Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 2925, the bipartisan, bicameral Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2023, offered by my good friend from Nevada, Representative Amodei. I thank Representative Amodei for introducing this legislation. Nevada and Minnesota are both mineral-rich States, and they are both States that the Biden administration has targeted as part of their antimining agenda. The bill before us is simple. It codifies what is known as the Rosemont fix. It restores the longstanding interpretation of the Mining Law of 1872, along with agency regulations governing hardrock mining policy on our Federal lands. In May of 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upended decades of said law when it affirmed a lower court decision revoking an approved mine plan for the Rosemont Copper mine project. The decision limited the ability of the Forest Service to approve necessary mining support facilities and activity, which is necessary for mining operations. This decision from the Ninth Circuit put virtually every new domestic mining project in jeopardy. During our legislative hearing earlier this year, an official from the Biden administration argued that it won't be necessary to codify the Rosemont fix into law simply because of an existing solicitor's opinion from last year that he argued addressed the issue at hand. However, this same witness also admitted the obvious. The solicitor's opinion can be rescinded or changed with the stroke of a pen.…”