Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me, if I may, talk a little bit about the proponent's claim that H.R. 687 will boost the U.S. economy. The copper will likely benefit China more than the United States. Nine percent of the parent company of Resolution Copper, Rio Tinto, is owned by the state-controlled Aluminum Corporation of China. Rio Tinto has a long-established partnership to supply copper to China--they repeatedly stated--and at a hearing refused to say what percentage of the copper generated from Federal lands would be retained and processed in the United States. They will continue to market and supply their mine copper and other ores to meet the greatest needs. At this point, Rio Tinto's own international copper study group forecast a 377-ton global shortage this year alone, driven not by U.S. demand but by that of China. The bill does not even require that the ore extracted from this mine be processed in the United States, much less marketed or sold here. Our time and our focus should be on supporting U.S. industries maintaining jobs. We should not trade away billions and billions of dollars and tonnage of copper to supply China's ever-growing need. I also would like to point out another issue that my friend, Congressman Kildee, pointed out.…”