Dear Members of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance and International Financial Institutions,

Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV-1) and Rep. John Joyce (R-PA-13) have introduced Bill H.R.7636 to push for funding for deep-sea mining. Deep sea mining poses a great threat to the health of the ocean and its ecosystems because scientists have warned that we simply do not know enough about the impacts of deep sea mining. 

Seeking funding for deep sea mining also is a significant risk to American tax dollars because catastrophic investment failures have occurred in the past. For example, the total failure of the Solwara 1 deep sea mining project in Papua New Guinea, which led to significant financial losses and spurred calls for a Pacific-wide moratorium on seabed mining, underscores the project's controversial nature and its environmental and community opposition challenges.

Additionally, a new report underscores the financial risks of deep-sea mining, revealing its economically unviable models due to technological hurdles, market uncertainties, and significant upfront costs, casting doubt on the industry's profit potential amidst environmental and regulatory challenges.

We need the US House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance and International Financial Institutions to protect American tax dollars from getting flushed into these uncertain and destructive projects by taking a stance against Bill H.R.7636.