Congress Should Not Import Rare Minerals From China and Taliban, Say Republicans

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) questions Washington Gov. Jay Inslee during a House Energy and Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 2, 2019. Zach Gibson/Getty Images

During a hearing by The House Energy and Commerce Committee to finalize their portion of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package on Monday, GOP members urged Democrats to support an amendment that would end the reliance on China for rare earth minerals and more specifically China’s new source of these minerals, the Afghan Taliban.

“Mr. Chairman, eliminating the U.S. reliance on the Chinese and Taliban for minerals is a bipartisan issue that all of us should be able to support,” said Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.). “China previously threatened to cut off supplies of the rare earth elements, to the United States in 2019, and Congress should never, never let the United States be vulnerable, like that again.”