Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act

Floor Speech

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, today's legislation proposes to give two of the world's largest, foreign-owned mining companies--Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton--2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest, which has been protected since 1955, in exchange for land the companies currently own. The companies believe the Federal land contains significant copper ore deposits.

I am not opposed to responsible domestic energy and mineral production as long as Americans get full value for the use of their resources and environmentally sensitive areas are protected. Today's legislation does not meet either test. The bill includes a convoluted appraisal process that fails to take into account the copper deposit on the land and requires no future royalty payments for that resource. It does not require mitigation or even analysis of damaging effects on the local ecosystem, waiving environmental review and Endangered Species Act protections. Finally, the bill does not guarantee preservation of traditional Native American sacred sites.

Ultimately, the bill gifts an environmentally sensitive and historically significant area to a foreign company without proper review or compensation for the American taxpayer. I urge a no vote.

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