Sponsors (4)
Official title: Establish a new educational exchange program to strengthen domestic mining education, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 12, 2026 by Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen · Last progress January 12, 2026
The bill directs federal funding to international fellowships and visiting‑scholar exchanges to build U.S. critical‑mineral expertise and supply‑chain resilience, but does so at measurable federal cost, by concentrating resources toward mining priorities and select partner countries, adding implementation complexity and a 10‑year sunset that creates future uncertainty.
Students and early-career mining professionals: receive funded fellowships (one-year, renewable) and a dedicated $10M/year program ($100M total FY2026–2035) that cover tuition, living, travel, and visa costs, lowering financial barriers to specialized training.
U.S. critical-mineral supply chains and national security: program priorities and mineral designations (including gold, copper, and Secretary‑designated minerals) plus partnerships with Mineral Security Partnership countries strengthen diplomatic/technical ties and reduce strategic supply‑chain risks.
U.S. industry and regional labor markets: creates a larger, better-trained domestic workforce by supporting mining education, international exchanges, and recruitment pipelines that aim to place fellows in U.S.-based mining jobs.
Taxpayers and federal budget: the program requires roughly $10M/year ($100M total over 10 years) and additional administrative costs, increasing federal outlays that compete with other priorities.
Domestic economic impact and priority trade-offs: concentrating funding on international exchanges may produce limited near‑term domestic mine development or jobs compared with direct infrastructure or production subsidies, and could crowd out other academic disciplines.
Participants and potential applicants: eligibility preferences (priority for Minerals Security Partnership members) and the requirement that some fellows intend to seek U.S.-based mining jobs may restrict who can apply and deter candidates seeking international careers.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Creates Fulbright-based fellowships and a visiting scholars program to train U.S. mining talent and bring foreign mining experts, with $10M/year authorized for FY2026–FY2035.
Creates two new international exchange programs under the Fulbright framework to rebuild the U.S. critical-minerals and mining workforce: a Critical Mineral Mining Fellowship for U.S. students/recent postdocs to study and train abroad, and a Visiting Mining Scholars Program to bring foreign mining academics and professionals to U.S. institutions. The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will run both programs, prioritize participants from partner countries (e.g., Minerals Security Partnership members), require fellows to intend to work in the U.S. mining sector, authorize covered expenses, and report annually to Congress. Provides $10 million per year from FY2026–FY2035 to operate the programs and adds definitions and conforming edits to the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act; the entire law and its amendments automatically expire 10 years after enactment.