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First Fox: Senate Republicans want to lift their foot to the US in a race with China, and want to run through the country relying on importing the key raw materials needed for their arms systems.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wants to quickly track the harvest of raw materials in the US needed for the US defensive capabilities, and plans to blow the federal and judicial deficits to do so.
Cotton will introduce legislation that will allow the Secretary of Defense to skirt environmental laws and possible blockades by courts, allowing critical mineral extraction projects that are likely to be necessary to strengthen the nation’s military and defensive preparations.
“Who doesn’t want that?”
Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, is working to quickly track the extraction of US live minerals needed for arms development. (Getty Images)
His bill is designed to give the US an edge over China, the world’s largest producer of important minerals such as cobalt, lithium, graphite, weapons systems, electric vehicles, and other rare earth minerals such as home appliances.
Today, China produces around 60% of the world’s important mineral supply, with up to 90% processing.
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“Current environmental laws are ready to counter communist China, and are wasting taxpayer dollars on projects that have died on grapes,” Cotton said in a statement in Fox News Digital. “This bill will create jobs, arm them, prepare soldiers and spend taxpayer dollars more efficiently.”
The cotton bill, known as the Environmental Exemptions required for the Defense Act, creates waiver of mining activities and projects related to countering China, allowing the Pentagon to “work with maximum agility and efficiency, and, if necessary, thwart conflict with the Chinese Communist Party and fight as needed.”
Among the regulations and environmental review criteria that can be skirted with a waiver are the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Species, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
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Cotton claimed in the law that the aforementioned regulations frequently and unnecessary delays military preparation without “providing great benefits to the environment or protected species.” At that time, it was essential when it came to national defense.
Projects under the regulatory exemption umbrella include testing and production, deployment of technology, systems or equipment, and the construction, maintenance, expansion, or repair of facilities or Department of Defense infrastructure.
It will also prevent the project from being taken away by the court as long as the initiative is deemed necessary for military preparation by the Secretary of Defense.
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The bill fits the White House’s broader plans to jump over key mineral extractions within the country, including executive action, bids to buy Greenland, a mineral agreement with Ukraine, or launch more offshore mining in the US Gulf.
It also comes after President Donald Trump placed numerous White House tariffs with Chinese President Xi Jinping on China and other countries, and signed a contract to resume critical mineral trade after shipments halted earlier this year.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital, which covers the US Senate.
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