America depends too much on China for essential minerals. We need to dig our future

For decades, Americans have thought about national security primarily in terms of military strength — the aircraft we build, the ships we deploy and the men and women who defend our country.

Today, national security means much more, including having access to the critical materials required to not only build our military systems, but also power our data centers, manufacture advanced technologies and support the industries that underpin the American economy.

And on that front, the United...