RELEASE: The SECURE Minerals Act Equips U.S. Critical Minerals Strategy with Powerful and Necessary New Tools

Washington D.C., January 15, 2026 — Today, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D, NH) and Todd Young (R, IN) have introduced the Securing Essential and Critical U.S. Resources and Elements (SECURE) Minerals Act of 2026, building upon earlier legislation introduced by Representative Robert Wittman (R, VA-01).

The SECURE Minerals Act of 2026 proposes the establishment of the Strategic Resilience Reserve Corporation of the United States, a new wholly owned government corporation empowered to bolster national critical minerals supply chains using financial contracts, stockpiling, and market analysis.

The Breakthrough Institute applauds this improved bipartisan proposal, which addresses policy needs we identified in our July 2025 report by de-risking new domestic critical minerals projects, developing market infrastructure to improve the liquidity and transparency of critical mineral transactions, and adding flexible rapid response capabilities to national critical minerals strategy. Existing programs like the National Defense Stockpile are not currently structured to respond rapidly to economic needs, while market uncertainty impedes efforts to fill critical mineral supply chain gaps. Such uncertainty often stems from volatile prices strongly influenced by Chinese dominance of mineral industries.

“Critical minerals are key to American technological competitiveness and national defense and require a policy environment that supports innovation, protects the market from manipulation, and expands domestic production,” explains Climate and Energy Director, Dr. Seaver Wang. “A Strategic Resilience Reserve Corporation equipped with versatile financial instruments can maximize the efficiency of public sector support, while promoting more open and transparent critical commodity markets.”

“The SECURE Minerals Act is a crucial part of efforts to modernize and strengthen U.S. critical minerals policy, and will establish the market conditions America needs to compete with China across these vital supply chains.”

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Media Contact:

Dr. Seaver Wang

Climate and Energy Director

seaver@thebreakthrough.org