Originally published in Defense One

Written by Marcus Weisgerber

As the Pentagon looks to remove Chinese-made parts from its weapons, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., wants the Defense Department to come up with a plan to make sure it has access to critical rare earth minerals today supplied largely by China.

“When you think about everything that is made on the civilian side [and] on the defense side that requires many of these rare earths to be part of their construction, I think that it’s more of a global issue,” said Houlahan, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a former chemistry teacher who boasts about being “somewhat infatuated with the periodic table.”

Earlier this month, she added an amendment to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that would require the Pentagon “to develop guidance on the streamlined acquisition of items with rare earth materials and to prevent our adversaries, like China, from controlling the world’s supply of these key materials.” It would also add tantalum — an alloy used in semiconductors, turbine blades, and rocket nozzles — as “a covered material for purposes of disposition under the National Defense Stockpile program.” The bill must still pass the full House and Senate to become law.

Concern about rare earths is rising along with tensions between Washington and Beijing. In May, China threatened to cut U.S. access to rare earths amid countries’ trade battle.

CBS News recently reported on the global reliance on the minerals, which are key to modern electronics used in everything from mobile phones to fighter jets.

“I think people are starting to pay more attention to it as demonstrated by the 60 Minutes piece,” Houlahan said. “It hasn’t been terribly sexy to talk about rare earths, but all of a sudden it seems as though people have it in their vernacular.”