Mike Kennedy

Mr. Speaker, Greeting · 23 wordsI thank Chairman Westerman, Representative Shreve, and colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee for their work on this important piece of legislation.Greeting Claims · 106 wordsEvery modern economy, every advanced technology, and every military capability depends on these kinds of minerals. Copper, iron, lithium, rare earths, and other minerals are essential to our power grid, our manufacturing base, our defense systems, and the technologies that will define our future. Yet, we continue to rely heavily on foreign nations, including our geopolitical adversaries, for the minerals we need to manufacture these products. That is a national security vulnerability. The problem is not that America lacks these resources. We certainly have them. The problem is that it has become easier to permit a mine almost anywhere else on Earth than here at home, Reasoning · 29 wordsso the mine is developed somewhere else; jobs go somewhere else; and the supply chain we depend on ends up running through countries that do not wish us well. Positioning · 24 wordsEndless permitting uncertainty does not protect anything. It simply hands our competitors the advantage over the industries that power our economy and national defense.Positioning Claims · 3 wordsI represent Utah, Anecdote · 10 wordsand I have seen what responsible mineral development looks like.Anecdote Claims · 55 wordsUtah has a proud history of it. Today, mining supports in our State more than 43,000 jobs and contributes billions of dollars to our economy.¹ The Protecting Domestic Mining Act takes an important step toward fixing that problem. It ensures that mining and mineral processing projects can benefit from a predictable and coordinated permitting process.² Positioning · 16 wordsRepublicans are cutting through Washington’s red tape to give American producers the certainty that they need.Positioning Reasoning · 27 wordsWithout it, nothing gets built.Unearned certainty No one invests billions in a mine that takes a decade to complete if the rules might be rewritten in 4 years. Mr. Speaker, Positioning · 11 wordsthis is about whether America can still build what it needs.Positioning The ask · 8 wordsI urge my colleagues to support this bill.