Expressing support for designation of the week of December 6, 2021, through December 12, 2021, as National United States Miners Week.

Whereas December 6 was established by Congress in 2009 to honor the hard work and commitment of miners in the United States;

Whereas America’s mining men and women are foundational to modern economies and are necessary for a high quality of life for all citizens;

Whereas the critical minerals and other raw materials harvested by American miners out of domestic mines produce more than $82 billion in raw materials annually;

Whereas the critical minerals and other raw materials unearthed by miners are crucial to secure supply chains needed for steel, roads, houses, cars, smartphones, ventilators, wind turbines, solar panels, and everything else in our world that is not grown;

Whereas America’s miners mine or support other industries in all 50 States;

Whereas there are more than 500,000 directly employed miners in America, supporting another 1.8 million jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and environmental sciences;

Whereas each miner in America indirectly supports an additional 3 jobs in spinoff industries such as health care, hospitality, education, and others, and are located in largely rural communities;

Whereas America’s miners support billions in State and Federal royalty revenues, funding education, child care, and diversifying economic development in their communities; and

Whereas America would rely more on countries like Russia, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and others who rely on child and slave labor to produce minerals needed for modern life if it weren’t for American miners: Now, therefore, be it