00:00The other letter we haven't gotten a response to relates to the issue, as I
00:08mentioned, of the U.S. decision, the Commerce Department decision, to take a
00:14stake, a U.S. government stake, in U.S. Rare Earth. $1.6 billion in federal
00:21support. And according to reports, the Rare Earth's own CEO publicly said that
00:29this deal originated in a November 2025 conversation between yourself and herself
00:35with no formal application, no public solicitation, and no competitive process.
00:40Is that accurate?
00:43I met the executives of USA Rare Earth, introduced to me by a gentleman named Ken
00:52Mollis, who is a famous banker who has a firm by his own name.
00:57And so he brought the deal to us because it is well known that China has weaponized
01:05rare earths and critical minerals against the country.
01:08And it is very important for the United States to unleash our ability to do rare
01:16earths, critical minerals, and magnets.
01:19And USA Rare Earth has a mine-to-magnet integrated model.
01:24And that was interesting.
01:26It was presented to me by Ken Mollis, and then I introduced them to the CHIPS team to pursue
01:33the transaction.
01:34So, Mr. Secretary, I have no complaint with the decision to take some U.S. ownership stake
01:40in exchange for the investment, something that some of us encourage the Biden administration
01:46to do in strategic sectors, like this one, certain others.
01:51It's more the complete lack of transparency and process under which this deal took place,
01:57because, you know, before that transaction, I understand that this company's total federal
02:04contracting history was worth less than $100,000.
02:08It also, as you well know, coincided with the fact that your previous firm, Cantor Fitzgerald,
02:17helped arrange the transaction on the other side of the deal, on the private investment
02:23side, which raises considerable conflict of interest concerns.
02:28So, can you respond to the letter?
02:31Would you respond to the letter by the end of this month that we sent that lays out
02:35some of these questions?
02:39I will take another look at the letter and see if we can work together to resolve
02:43your issues.
02:43I would appreciate that, Mr. Secretary, because it would, you know, again,
02:48I want to look at this year's budget, too.
02:52And the challenge we've got here is when we present you questions,
02:57Chairman mentioned some of the things he's asked about, and we get no answers.
03:01That's a real problem.
03:03And it will, it means that we are going to spend more time focusing on the things that
03:10you didn't respond to when we want to focus on the future.
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