Pete Stauber

I strongly encourage the Biden Administration and this committee to correct course on this harmful decision.

I was deeply disappointed when the Biden Administration placed a 20-year ban on mining on 225,000 acres of land in northeast Minnesota earlier this year in my former legislative district.

Let's mine the minerals we need for our defense applications, modern technology, and everyday use with American labor in northern Minnesota.

H.R. 3195, the Superior National Forest Restoration Act, not only overturns the harmful mining ban, but also reinstates the leases dating back to 1966.

It is well past time for Congress to claw back its authority on these important issues.

Now, the Biden administration has once again pulled the mining leases and put forth a 20-year mining ban.

With only 16 days left of his administration, President Obama pulled the Federal leases and moved to ban mining for purely political reasons.

Control of our supply of these minerals is a strategic national security concern for the United States and our allies.

We ask all elected officials to hear our voice, hear our message and vote in support of following the right of due process in this matter.

This needs to be overturned so that a complete review of the Mine Plan of Operation submitted by Twin Metals is examined and vetted via the NEPA process as prescribed by law.

You can't put your tailings waste facility on our land because that will expose us to potential Superfund liability.

The average electric car battery contains about 80 pounds of nickel, which means that because of the mineral withdrawal, the administration has stripped the U.S. of the potential to make more than 337 million electric vehicles.

Simply saying 'no' to domestic mining instead of allowing all stakeholders to evaluate projects based on their merits to determine the best outcome is counterproductive to achieving our goals.

Locking up a domestic treasure trove of minerals only increases our dangerous reliance on sourcing metals from foreign adversaries.

Neither of these proposals 'fast track' or 'greenlight' a project.

Hearing held on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

All I think we are asking is let us go through the environmental review and figure out if we can do this safely or not, and we are being pre-empted from doing that.

Because of the Biden administration's opposition to domestic mining, we are woefully reliant on foreign sources of minerals mined in appalling environmental and labor conditions.

Hearing held on Thursday, May 11, 2023

It would forward our economy and certainly forward your endeavors as well.

That is exactly what it does, exactly what it does. And that is going to help with the supply chain.

While I support allowing flexibility for our small businesses and lending institutions, we must ensure the necessary guardrails are place to protect this program.

The Small Business Administration's, including the 7(a) loan program had been a huge success in my opinion and an important tool to small businesses across our great nation.

As a former small business owner, I understand how important it is for small businesses to have access to affordable credit without loan programs that enable our small businesses.

Congressman Stauber's proposed legislation titled Superior National Forest Restoration Act is a bold action that will rightfully restore our region.