Oversight Hearing | Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee
Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans
2025-04-29
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Source: Congress.gov
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The Subcommittee on Oversight Investigations will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess of the Subcommittee at any time. The Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on exploring the potential of deep sea mining to expand American mineral production. Under Committee Rule 4F, any oral opening statements at the hearing are limited to the chairman and ranking member, as well as the ranking member and the chairman of the full committee. I therefore ask unanimous consent that all other members' statements be made part of the hearing record. if they are submitted in accordance with Rule 3-0. Without objection, so ordered. I ask for unanimous consent that the following members be allowed to sit and participate in today's hearing. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Webster. The gentleman from Texas, Mr. Hunt. The gentleman from Hawaii, Mr. Case. Without objection, so ordered. I recognize the full committee chair, Mr. Westerman. I will now open with my opening statement. Good morning, everyone. Thank you to our witnesses who came today to testify on this important issue, exploring the potential of deep sea mining to expand American mineral production. From the moment President Trump began his second term, the House Committee on Natural Resources majority and the Trump administration have worked tirelessly to unleash America's natural resources and restore our nation's energy and mineral dominance. Doing so has meant not only leading an effort to reform burdensome regulations and permitting processes to unlock key resources within America's land borders, but also looking to other areas like the sea floor of the U.S., the outer continental shelf and the deep high seas that are rich with critical mineral deposits. Under former misguided democratic leadership, the U.S. abandoned our ability to explore, extract and process critical minerals that are foundational to nearly all modern technologies and amenities. Nothing pleased our foreign adversaries like China more than America's surrender to radical preservationist NGOs and their foreign-funded donors who waged lawfare against sound multiple-use resource management policies.
Seizing the opportunities left behind by America's absence, China has completely dominated global critical mineral supply chains. Right now, China controls approximately 60% of the worldwide critical mineral production, 90% of processing, and 75% of the manufacturing. This outsized global influence has allowed China to cripple America's access to critical minerals at a whim. Harvesting the minerals found in abundance on the seafloor, both in the U.S.-controlled and international waters, can significantly help America buck the supply chain yoke placed on us by China and reestablish mineral independence. Current estimates place a value of up to $16 trillion on sea floor critical minerals around the world. Estimates of seabed minerals in U.S. waters alone suggest that seabed mining could add over $300 billion to America's seed GDP over the next decade and create more than 100,000 jobs. And as our mineral identification capabilities increase through additional seabed exploration, these estimates are more likely to increase. Recognizing this reality, last Thursday, April 24, President Trump issued an executive order intended to invigorate American seabed mining dominance by accelerating the process for reviewing and approving permits for exploration and extraction under longstanding U.S. law. Unsurprisingly, the very next day, the same Chinese authorities who have flouted nearly every humanitarian labor and environmental law on the books in their request to control global mineral mining, including on a sea floor, accused President Trump and the United States of violating international law and harming the overall interests of the international community. Deja vu. This Chinese reaction only highlights that President Trump and the Republicans in Congress are charging ahead in the right direction. I challenge my colleagues in this room to think about the widespread economic, energy, technology, and national security implications of seabed mining and about our duty to ensure that the United States with its world-best environmental, humanitarian, and labor standards, leads the charge to harvest sea floor critical minerals.
Together, we must work to secure America's mineral supply chains and champion all the above approach to mineral and energy development. Thank you, and now I'll recognize the ranking member, Ms. Dexter, for her opening statements. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. I appreciate the opportunity to educate ourselves on an issue of profound environmental and economic consequence, deep sea mining. It's unfortunate indeed that our president has already issued an executive order on this topic, even knowing that we had this hearing forthcoming, showing his disregard for transparency and public input. Let me be clear from the outset. Deep sea mining is a high risk, low reward endeavor. It carries grave risks to our oceans and communities with no credible evidence of return on investment.
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