We thank Chairman Bingaman, as well as Senator Tom Udall, and their staffs, for all the hard work that has gone into developing this special legislation.

Senator Bingaman has introduced the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 (S. 796), which would establish substantial reforms to the 1872 Mining Law.

Secretary of Agriculture must take any action necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation in administering mineral activities on National Forest System land.

Senator Bingaman, thank you for your question and your concerns regarding the effect on water supplies and riparian areas in the Resolution Copper Mine proposal.

Senator Bingaman's bill is the product of many years of discussions and collaboration with the local community, stakeholders, and other interested parties.

Passage of S.409 would give us access to land needed to complete our $1 billion exploration and pre-feasibility effort.

Billions of dollars of hardrock minerals can be mined from Federal lands without payment of a royalty.

We applaud Chairman Bingaman for his leadership and commitment to safeguarding this land.

I would favor an individual mandate. I think it's cleaner.

You're agnostic on the question?

That is a very expensive prospect.

We need to clarify that nothing we're doing in community rating would interfere with the variation of premium to accomplish these kinds of programs that Mr. Burd talked about?