Full Text of HR1023 98th General Assembly
HR1023 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Rare Earth Elements are 17 individual minerals | 3 | | that are extremely important in the
production of a wide | 4 | | variety of products that have domestic, environmental, and | 5 | | defensive uses,
including mobile phone technology, aerospace | 6 | | instruments, radiation medicine, MRI & PET scanning,
clean | 7 | | energy, radar systems, and satellites; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, It is estimated that China is responsible for more | 9 | | than 90% of the global supply of Rare Earth
Elements in use | 10 | | today and has been suspected of price fixing these materials by | 11 | | reducing exportation of
"raw" elements in favor of finished | 12 | | products; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Current United States regulatory policy inhibits | 14 | | the processing, safe storage, and development of
potential uses | 15 | | for Thorium, a companion element of rare earth mining and | 16 | | processing; this greatly
enhances China's rare earth monopoly | 17 | | power; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Missouri's Pea Ridge Mine in Washington County is | 19 | | capable of mining all 17 of the Rare Earth
Elements and the | 20 | | by-product material, Thorium, which can be used as a source | 21 | | fuel for nuclear energy;
Thorium is not only more abundant, but | 22 | | also safer than uranium; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The United States does not currently have a | 2 | | facility capable of refining these Rare Earth
Minerals in a | 3 | | cost efficient manner, while China and other countries continue | 4 | | to invest in new refining
and mining technologies; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Rare Earth Elements are becoming increasingly | 6 | | more important and valuable, and the United
States is too | 7 | | dependent on foreign sources that gouge prices and exploit | 8 | | populations in favor of higher
profits; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Rare Earths Element can be extracted from coal and | 10 | | coal tailings and can help contribute to U.S. Rare
Earth | 11 | | production, giving new life and jobs to the State's coal | 12 | | industry, while making it cleaner and more
efficient; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The coal industry will benefit greatly from other | 14 | | Rare Earth refining byproducts such as
Thorium which may help | 15 | | create clean liquid fuels from coal and make Illinois a leader | 16 | | in clean-coal
technology; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, All by-products of Rare Earth production will be | 18 | | safely managed and stored on the site of the central Rare Earth | 19 | | Refinery, Strategic Reserve, and Illinois will lead the world | 20 | | in
developing the safest strategic reserve to store, trace, and | 21 | | manage every gram of Thorium by-product
from Rare Earth |
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| 1 | | Production; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, It is in the best interest of national security, | 3 | | job creation, and quality of life to mine and refine
Rare Earth | 4 | | Elements within the United States to lessen our dependency on | 5 | | China and other foreign
sources of these materials; therefore, | 6 | | be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 9 | | we
strongly encourage the Rare Earth Element mining that is | 10 | | taking place at the Pea Ridge Mine in Missouri; and be it | 11 | | further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That we also strongly encourage the placement of | 13 | | the Rare Earth Cooperative in East St.
Louis or another | 14 | | location within Illinois, to help shift our dependency on | 15 | | foreign rare earth materials,
bring stabilization to the global | 16 | | market for these types of materials, and create jobs for the | 17 | | residents of
Illinois; and be it further | 18 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution are | 19 | | presented to the members of the Illinois Congressional | 20 | | Delegation, U.S. Senator
Richard J. Durbin, U.S. Senator Mark | 21 | | Kirk, and Governor Pat Quinn.
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