House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Create State Department Critical Minerals Bureau and Deepen Allied Cooperation

The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill to bolster federal cooperation with allies to produce critical minerals and reduce reliance on China, which has used its dominant position as leverage against the West. The legislation passed by voice vote. The bill, known as the Developing Overseas Mineral Investments and New Allied Networks for Critical Energies Act, was written by Reps.

Young Kim (R-CA) and Ami Bera (D-CA). It would direct the United States to work with allies and partners to secure critical mineral supply chains and promote domestic production. The measure would establish a Bureau of Energy Security and Diplomacy in the State Department to focus on international energy, critical minerals, and supply chain strategy.

It would also encourage the creation of a special adviser to the president for critical minerals and supply chain to oversee the whole-of-government approach. Young Kim told the Washington Examiner that critical minerals are embedded into our daily lives.

The minerals are essential for developing technology-based applications in the energy and defense sectors, plus everyday items such as smartphones, tablets, and microwaves.

Kim said the establishment of the State Department’s bureau will ensure that there is one strategy and one command center to coordinate critical mineral efforts across the federal government. She added that the bill would create a congressionally authorized bureau with a clear mandate.

“We will have that one person dedicated to thinking about energy security, critical mineral supply chain, whose job is to wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night thinking about nothing but energy and critical minerals,” Kim said.

The new bureau would be similar to the State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources, which was eliminated last year as part of the administration’s reorganization efforts. It was merged into the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs to focus on exporting domestic energy.