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Panel urges renewed U.S. investment in manufacturing, critical materials and mining workforce
Summary
Witnesses argued the U.S. must rebuild advanced manufacturing and domestic critical-materials capability, coordinate federal agencies, and expand mining and extractive engineering education to reduce strategic dependence.
Committee members and witnesses identified rebuilding manufacturing capacity and supply chains — including mining, refining and workforce training for critical materials — as essential to economic and national-security competitiveness.
Dr. Walter Copan urged coordinated agency action involving the Department of Energy, Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Defense, and said the United States must “rebuild our future workforce” and reinvest in extractive-industry innovation. He referenced the Mining Schools Act and noted the United States has underinvested in the mining and extractive workforce.
Dr. Heather Wilson said the University of Texas at El Paso is restarting a mining engineering program and noted there are “only 14 mining schools left in the United States”; she said UTEP plans to increase the number of mining engineers it trains by roughly 30 percent from that single program. Members emphasized practical partnerships between universities, states and industry, and urged incentives for domestic processing rather than shipping raw material abroad for refining.
Why it matters: witnesses linked mineral and advanced-manufacturing capacity to semiconductors, quantum materials and other technologies where supply‑chain dependence on other countries presents strategic risk. Members asked how federal tools, including the Defense Production Act and coordinated agency activity, could compress timelines for critical components and encourage responsible domestic production.
Committee follow-up: witnesses offered to provide legislative options and technical briefs on workforce expansion, modernization of permitting and coordinated interagency approaches to critical material extraction, processing and domestic manufacturing.
