Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR179 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 179
5	5	Expressing support for the strengthening of United States-Africa partnerships
6	6	in critical minerals development.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH3, 2025
9	9	Mrs. C
10	10	HERFILUS-MCCORMICK(for herself and Mr. JACKSONof Illinois) sub-
11	11	mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
12	12	Foreign Affairs
13	13	RESOLUTION
14	14	Expressing support for the strengthening of United States-
15	15	Africa partnerships in critical minerals development.
16	16	Whereas critical minerals are essential to United States na-
17	17	tional security and economic interests;
18	18	Whereas global critical minerals supply chains on which many
19	19	United States firms and defense needs rely are substan-
20	20	tially controlled by foreign entities of concern (FEOC),
21	21	notably including multiple commercial entities based in or
22	22	aided by the People’s Republic of China (PRC);
23	23	Whereas multiple PRC commercial actors are foreign entities
24	24	of concern, as defined under United States law: entities
25	25	owned and controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or
26	26	direction of a government of a foreign country, such as
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29	29	•HRES 179 IH
30	30	the PRC, that may engage in activity detrimental to
31	31	United States interests;
32	32	Whereas the International Monetary Fund estimates that
33	33	sub-Saharan Africa holds 30 percent of the volume of
34	34	proven critical mineral reserves, and at least 20 African
35	35	countries export a range of minerals and metals, includ-
36	36	ing those that are deemed ‘‘critical’’ to United States na-
37	37	tional security and economic interests;
38	38	Whereas critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel
39	39	are essential to a clean energy transition, consumer elec-
40	40	tronics, and the United States defense industrial base;
41	41	Whereas some African nations are seeking to increase invest-
42	42	ments in their critical mineral mining and processing sec-
43	43	tors as a means of fostering greater national mineral-re-
44	44	lated value-added refining, processing, earnings, and re-
45	45	lated socioeconomic development in their countries;
46	46	Whereas responsible mining—mining that is pursued in a
47	47	manner that is environmentally and legally sound,
48	48	socioeconomically inclusive, and well-governed—produces
49	49	sustainable state revenues, local employment, techno-
50	50	logical transfer and community development;
51	51	Whereas poorly governed and unregulated mining frequently
52	52	produces corruption, labor abuses, environmental deg-
53	53	radation, and violent conflict;
54	54	Whereas the United States-initiated Mineral Security Part-
55	55	nership was established in 2022 and is composed of 14
56	56	countries and the European Union committed to cata-
57	57	lyzing public and private investment in high standard-
58	58	based development of critical mineral supply chains and
59	59	responsible mining practices globally;
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62	62	•HRES 179 IH
63	63	Whereas, in 2022, the United States signed a Memorandum
64	64	of Understanding (MOU) with the Democratic Republic
65	65	of Congo and Zambia to support these two countries’
66	66	commitment to develop jointly a supply chain for electric
67	67	vehicle batteries;
68	68	Whereas the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects
69	69	that between $180 billion and $220 billion are expected
70	70	to be invested in the mining of critical minerals between
71	71	2022 and 2030, but that only 10 percent of such amount
72	72	are slated to be invested in Africa;
73	73	Whereas, in 2023, the United States was 82 percent or more
74	74	net-reliant on imports from abroad for supplies of at
75	75	least 29 critical minerals, including 14 rare earth ele-
76	76	ments, and substantially import-reliant on other critical
77	77	minerals and other technology-essential mined commod-
78	78	ities; and
79	79	Whereas the often-substantial degree of PRC control over
80	80	critical mineral supply chains, including through PRC-or-
81	81	igin foreign entities of concern and the PRC’s imposition
82	82	of licensing regimes that could potentially restrict PRC
83	83	exports of selected essential critical minerals pose grave
84	84	national security risks to the United States: Now, there-
85	85	fore, be it
86	86	Resolved, Tt is the sense of the House of Representa-1
87	87	tives that— 2
88	88	(1) United States policy should seek to— 3
89	89	(A) diversify the sources of supplies of crit-4
90	90	ical minerals in a manner that prevents Foreign 5
91	91	Entities of Concerns (FEOCs) from restricting, 6
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94	94	•HRES 179 IH
95	95	increasing the cost, or otherwise negatively af-1
96	96	fecting United States access to these resources; 2
97	97	(B) improve the efficacy, efficiency, and 3
98	98	coordination of United States Federal agencies 4
99	99	working to help businesses invest in critical 5
100	100	minerals in foreign countries friendly to the 6
101	101	United States, including through these agen-7
102	102	cies’ implementation of United States Govern-8
103	103	ment commitments under the United States-led 9
104	104	multinational Minerals Security Partnership 10
105	105	(MSP); and 11
106	106	(C) enhance mutually beneficial partner-12
107	107	ship with countries in Africa that produce or 13
108	108	possess reserves of critical minerals by— 14
109	109	(i) mobilizing and supporting invest-15
110	110	ments in new or expanded critical mineral 16
111	111	production and processing projects in Afri-17
112	112	can markets in order to bolster equitable 18
113	113	and transparent global market-based ac-19
114	114	cess to African mineral production and 20
115	115	promote responsible sourcing and value- 21
116	116	added processing of critical minerals in Af-22
117	117	rica; 23
118	118	(ii) providing incentives, such as fi-24
119	119	nancing or technical assistance, for United 25
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122	122	•HRES 179 IH
123	123	States business, and businesses in African 1
124	124	countries friendly to the United States to 2
125	125	invest in such mineral sector production 3
126	126	and processing projects of strategic inter-4
127	127	est to the United States; and 5
128	128	(iii) urging the administration to 6
129	129	transform the Memorandum of Under-7
130	130	standing among the United States of 8
131	131	America, the Democratic Republic of 9
132	132	Congo, and the Republic of Zambia con-10
133	133	cerning support for the development of a 11
134	134	value chain in the electric vehicle battery 12
135	135	sector into a meaningful investment pro-13
136	136	gram that can be modelled and imple-14
137	137	mented throughout the continent; and 15
138	138	(2) the House of Representatives urges the Sec-16
139	139	retary of State, in consultation with the Secretaries 17
140	140	of Commerce, Energy, the Interior, Treasury, and 18
141	141	Defense, the United States Agency for International 19
142	142	Development, the Development Finance Corporation, 20
143	143	the United States Export-Import Bank, and any 21
144	144	other relevant Federal agencies as appropriate, to 22
145	145	develop a 5-year strategy to achieve the following 23
146	146	priorities: 24
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149	149	•HRES 179 IH
150	150	(A) Strengthen United States commercial 1
151	151	diplomacy and development efforts to support 2
152	152	United States critical minerals investors and 3
153	153	help address challenges of doing business in Af-4
154	154	rican countries. 5
155	155	(B) Provide financing and technical assist-6
156	156	ance incentives and pursue public-private in-7
157	157	vestment mobilization efforts to help eligible Af-8
158	158	rican mineral producers to capitalize the expan-9
159	159	sion of their critical mineral production and 10
160	160	processing capacities in order to diversify 11
161	161	United States critical mineral supply chains 12
162	162	and advance African value-addition objectives. 13
163	163	(C) Support through the United States 14
164	164	International Development Finance Corporation 15
165	165	and other Federal agencies, diversified equity 16
166	166	funds and investment platforms that provide 17
167	167	capital for or incentivize United States private 18
168	168	sector investment future mining projects in Af-19
169	169	rican countries. 20
170	170	(D) Enhance economic cooperation with el-21
171	171	igible African critical minerals producers. 22
172	172	Æ
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