[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4548 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4548
To require a national strategy to secure United States supply chains
involving critical minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2023
Mr. James (for himself, Mr. Baird, Mrs. Kim of California, Mr. Mills,
and Mr. Kean of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the
Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, and Energy and
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require a national strategy to secure United States supply chains
involving critical minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Building Relationships and
Increasing Democratic Governance through Engagement to DRC Act of
2023'' or the ``BRIDGE to DRC Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States recognized the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (hereafter referred to as ``the DRC'') on June 30,
1960.
(2) The DRC has long suffered from armed conflicts and
threats to its territorial integrity, including by the March 23
Movement (M23), the Allied Defense Forces, and the Forces
Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR).
(3) The DRC's instability is further exacerbated by
political instability, endemic corruption, exploitation of its
natural resources, armed conflict, gross human rights abuses,
and humanitarian crises, which destabilize the region and cause
mass human suffering.
(4) The DRC is scheduled to conduct presidential,
legislative, provincial, and local elections in December 2023.
(5) The United Nations Stabilization Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has failed to
stabilize eastern DRC and failed its mandate to protect
civilians.
(6) The East African Community's intervention has failed to
stem armed conflicts and stabilize eastern DRC.
(7) The DRC has globally significant reserves of rare earth
minerals and other critical minerals, including deposits of
copper, cobalt, lithium, niobium, germanium, and tantalum.
(8) The DRC is the world's largest producer and exporter of
cobalt and the world's second largest producer of copper.
(9) The People's Republic of China (PRC) has a near
monopoly of the DRC's cobalt mining sector, with 15 of the 19
cobalt-producing mines in the DRC being owned or financed by
PRC based firms in 2021, which directly contributes to its near
monopoly over global critical mineral supply chains.
(10) The PRC refines 80 percent of the world's cobalt and
60 percent of its lithium.
(11) The United States National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration projects that the technology costs required for
manufacturers to adhere to current industrial targets could
increase by $90 billion over the lifetimes of vehicles through
2029, with per-vehicle costs increasing by roughly $1,110 on
average per United States consumer for new vehicles.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
is a strategic priority for the United States on the African
continent, and it is in the economic and national security
interest of the United States to support accountable,
inclusive, and democratic governance in the Democratic Republic
of Congo;
(2) it is in the United States interest to support
additional efforts to end conflict in eastern DRC, including by
seeking to stem the Rwandan Government's support to the M23,
the documented use of child soldiers, and the threat posed to
the Congolese people from undisciplined elements of the Armed
Forces of the DRC and other non-state armed groups;
(3) United States humanitarian assistance remains critical
in providing millions of people in the DRC with life-saving aid
and alleviating the suffering of people affected by disasters;
(4) as the largest financial contributor to the United
Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, with an estimated $313,000,000 in fiscal year 2023
appropriations allocated for the mission, the United States
should use its voice, vote, and influence in the United Nations
Security Council to support the United Nations pre-existing
plan to draw down the Mission not later than December 2024;
(5) the current near monopoly of the PRC over the DRC's
cobalt and critical mineral extraction and near monopsony of
the PRC over the DRC's cobalt and global critical mineral
processing and refining deprives the DRC of important revenue
and added value, and represents an economic and national
security threat for the United States that directly impacts
United States energy independence and military preparedness;
(6) the United States should ensure development of
voluntary standards, support of multi stakeholder alliances and
industry coalitions, and pursue actions to end human rights
violations, environmental degradation, opaque businesses
practices, and widespread forced labor, including child labor,
in the DRC's mining industry, a problem exacerbated by PRC
linked companies' flagrant disregard for human rights;
(7) previous United States policies in regard to the DRC's
natural resources and minerals, such as section 1502 of the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (15
U.S.C. 78m note), have punished the DRC and incentivized
illicit trade through the DRC's neighbors; and
(8) The sale of the Tenke Fungurume mine in 2016, and the
undeveloped Kisanfu concession in 2020, to the PRC State-tied
mining company CMOC (previously known as China Molybdenum
Company Limited) damaged United States economic and national
security interests by contributing to the PRC's control of
global cobalt supply chains.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) support the conduct of free, fair, and on time
democratic elections in the DRC by advocating for enhanced
civic education, an inclusive and transparent voter
registration process that includes voter access in all
provinces, including those where a state of siege declaration
applies, and enabling all candidates to fairly compete,
including through respecting all candidates' rights to free
expression and free assembly;
(2) encourage the adoption of measures that ensure the
elections in the DRC are free, fair and democratic, including
through support for transparent tabulation processes, the
publication of both preliminary and final electoral results by
the Commission Electorale Nationale Independante (CENI) on its
website and polling station premises in an appropriate
timeframe to allow cross-checking against data gathered by
election observers, and broad access for credible election
observation by domestic and international actors including,
where appropriate, civil society and faith-based entities, such
as the Conference Episcopale Nationale du Congo and the Church
of Christ in Congo;
(3) contribute to efforts to end the M23 conflict,
including by supporting the African Union and East African
Community efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire and
restricting all United States security assistance and
cooperation to the Government of Rwanda until the Secretary of
State certifies to the appropriate committees of Congress that
Rwanda has terminated any and all military support for the M23;
(4) use existing sanctions authorities authorized by the
Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C.
10101 et seq.) against perpetrators of corruption or human
rights violations in the DRC;
(5) support efforts to accurately oversee, monitor, and
prevent labor and human rights abuses in the DRC's mining
industry in order to remove child and slave labor from United
States supply chains, including by encouraging the Government
of the DRC to support the formalization of artisanal and small
scale mining;
(6) engage with the Government of the DRC to address
factors, including opaque business and taxation practices, and
unpredictable administrative requirements, that limit United
States investment and constrain the ability of the United
States and DRC to strengthen economic cooperation;
(7) require institutions including the Department of State,
the United States Agency for International Development, the
Development Finance Corporation, and the Department of Commerce
to identify opportunities to increase the amount of United
States investment in the DRC's critical minerals sector; and
(8) recognize that the PRC's influence over the DRC's
mining sector output and processing is of concern to the
economic and national security of the United States.
SEC. 5. NATIONAL STRATEGY TO ENSURE A CONTINUED ROLE IN THE DRC'S
CRITICAL MINERAL SECTOR.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the President, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development, and the heads of
other appropriate Federal agencies, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a written strategy that--
(1) identifies the critical minerals present in the DRC
that--
(A) are part of the United States Geological Survey
list of 50 mineral commodities critical to the United
States economy and national security; and
(B) are at highest risk of supply chain disruption
due to the domestic or global actions, including price-
fixing, systemic acquisition and control of global
mineral resources and processing, refining, smelting
capacity, or undercutting the fair market value of such
resources, by any covered entity; and
(2) is focused on--
(A) securing United States supply chains which
involve critical minerals sourced from the DRC; and
(B) securing and expanding United States supply
chains which involve the critical minerals identified
pursuant to paragraph (1)(B).
(b) Elements.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall also
include the following:
(1) Analysis of the national security implications and
impact on national supply chain sovereignty caused by the 2016
and 2020 sales of Tenke Fungurume mine and the undeveloped
Kisanfu concession to China Molybdenum Company Limited.
(2) A review of the effectiveness of section 1502 of the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (15
U.S.C. 78m note), including--
(A) a list of all mining companies, grouped by
nationality, who left eastern DRC following section
1502's enactment in 2010;
(B) analysis showing the market share for the
conflict mineral trade in eastern DRC before and after
section 1502's enactment which shall include, where
possible, market share analysis for 2005, 2010, 2015
and 2020;
(C) analysis of the unemployment factors, including
disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration efforts,
in eastern DRC following section 1502's enactment;
(D) analysis of security sector reform efforts in
eastern DRC since section 1502's enactment;
(E) an assessment of the effectiveness of section
1502 in limiting financial benefits from accruing,
either directly or indirectly, to armed groups in the
DRC or adjoining countries; and
(F) analysis of the level of illicit mining that
has occurred in eastern DRC's conflict mineral trade
following section 1502's enactment, which shall
include--
(i) statistical analysis showing the degree
of illegal smuggling of conflict minerals into
adjoining countries; and
(ii) an assessment of the level of
coordination and cooperation in the illegal
smuggling of conflict minerals between
adjoining countries and non-state armed actors
present in eastern DRC.
(3) An analysis of the level of control exerted by the PRC
over the DRC's mining sector, including--
(A) the market share of covered entities which
shall include analysis of the market share for each of
the critical minerals identified pursuant to subsection
(a)(1)(B) in both the DRC as a whole and within each
province where the critical minerals are located;
(B) the financial terms of covered entities
investments in primary extraction; and
(C) a diagram detailing the location of covered
entities operations throughout the supply chain of the
critical minerals identified in subsection (a)(1)(B)
from extraction to refinement.
(4) A list of each covered entity analyzed with respect to
the evaluation of risk required by subsection (a)(1)(B).
(5) An assessment of the risks facing United States supply
chains as a result of the PRC's position in the DRC's mining
sector.
(6) An assessment of human rights and labor conditions at
mines in the DRC at which covered entities operate.
(7) An assessment of the market share and capacity of
trusted partner nations' mining companies with respect to the
DRC's mining sector.
(8) A strategic plan to use bilateral and multilateral
diplomatic relations, including through sustained engagement
with the governments of United States allies and partners, to
express to the Government of the DRC the support of the
international community for the formalization of artisanal and
small scale mining.
(9) An assessment of the factors that allowed the PRC to
gain market dominance in parts of the DRC's mining industry and
which factors present the most significant barriers to
increased United States investment in the DRC's mining sector.
(10) An assessment of the ability of the DRC's critical
mineral sector to positively contribute to United States
efforts to fulfill both industrial production targets and
ensure military preparedness, that includes--
(A) analysis of the importance of the critical
minerals in the DRC, as identified by subsection
(a)(1)(B), in reaching current United States industrial
production targets;
(B) analysis of the DRC's business climate,
specifically the reliability, transparency and
consistency of its business practices;
(C) evaluation of the impact of the factors
identified in sections (b)(3), (b)(5), (b)(7), (b)(9)
and (b)(10)(B) of this strategy on the ability of the
United States to secure its critical mineral supply
chains.
(11) An interagency approved plan to increase United States
investment in the DRC, including through--
(A) increasing technical assistance and capacity
building measures and conducting feasibility studies to
rebuild infrastructure and reform the DRC's business
climate, including through reforms to the governance of
the DRC's State-owned enterprises (SOEs), in order to
support domestic innovation and economic
diversification, and increase local sub-contracting and
private sector-led growth;
(B) ensuring foreign assistance initiatives promote
sustainable development in communities affected by
mining, protect human rights, and provide professional
training for local workers; and
(C) assessing staffing levels at the United States
Embassy in Kinshasa, and increasing them if necessary,
including having at least 1 Foreign Service Officer
exclusively dedicated to critical minerals, to reflect
the importance of the DRC to United States supply
chains and enhance the competitiveness of United States
development financing including through the United
States International Development Finance Corporation
and the Foreign Commercial Service.
(c) Form.--The strategy required under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form and may include a classified annex.
(d) Updates.--Not later than 3 years after the submission of the
initial strategy required by subsection (a), and every 3 years
thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that includes--
(1) an update of the strategy submitted pursuant to
subsection (a); and
(2) an assessment of the effectiveness of such strategy, as
of the date of the submission of the update, in securing United
States supply chains which rely on critical minerals sourced
from the DRC.
(e) Definitions.--
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate Congressional Committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee
on Appropriations, the Committee on Financial Services,
and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
(2) Armed group.--The term ``armed group'' means an armed
state or non-state actor that is identified as a perpetrator of
serious human rights abuses in the Department of State's annual
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
(3) Conflict mineral.--The term ``conflict mineral'' means
columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, gold, wolframite, or
their derivatives, or any other mineral or its derivatives that
the Secretary of State determines to be financing conflict in
the DRC or an adjoining country.
(4) Covered entity.--The terms ``covered entity'' means a
foreign entity that--
(A) is subject to the jurisdiction or direction of
the PRC;
(B) is legally registered or internationally
headquartered in the PRC;
(C) is directly operating on behalf of the PRC;
(D) is majority owned by, or directly or indirectly
controlled by, the PRC;
(E) receives funding, either directly or
indirectly, from the Government of the PRC, PRC State
policy banks, or any other bank that is financed
primarily by the PRC;
(F) that is formed from a spin-off, merger or
acquisition, or sale of a business unit involving an
entity described in any of subparagraphs (A) through
(E) or is otherwise a successor to such an entity; or
(G) provides financial services for an entity
described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (F).
(5) Drc.--The term ``DRC'' means the Democratic Republic of
the Congo.
(6) Prc.--The term ``PRC'' means the People's Republic of
China.
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