Ed Markey: “And while this bill provides new giveaways to large multinational mining companies, it does nothing to change the Mining…”

“And while this bill provides new giveaways to large multinational mining companies, it does nothing to change the Mining Law of 1872--1872, ladies and gentlemen--which allows mining companies to pull taxpayer-owned hard rock minerals out of our public lands without giving Americans a fair payment. In fact, under the 140-year- old law, mining companies can extract gold, silver, uranium, copper, and other hard rock minerals without paying taxpayers one cent in royalties for the minerals on the public lands of the United States of America. This law isn't just outdated, it's outrageous. These are the same people here who are saying we can't afford to pass the law which protects against preexisting conditions in health care of ordinary Americans. These are the people here saying we can't pass a bill to protect against discrimination against women in our society. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has again expired.”