National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn today commended Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for introducing the “Critical Minerals Policy Act of 2013,” a promising step toward reform of the U.S. mineral mining permit process:
“This bi-partisan legislation introduced today is a welcome recognition of the urgent need to facilitate the development of American minerals.
“For too long our country has had to over rely on foreign sources of minerals to meet its basic needs. America needs timely access to its abundant minerals to assure reliable and secure supply chains for our manufacturing, national defense and technological innovation.
“This bill takes a step in that direction by analyzing the impediments to domestic minerals mining that hamper prospects for a sustainable U.S. manufacturing renaissance. It is widely understood that the slow and inefficient permitting system in the U.S. poses the largest impediment to unlocking the full value of American minerals.”
To learn more about the role of minerals in U.S. manufacturing, national defense and technological innovation, visit www.mineralsmakelife.org.