WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) released the following statement in response to President Biden’s announcement that he will invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to increase the production and processing of critical minerals used to make batteries including lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, and manganese. This comes after a March 14th letter, where Cassidy and Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Jim Risch (R-ID) urged Biden to invoke the DPA to increase mineral production to relieve our current supply chain issues and decrease economic dependence on China.
“We cannot go from a dependency on foreign oil to a dependency on Chinese minerals,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It is encouraging that the administration listened to our letter and is announcing action. However, enacting the DPA without addressing the bureaucratic logjam of permitting would be little more than symbolism. We have to also streamline the permitting process that could delay any effort by years.”
Passed in 1950, the DPA grants the president power to direct industries to increase domestic production of a certain product to assist the economy or our national defense capabilities.
Read Cassidy’s full letter here.
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