S.Amdt. 5948

SA 5948, submitted by Mr. Bennet, aims to add a new section to bill S. 4784. The purpose of this addition is to require the Secretary of Defense to provide a report on critical minerals used by the Department of Defense.

The amendment requires a report to be submitted to the Senate and House Committees on Armed Services by October 1, 2026. This report must include:

• An assessment of whether minerals on the most recent list from the Energy Act of 2020 are required for materials integral to the defense industrial base.

• A description of where mineral deposits, refining and processing facilities, and recycling facilities are geographically located.

• An assessment of byproduct recovery of minerals at existing mines in foreign countries, focusing on supply chains concentrated in countries of concern like the People's Republic of China.

• A description of available methods—such as grants, loans, loan guarantees, strategic investments, and procurement policy reforms—to speed up recycling, extraction, processing, materials science, and the development of a mining workforce in the United States to reduce dependence on the People's Republic of China or other countries of concern.

• An assessment of international partnerships that could increase the security of critical mineral supply chains.

• An assessment of ways the Secretary can maximize the recycling of decommissioned military waste to get critical materials.