S.Amdt. 4478

SA 4478. Mr. ROMNEY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed to
the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022
for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle C of title XIV, add the following:

SEC. 1424. REPORT ON DOMESTIC PROCESSING OF RARE EARTHS.

(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition and Sustainment shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report on domestic processing of
rare earths to achieve supply chain independence for the
United States Armed Forces and key allies and partners of the
United States.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall
include the following:
(1) An estimate of the annual demand for processed rare
earths for the United States Armed Forces and key allies and
partners of the United States.
(2) An outline of the necessary processed rare earths value
chain required to support the needs of the Department of
Defense.
(3) An assessment of gaps in the outline described in
paragraph (2) indicating where sufficient domestic capacity
already exists and where such capacity does not exist.
(4) An identification of any Federal funds, including any
funds made available under title III of the Defense
Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4531 et seq.), currently
being deployed to support creation of domestic capacity to
address those gaps.
(5) An estimate of the additional capital investment
required to build and operate capacity to address those gaps.
(6) An estimate of the annual funding necessary for the
Department of Defense to procure domestically processed rare
earths sufficient to meet its annual needs, including
consideration of increased investments from private sector
capital.

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(7) An estimate of the cost difference between the
Department of Defense sourcing rare earths processed in the
United States and sourcing rare earths on the open market.
(8) An identification of how the Department of Defense
would direct its weapon suppliers to use the domestically
processed rare earths.
(9) An assessment of what changes, if any, to authorities
under title III of the Defense Production Act of 1950 are
necessary to enter into a long-term offtake agreement to
contract for domestically processed rare earths.
(10) An assessment of the length of potential contracts
necessary for preventing the collapse of domestic processing
of rare earths in the case of price fluctuations from
increases in the People's Republic of China's export quota.
(11) Recommendations for international cooperation with
allies and partners to jointly reduce dependence on rare
earths processed in or by the People's Republic of China.
(c) Form of Report.--The report required by subsection (a)
shall be submitted in classified form but shall include an
unclassified summary.
(d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the
Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign
Relations, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on
Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the
Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives.
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