Thank you, Chairman.

H.R. 2925 is the worst so-called 'reform' of the Mining Law we have ever seen.

And to reiterate, there are about 1,100 active mining claims within national parks presently.

Thank you so much, Chairman.

This 'Clarity Act' is such a mischievous giveaway of a 'right to occupy public land' that it ought to be called the 'Mining Charity Act.'

Thank you. And if I wanted to file a handful of these claims, known otherwise as 'nuisance claims,' might I be able to potentially extract large sums of money from the Federal Government in exchange for giving up my claim?

Thank you. And Dr. Feldgus, if I decided I wanted to prevent a new solar farm, a wind project, or a transmission line, and I filed a mining claim in the path of a project before the renewable energy project secured their rights of way…

Interesting. You see, this bill includes extremely broad definitions of what it means to 'use and occupy land' for 'mining-related activities.'

The approach of this legislation is to simply make all mining claims valid--with or without the discovery of a valuable mineral deposit.

The Bronx has one of the highest childhood asthma rates in the country.

I represent the Bronx. I represent kids whose only meal that they will eat in an entire day will be from school.

If you do not have a home or a bed to lay your head on, how are you going to perform well in school?