A group of lawmakers headed by Reps. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., called on the House Appropriations Committee to include funding for the National Defense Stockpile of rare earth materials.
The lawmakers wrote a letter to the House panel’s leadership urging them to back the president’s fiscal year 2023 budget request that seeks to include an additional $254 million for the NDS transaction fund, Franklin’s office said Wednesday.
The Defense Logistics Agency – Strategic Materials oversees NDS, which ensures that the Department of Defense has access to titanium, aluminum, tungsten, cobalt, rubber and other key materials to maintain military readiness in the event of a major disruption to supply chains.
According to the letter, the total value of the stockpiled inventory fell from $9.6 billion in 1989 to $888 million in 2021.
The letter was also signed by Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.; Greg Pence, R-Ind.; Doug Lamborn, R-Colo.; Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C.; Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.; and Michael Waltz, R-Fla.
