Washington, D.C. – President Biden gave his State of the Union Address as our nation confronts mounting global energy and supply chain crises. SAFE Commanding Heights, a bipartisan initiative dedicated to advancing reliable supply chains for essential goods and materials, called for bipartisan solutions in areas crucial to America’s economic and national security.
Events in Europe reinforce the importance of reliable, affordable, and broadly sourced energy supplies. Reducing America’s vulnerability to global oil markets requires robust domestic production to meet immediate needs as we smartly add clean renewable sources to power the future.
“We recognize that too much of the energy and too many of the products America uses for transportation, commerce, and national defense come from places that do not share our interests and values,” said Dr. Jeb Nadaner, Executive Director of SAFE Commanding Heights.
These American supply chain challenges call out for immediate legislative action:
- First, appropriations to expand domestic critical mineral and rare earth element processing, which are vital for American military systems, electrical vehicles, and the overwhelming most sophisticated industrial operations.
- Second, passage of battery disclosure legislation to ensure that materials from the mine to final product coming from overseas do not leave us beholden to any one nation and meet U.S. trade, environmental, and human rights standards.
- Third, full funding for the CHIPS Act is needed to help America rebuild its semiconductor fabrication ability and remain the world leader in the design of integrated circuits.
- Fourth, revision of U.S. trade law to account for the reality of two decades of Chinese predatory behavior in violation of its fundamental trade commitments.
These measures will attract broad bipartisan support as they will create good jobs in this country and reduce America’s dependencies on hostile nations for critical energy, transportation, and defense systems.
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SAFE Commanding Heights is the non-partisan initiative dedicated to advancing critical supply chains for America’s transportation and energy needs.
Contact: Bridget Dunn | 202.539.7885 | bdunn@secureenergy.org
