Press Releases

For Immediate Release	Date: November 28, 2017
Contact: Tanner Hanson	Tanner.Hanson@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of Congress, local and national stakeholders, Minnesota State officials and other groups have offered strong public support for H.R. 3905, the "Minnesota's Economic Rights in the Superior National Forest Act," in anticipation of its scheduled consideration on the floor of the United States House of Representatives on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. 

The full list of endorsements and letters of support can be found HERE. See a sample of the overwhelming support below: 

53 bipartisan state legislators (including leadership of both parties) – “As elected leaders of the Minnesota Legislature, we are writing in strong support of H.R. 3905. This legislation supports jobs, economic development and industry in Northeast Minnesota, and will reverse an onerous, overreaching and politically-motivated decision by the Obama Administration. H.R. 3905 has our bipartisan support, and it is our sincere hope that it will become law for the well-being of our state and its citizens.”

Competitive Enterprise Institute – “The bipartisan H.R. 3905 is a welcome reassertion of congressional authority over public lands. Article IV of the Constitution vests Congress—not the President—with plenary power over public lands. Members on both sides of the aisle should take umbrage at President Obama’s lame duck machinations to withdraw from the multiple use framework more than 230,000 acres of public lands in Minnesota—with the mere stroke of a pen. By treating public lands regulation as a means to build a presidential legacy through midnight regulation, the previous administration flouted the spirit of participatory and inclusive lands-use statutes as designed by Congress. Lawmakers should correct the course by passing the excellent H.R. 3905.”

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 49 – “Unfortunately, the economic future of the region is now threatened by federal agency actions initiated in December 2016 that would cancel valid, long-standing federal mineral leases and withdraw 235,000 acres of federal land in the region from future mining development, contrary to previous directives by Congress. If allowed to stand, these agency actions will eliminate the possible creation of thousands of good-paying construction jobs, billions of dollars in economic growth, and billions more in revenues for Minnesota’s public schools through mineral development on state school trust lands.”

Range Association of Municipalities and Schools   – “The results of the withdrawal and a potential 20 year moratorium would have a devastating impact on the financial support for our state wide public school system and future generations of Iron Rangers who would be employed in any future mining developments. It has been estimated that within 20 years of mining for precious metals, our Permanent School Trust Fund would reap nearly $3 billion dollars in royalties. The Miner Act does not infringe or restrict the very strenuous and stringent environmental review and enforcement process and specifically re-emphasizes that there will be no mining in the Boundary Waters (BWCAW) or the buffer zone surrounding the BWCAW.”

American Exploration & Mining Association – “H.R. 3905 will eliminate delays, return to good stewardship of fair process and restore the opportunity to explore strategic metals critical to our economy and national security in one of the richest mineral deposits in the nation…The emerging mining industry is an investment in the future well-being of our state and nation; without this legislation, that future is at risk.”

Associated General Contractors of Minnesota – “H.R. 3905 changes no environmental review processes, relaxes no environmental standards, and specifically restates Congress’ prohibition on any mining activity in the BWCAW and surrounding protective buffer.  H.R. 3905 would reaffirm long-standing Congressional intent in the management and development of critical minerals in Minnesota, eliminate bureaucratic delays in developing environmentally-responsible mine projects proposals, and restore the promise of future job growth and economic opportunity to an economically distressed region of the state.”                               

National Mining Association – Northern Minnesota is blessed with a world class, economically significant, mineral deposit containing copper, nickel and precious metals. In an unprecedented move — one clearly motivated by politics rather than science — the previous administration denied two mineral lease renewal applications that had been renewed several times without issue dating back to 1966. Furthermore, the previous administration initiated a full-scale mineral withdrawal of nearly 240,000 acres just days before leaving office...Importantly, the mineral deposits under these leases are critical to our domestic manufacturing, infrastructure and defense needs. The U.S. has become increasingly reliant on foreign imports with only 50 percent of the needs of our manufacturing industry being sourced from domestic mineral supplies.

Conservatives for Property Rights – “This legislation would remedy the broad bureaucratic discretion that led to unilateral government action limiting private mineral rights on several hundred-thousand acres of land in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota. The government’s limitation on reasonable public lands use deprives the nation, the state of Minnesota, and surrounding localities of important benefits from valuable deposits of copper, nickel, and other minerals. Royalty revenues upward of $3 billion for the state’s school fund alone will be lost should the government’s land grab not be reversed.”

Congressman Tom Emmer MN-06 – “Passage of the MINER Act ensures Minnesotans have a say in sweeping bureaucratic decisions made by Washington bureaucrats. Environmentally responsible mining and exploration in Northern Minnesota will unleash our ability to tap into our abundance of natural resources, and provide for a better way of life for our children, just as those in Northern Minnesota have done for decades. We can preserve our state’s natural beauty without permanently destroying any future job creation or economic development. We can utilize the largest untapped copper-nickel deposit in the world, and do so in an environmentally sound way. Nothing in this legislation will circumvent any of the numerous strict local, state and federal environmental regulations and permitting requirements currently in place, including those that prohibit mining in the Boundary Waters. Instead, passage of this legislation simply rolls back unnecessary, politically motivated actions by the previous administration and returns power to Minnesota while bringing jobs to communities in Northern Minnesota who desperately need them, and boosting our local, state and federal economies.”