greater and we\u2019re going to see a sad reality of dependence on Russia for palladium instead of a Montana mine. Mr. Woodard and Mr. Pratt, the Montana platinum and palladium mines are owned and operated by the Sibanye-Stillwater, which are headquartered in South Africa. This partnership has ensured the United States and South Africa can continue to produce critical minerals even when prices are low. But the market manipulation by the Russians is a national security threat and one that we should aggressively counter and that\u2019s why I\u2019ve introduced Senate Bill 808, the \u201cStop Russian Market Manipulation Act,\u201d to prohibit Russian imports of certain critical minerals. I\u2019ve also urged President Trump to take action through trade remedies, sanctions, and the Defense Production Act. I\u2019m also asking this committee to include language in the State Department reauthorization that will target Nornickle and other Russian bad actors. So, my questions for Mr. Woodard and Mr. Pratt, do you agree, and I\u2019ll start with Mr. Woodard, that in order to bolster jobs, economic development, and national security in both the United States and Africa, we must take action to counter Russian illegal dumping?\n\nWoodard: We\u2019ve seen this administration emphasize things like emphasizing reforms that will make mining and processing easier in the United States, which could open up possibilities for greater investments, which would strengthen the capital foundation of some of these projects and allow them to compete a bit better\u2026it was recently announced regarding rare earths with mountain pass, which is a floor price, is another option that maybe the administration can consider or has considered and may consider going forward to address some of these problems.\n\nPratt: I agree 100 percent with the question that we need to find ways to break monopolistic behavior.\n\nDaines: We need the help of the Administration. And I think if there\u2019s a chance, the quickest way to remedy this would be either a targeted sanction or a targeted tariff against Russian palladium coming to the United States. That could fix this problem quickly. As I\u2019ve chatted with the mine officials, we could probably bring 500 of these jobs back in a very short period of time and importantly, restore the supply chain of Made-in-America palladium, instead of produced in Russia. So, this is where we could use the help, and it\u2019s dire right now. The sooner, the better.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T14:40:33Z"]], "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://www.daines.senate.gov/2025/07/30/daines-in-foreign-relations-subcommittee-we-need-to-end-americas-dependence-on-russias-critical-minerals/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8826060220599174, "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"}