Wicker, Roger F.: That's pretty un- The Committee meets today to discuss the state of our critical mineral supply chains and what can be done to make them stronger and more resilient. It's no exaggeration to say that America's resilience on Chinese critical minerals represents one of our greatest strategic vulnerabilities. Twice last year Chinese Communist Party Leader Xi Jingping threatened to cut off exports of Chinese rare earths. This would have brought American defense manufacturing to its knees and deeply damage the U.S. economy. Our advanced weapons systems and key parts of our civilian economy rely on critical minerals, materials that are largely imported from China. Specifically, America imports over 70 percent of our rare earths from China. These elements are the backbone of permanent magnets and perhaps the most important component for phones, cars, and military systems. More than 60 percent of American antimony comes from China. Antimony is a necessary ingredient for many explosives, electronics, and batteries. The scale of China's critical minerals domination is wholly unprecedented. The situation is untenable for America's national security and economic prosperity. The good news is that the U.S. government is forming a plan. forming a plan which will simultaneously re-establish critical minerals as a global free market and significantly increase American mining and production of these key elements. This effort will take more than a decade. It will face setbacks. It cannot be achieved without leaning on our allies and partners, and it will be expensive, but it is a necessary risk. The Pentagon has been and will be at the center of these efforts given the centrality of critical minerals to our weapons manufacturing. And that brings us to the committee's interest in this matter. Joining us today are two Pentagon officials, Mr. Mike Katanazi, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial-Based Policy, and sir, I hope I pronounced your name exactly correct.
Honorable Michael P. Cadenazzi, Jr.: You did, absolutely.
Wicker, Roger F.: Assistant Secretary of Defense, and then Mr. Jeff Frankston, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial-Based Resilience. Both Mr. Katanazi and Mr. Frankston and the teams they lead have done important work. They performed a deep analysis of both our military's requirements for critical minerals and the state of industrial production from mining to refining across the globe. That data-driven approach is leading to new investments by the Industrial Base Fund, the Defense Production Act, and the National Defense Stockpile. It's also driving interagency investments from the Development Finance Corporation, the Department of Commerce, and others. It is imperative that our investment strategy remain closely tied to the areas of greatest military need. Rebuilding America's critical mineral supply chains will require additional investments. Last year's defense reconciliation bill included $5 billion for the Industrial Base Fund, $2 billion for the Office of Strategic Capital. Those appropriations have already paid dividends. Last year, the Pentagon signed deals with MP Materials and a consortium of Vulcan, ReElement, and Corning for magnet production. Another investment went to Element USA, which will be making progress on obtaining gallium and scandium...