Raúl Grijalva: “Unfortunately, the 109th Congress, under Republican leadership, allowed the program to expire.”

We stand at the edge of a whole new mining rush.

I am always pleased that this Committee is as bipartisan as it is in terms of finding solutions and working together for the issues that are presented here.

To merely open the floodgates to the use of our public lands without any protections, due process, community involvement... is going back to a time that got us into this situation.

This bill is not just a give-away to the mining industry. It is a wholesale giveaway of our public lands.