CRITICAL MINERAL CONSISTENCY ACT OF 2025

CRITICAL MINERAL CONSISTENCY ACT OF 2025

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 40 (Tuesday, March 3, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 3, 2026)] [House] [Pages H2353-H2356] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CRITICAL MINERAL CONSISTENCY ACT OF 2025 Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 755) to amend the Energy Act of 2020 to include critical materials in the definition of critical mineral, and for other purposes, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 755 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. CRITICAL MINERALS AND MATERIALS LIST. Section 7002 of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606) is amended-- (1) in subsection (c)(4)(C), by inserting ``minerals or materials'' after ``critical''; (2) by redesignating subsection (o) as subsection (p); and (3) by inserting after subsection (n) the following: ``(o) Critical Minerals and Materials List.-- ``(1) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of the Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025, the Secretary shall publish a Critical Minerals and Materials List, which shall include-- ``(A) any critical mineral designated by the Secretary under subsection (c); and ``(B) any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Secretary of Energy has determined to be a critical material under subsection (a)(2) as of that date of enactment. ``(2) Updates.--The Secretary shall update the Critical Minerals and Materials List published under paragraph (1)-- ``(A) not later than 45 days after the date on which the Secretary updates a critical mineral designation under subsection (c); and ``(B) not later than 45 days after the date on which the Secretary of Energy updates a critical material designation under subsection (a)(2). [[Page H2354]] ``(3) Publication alignment.--To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary and the Secretary of Energy shall coordinate when updates to the Critical Minerals and Materials List may be required under paragraph (2). ``(4) Administration.--For the purposes of administering programs involving critical minerals or critical materials, the Secretary, the Secretary of Energy, and the heads of other Federal departments and agencies where such department or agency has incorporated by reference the definition of `critical mineral' or `critical material' from this section, as applicable, shall use the most recently published version of the Critical Minerals and Materials List published under paragraph (1).''. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas. General Leave Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material to H.R. 755, the bill now under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Arkansas? There was no objection. Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 755, the Critical Mineral Consistency Act, which accomplishes the important task of unifying the U.S. Geological Survey's list of critical minerals and the Department of Energy's list of critical materials. The Energy Act of 2020 defined ``critical minerals'' and directed the United States Geological Survey, or USGS, to publish a list of critical minerals every 3 years. The same act directed the Secretary of Energy to develop a critical materials list that includes all of the same minerals on the USGS list but adds: ``any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Secretary of Energy determines: (i) has a high risk of supply chain disruption; and (ii) serves an essential function in one or more energy technologies, including technologies that produce, transmit, store, and conserve energy.'' {time} 1540 The discrepancies between the lists make it difficult for regulators and producers to determine what emphasis to place on each resource and how to allocate efforts toward resource recovery. Under H.R. 755, each agency would determine what to include in its own list, but a new, combined list called the ``critical minerals and materials list'' would be published by the Department of the Interior. Moving forward, all Federal agencies would be required to use this unified list when administering programs involving critical minerals or critical materials. These changes promote accessibility, clarity, and consistency for regulators, producers, and members of the public. I thank Representative Ciscomani for his work on this important legislation. I support this commonsense bill, and I reserve the balance of my time. Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Congress codified the critical minerals list in the Energy Act of 2020 to identify which minerals are most important to our economic and national security and at risk of supply chain disruption. The United States Geological Survey was required to create and update that list, following a transparent, science-based process. At the same time, Congress directed the Department of Energy to create its own list focusing on critical minerals and materials for energy needs. Both lists provide crucial strategic direction for Federal decisionmakers to secure our most critical and vulnerable supply chains. H.R. 755 provides administrative clarity by creating a unified critical minerals and materials list, which incorporates the lists from both USGS and DOE, while allowing the agencies to maintain the scientific integrity of their individual processes. I thank the bill's sponsors and my colleagues across the aisle for working with committee Democrats to incorporate changes to the original bill to better coordinate agency analyses without fully losing the individual purposes of the two lists. Unfortunately, a lot of careful policymaking and scientific work to identify critical minerals and materials is actively being undone. First, these lists are only useful if they are unbiased, and the current administration has blatantly violated the law by including metallurgical coal and uranium in the 2025 USGS critical minerals list, despite the Energy Act of 2020 explicitly prohibiting the inclusion of fuel minerals on the list. They provide no public data or analysis to justify these inclusions or prove whether they meet the Energy Act of 2020's criteria for critical minerals. Political interference in the critical minerals list undermines the United States' economic and national security. We should target Federal investments and interventions toward the most important at-risk minerals and materials and supply chains. Additionally, designating minerals and materials as critical only matters if we can actually use these lists and designations. Much of the latest critical minerals legislation that has passed on a partisan basis this Congress actually makes no distinction at all about prioritizing critical minerals. These bills have often provided deregulation across the board to every industry, from gold to coal. Again, I thank the majority for working with us on this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber), the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources chairman. Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 755, the Critical Mineral Consistency Act, introduced by my good friend from Arizona (Mr. Ciscomani). The Energy Act of 2020 took a significant first step, recognizing the importance of critical minerals and critical materials to the American economy and our strategic national security. While the respective lists developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Energy have been helpful in ensuring we have policies in place that increase and stabilize our access to these critical minerals and materials, they are not hitting the mark and require further direction from Congress. The two agencies use different criteria and do not take into consideration the same parameters, sometimes leading to different lists. Notably, the USGS list does not account for forward-looking data and analysis, such as international demand and growth trajectories, which the DOE list does. Currently, DOE automatically adopts any minerals USGS deems critical for their own critical materials list, but it doesn't work the other way around. H.R. 755 fixes this and amends the Energy Act of 2020 to automatically place DOE's deemed materials on the USGS list. Under this legislation, each agency would still be responsible for reviewing elements under their unique purview based on their own technical expertise. It would simply streamline interagency coordination and ensure USGS is taking into account the full picture and the best, most complete information when developing its critical minerals list. This legislation is a small yet important step in ensuring we have access to the critical minerals and materials that are necessary for our national security, along with our ability to compete and win in this 21st century. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I want to say that the chairman, who is on the floor, is a good friend of mine and one of, I think, our best leaders in the Congress. I thank him for his continuing efforts and his willing to work

Referenced legislation: HR755, HR755