Alaska Miner Magazine, Winter 2021

Message from Sen. Lisa Murkowski American Mineral Security Act a victory for our great state I n late December, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act into law. Among other measures, this bill contained committee, I was able to reach agreement to enact nearly all of my American Mineral Security Act — the most substantial action that Congress has taken in decades to address our nation’s growing foreign mineral dependence.

funding for the federal government for the rest of Fiscal Year 2021 and the third major coronavirus recovery package in the past nine months. As a result of a bipartisan agreement that I helped lead, Congress is now providing greater sup - port for struggling individuals, families, and businesses, while also accelerating the purchase and distribution of vaccines to help us overcome the pandemic. Government funding and COVID-19 assistance rightfully led the news cov- erage of our year-end package, but they were not the only items of relevance to Alaska within it. In addition to funding

My legislation recognizes the impor- tance of minerals — and mining — to our daily lives and modern society. It will help reduce U.S. imports of miner- als like rare earth elements by taking a holistic approach to rebuild our domestic supply chains. The federal government is now responsible for maintaining a list of minerals critical to our economy and national defense, surveying lands to de- termine where we have viable deposits of those minerals, and ensuring that those who seek to develop them can responsi-

LISA MURKOWSKI

for federal mineral programs that I secured through my chairmanship of the Interior Appropriations Sub-

bly bring them into commercial production. This framework will help facilitate both domestic

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The Alaska Miner

Winter 2021

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