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Lawmakers and industry clash over critical minerals, noise and community impacts at AAM hearing
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Summary
Members pressed industry witnesses on battery supply chains, critical-mineral sourcing and noise/community impacts while industry called for consistent FAA certification and investment in domestic refining and infrastructure. A contentious exchange over cobalt and child-labor claims remained unresolved at the hearing.
A House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing on advanced air mobility included a pointed exchange over critical minerals and community impacts that highlighted political and ethical tensions as the industry seeks scale.
Representative Andy Perry (and other members) questioned witnesses about battery energy density, payload constraints in hot/high-altitude conditions and the degree to which U.S. supply chains depend on minerals processed in China. "This technology right now is nearly 100% dependent on minerals controlled by Beijing," Representative Perry said, adding concerns about labor practices in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kyle Clark of Beta Technologies disagreed with an assertion that key components "come from China" in his company's supply chain and said magnets in their products originate in Germany and move through North American suppliers. Clark and other witnesses urged Congress to invest in domestic refining and processing capacity to reduce strategic dependencies. Witnesses also agreed that permitting, refining and clean extraction technologies remain bottlenecks.
Representative Pete Stauber explicitly raised allegations about child labor in cobalt mining and asserted a specific figure; members and witnesses noted the seriousness of the claim but did not corroborate the statistic during the hearing. The claim was presented and disputed on the record; the committee did not resolve it before adjournment.
Separately, members raised quality-of-life concerns for communities near busy airports. Representative Kathleen Gillan and the co-chair of the Quiet Skies Caucus discussed airplane and helicopter noise and asked whether electric AAM aircraft can be deployed in congested airspace. Clark said electric aircraft are inherently quieter and described demonstrations and an early passenger flight into JFK that he said used about $7 of electricity.
The hearing concluded with unanimous consent to include written testimony in the record and an open window for supplementary written materials. Lawmakers and witnesses agreed on the need for additional data and follow-up: the supply-chain claims and labor allegations will require external verification and likely further committee inquiry.
