Whereas the United States acknowledges the importance that critical minerals will have in the future; Whereas critical minerals, along with rare-earth minerals, are the building blocks of technology, information and communications technology, and defense; Whereas critical minerals are used in the construction of advanced defense systems and clean energy technologies; Whereas the People’s Republic of China (PRC) currently dominates global mineral production and refining, with a market share of up to 90 percent; Whereas the PRC builds on environmental and human rights violations, including attacks against grassroots leaders, water pollution, ecosystem destruction, and unsafe working conditions; Whereas, building upon previous investments with the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign policy initiative, China has spent the past 2 decades pouring at least $170,000,000,000 into building ports, railroads, and other massive infrastructure projects across Africa; Whereas, although the United States has a vast collection of minerals, excessive regulations and Federal overreach have made it virtually impossible to mine in America; Whereas leases were recently canceled for the Twin Metals mine, which contains the largest deposit of cobalt and nickel in the United States; Whereas the processing and refining of critical minerals in the United States will require access to sufficient feedstocks and a regulatory landscape that does not involve insurmountable roadblocks; Whereas the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has estimated that the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), in the international seabed area of the Pacific Ocean, contains 21,000,000,000 tons of polymetallic nodules; Whereas the CCZ is estimated to contain more manganese, nickel, and cobalt than the entire global terrestrial reserve base for those minerals, combined; Whereas the CCZ is a 48,000,000,000,000 square feet area in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico