Representatives McCollum and Van Epps Introduce Bipartisan Critical Materials Future Act

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Today, Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Congressman Matt Van Epps (R-TN), introduced the Critical Materials Future Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would establish a pilot program at the Department of Energy to financially support domestic critical material processing projects.

"Securing a domestic critical mineral supply chain is essential for manufacturing clean energy technologies," said Rep. McCollum. "For far too long, critical minerals extracted from our public lands have been shipped overseas for processing to be sold on the global market or bought back by American companies. That is not good stewardship of our natural resources, nor is it a good national security strategy. The Critical Materials Future Act will ensure that when we extract these resources, we also have the capacity to process them here at home."

"Continuing to rely on foreign sources for our critical mineral supply is gambling with both our economic and national security. Today, China leads global processing of key critical minerals, refining more than 90% of graphite and nearly all gallium, which are essential to semiconductors and batteries. China also refines more than 90% of rare earth elements used in magnets for advanced defense technologies," said Rep. Van Epps. "It is far past time for the United States to end this dangerous dependence. We can do this by paving the way for more critical mineral processing right here at home. That's why I'm proud to co-lead the Critical Materials Future Actalongside Congresswoman McCollum. This bipartisan legislation establishes a pilot program to support companies committed to building critical mineral processing operations here in the United States. By strengthening our domestic supply chains, this legislation will reduce our dependence on foreign adversaries and move us one step closer to rebuilding the American defense industrial base."

The U.S. critical minerals list contains 50 minerals - including graphite, nickel, and cobalt - that are essential to our economy, infrastructure, and military capability. Critical minerals are used in smartphones, electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and more.

In December 2024, China announced that it would immediately block the export of three critical minerals - gallium, germanium, and antimony - to the U.S. China currently controls 90% of the global processing capacity for rare earth elements and over 80% of the processing for other critical minerals like cobalt, gallium, and graphite. Experts have become increasingly concerned with U.S. dependence on China for critical materials, arguing it poses a significant risk to national security.

The Critical Materials Future Act supports critical material processing projects in the United States by granting the Secretary of Energy the authority and funding to deploy innovative financial mechanisms, such as contracts for differences and advanced market commitments, within this sector.

The bill also requires the Secretary of Energy to conduct a comprehensive study on the impact of these financial tools on market dynamics and processing projects within the critical materials sector, and to provide recommendations for expanding their use to strengthen America's processing capabilities.

The Senate companion, S. 596, was introduced by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Todd Young (R-IN), and referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In the 118^th Congress, Congresswoman McCollum introduced H.R. 5021, the Securing American Critical Minerals Act, a bill to prohibit the sale or transfer of critical minerals to our adversaries.

The full text of the Critical Materials Future Act can be found here.

###