IV
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. RES. 179
Expressing support for the strengthening of United States-Africa partnerships
in critical minerals development.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH3, 2025
Mrs. C
HERFILUS-MCCORMICK(for herself and Mr. JACKSONof Illinois) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the strengthening of United States-
Africa partnerships in critical minerals development.
Whereas critical minerals are essential to United States na-
tional security and economic interests;
Whereas global critical minerals supply chains on which many
United States firms and defense needs rely are substan-
tially controlled by foreign entities of concern (FEOC),
notably including multiple commercial entities based in or
aided by the People’s Republic of China (PRC);
Whereas multiple PRC commercial actors are foreign entities
of concern, as defined under United States law: entities
owned and controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or
direction of a government of a foreign country, such as
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•HRES 179 IH
the PRC, that may engage in activity detrimental to
United States interests;
Whereas the International Monetary Fund estimates that
sub-Saharan Africa holds 30 percent of the volume of
proven critical mineral reserves, and at least 20 African
countries export a range of minerals and metals, includ-
ing those that are deemed ‘‘critical’’ to United States na-
tional security and economic interests;
Whereas critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel
are essential to a clean energy transition, consumer elec-
tronics, and the United States defense industrial base;
Whereas some African nations are seeking to increase invest-
ments in their critical mineral mining and processing sec-
tors as a means of fostering greater national mineral-re-
lated value-added refining, processing, earnings, and re-
lated socioeconomic development in their countries;
Whereas responsible mining—mining that is pursued in a
manner that is environmentally and legally sound,
socioeconomically inclusive, and well-governed—produces
sustainable state revenues, local employment, techno-
logical transfer and community development;
Whereas poorly governed and unregulated mining frequently
produces corruption, labor abuses, environmental deg-
radation, and violent conflict;
Whereas the United States-initiated Mineral Security Part-
nership was established in 2022 and is composed of 14
countries and the European Union committed to cata-
lyzing public and private investment in high standard-
based development of critical mineral supply chains and
responsible mining practices globally;
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•HRES 179 IH
Whereas, in 2022, the United States signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) with the Democratic Republic
of Congo and Zambia to support these two countries’
commitment to develop jointly a supply chain for electric
vehicle batteries;
Whereas the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects
that between $180 billion and $220 billion are expected
to be invested in the mining of critical minerals between
2022 and 2030, but that only 10 percent of such amount
are slated to be invested in Africa;
Whereas, in 2023, the United States was 82 percent or more
net-reliant on imports from abroad for supplies of at
least 29 critical minerals, including 14 rare earth ele-
ments, and substantially import-reliant on other critical
minerals and other technology-essential mined commod-
ities; and
Whereas the often-substantial degree of PRC control over
critical mineral supply chains, including through PRC-or-
igin foreign entities of concern and the PRC’s imposition
of licensing regimes that could potentially restrict PRC
exports of selected essential critical minerals pose grave
national security risks to the United States: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved, Tt is the sense of the House of Representa-1
tives that— 2
(1) United States policy should seek to— 3
(A) diversify the sources of supplies of crit-4
ical minerals in a manner that prevents Foreign 5
Entities of Concerns (FEOCs) from restricting, 6
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•HRES 179 IH
increasing the cost, or otherwise negatively af-1
fecting United States access to these resources; 2
(B) improve the efficacy, efficiency, and 3
coordination of United States Federal agencies 4
working to help businesses invest in critical 5
minerals in foreign countries friendly to the 6
United States, including through these agen-7
cies’ implementation of United States Govern-8
ment commitments under the United States-led 9
multinational Minerals Security Partnership 10
(MSP); and 11
(C) enhance mutually beneficial partner-12
ship with countries in Africa that produce or 13
possess reserves of critical minerals by— 14
(i) mobilizing and supporting invest-15
ments in new or expanded critical mineral 16
production and processing projects in Afri-17
can markets in order to bolster equitable 18
and transparent global market-based ac-19
cess to African mineral production and 20
promote responsible sourcing and value- 21
added processing of critical minerals in Af-22
rica; 23
(ii) providing incentives, such as fi-24
nancing or technical assistance, for United 25
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•HRES 179 IH
States business, and businesses in African 1
countries friendly to the United States to 2
invest in such mineral sector production 3
and processing projects of strategic inter-4
est to the United States; and 5
(iii) urging the administration to 6
transform the Memorandum of Under-7
standing among the United States of 8
America, the Democratic Republic of 9
Congo, and the Republic of Zambia con-10
cerning support for the development of a 11
value chain in the electric vehicle battery 12
sector into a meaningful investment pro-13
gram that can be modelled and imple-14
mented throughout the continent; and 15
(2) the House of Representatives urges the Sec-16
retary of State, in consultation with the Secretaries 17
of Commerce, Energy, the Interior, Treasury, and 18
Defense, the United States Agency for International 19
Development, the Development Finance Corporation, 20
the United States Export-Import Bank, and any 21
other relevant Federal agencies as appropriate, to 22
develop a 5-year strategy to achieve the following 23
priorities: 24
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•HRES 179 IH
(A) Strengthen United States commercial 1
diplomacy and development efforts to support 2
United States critical minerals investors and 3
help address challenges of doing business in Af-4
rican countries. 5
(B) Provide financing and technical assist-6
ance incentives and pursue public-private in-7
vestment mobilization efforts to help eligible Af-8
rican mineral producers to capitalize the expan-9
sion of their critical mineral production and 10
processing capacities in order to diversify 11
United States critical mineral supply chains 12
and advance African value-addition objectives. 13
(C) Support through the United States 14
International Development Finance Corporation 15
and other Federal agencies, diversified equity 16
funds and investment platforms that provide 17
capital for or incentivize United States private 18
sector investment future mining projects in Af-19
rican countries. 20
(D) Enhance economic cooperation with el-21
igible African critical minerals producers. 22
Æ
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