Ryan Zinke: “We in the coal-producing States in the West do pay the majority of AML fees every year, a reminder that Montana and…”

“We in the coal-producing States in the West do pay the majority of AML fees every year, a reminder that Montana and Wyoming have more coal than anyone else in the world. Yet, this language would rip away funding of the AML from our coal-certified States like Montana, but also the tribes. The great Crow Nation depends on these funds. How can you justify ripping and robbing certified States that pay the majority of the AML funds and tribes away? What does it do? It rips away money that is used for restoration and protects small communities. Montana has been in the business of mining for over 100 years. We have over 6,700 known abandoned mines and mill sites across our State, and we have worked hard to reclaim many of these areas. Yet, removing the funds from those small communities poses a threat. Governor Bullock, a Democrat, has also expressed his deep concerns about ending these payments and asked all of the Montana delegation, which there are three of us, to help safeguard this valuable program for the good of all Montanans and the great Crow Nation. This amendment is disguised as a solution. It doesn't offer a solution. The underlying idea of it is to kill the coal industry. We have seen time and time again excessive overreach, not based on scientific data, but based on an agenda; and the agenda is to kill coal. In Montana, we love coal. In Wyoming, our neighbor to the south, we understand that coal drives our economy.…”