Thomas M. Barrett: “We all read in the last month or two where the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, had to sell valuable mineral…”

“We all read in the last month or two where the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, had to sell valuable mineral rights to a foreign-owned company at basement prices. And I will not even call them basement prices. The prices were so low, it was criminal that we had to give away those mineral resources. Mr. Speaker, those of us in the Congress who are environmentalists and fiscal conservatives recognize how wrong it is to give away our natural resources, especially to foreign-owned companies. Mr. Speaker, what we should do is recommit this bill, fix this problem, and make sure that this travesty does not continue. It is wrong from an environmental standpoint, it is wrong from a fiscal standpoint, and it is wrong from an American standpoint.”