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| House Members Urge Preservation of Precious National Lands |
December 07, 2005 |
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Letter to Budget Chair Urges Removal of Mining Law Change
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Heather Wilson today was joined by eight other Republican members of the House in raising concerns over a provision in the budget reconciliation bill that would change mining law and affect public lands.
A letter, authored by Wilson and signed by Reps. Jim Ramstad, Sherwood Boehlert, Sue Kelly, Charlie Bass, Christopher Shays, Jim Leach, Wayne Gilchrest and Fred Upton, today urged the Chairman of the House Budget Committee to remove the provision in conference with the Senate. The current provision would allow purchase of national lands for mining and other development interests.
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (H.R. 4241) was passed 217-215 in the House on November 18, 2005. Wilson opposed the legislation.
“If enacted, this bill could lead to rapid sale of public lands throughout the West. To substantively alter the process by which mining claims are handled without full debate and hearings concerns us. Although we believe that the General Mining Law of 1872 is antiquated and should be updated, putting these provisions in a budget reconciliation bill is not the way to go about doing this,” the letter states.
Text of the letter to Congressman Jim Nussle (R-IA):
December 7, 2005
Chairman Jim Nussle
House Committee on the Budget
303 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Nussle,
We are writing today to express our concerns regarding Title VI, Subtitle B, sections 6201-6207 in the Budget Reconciliation Bill, HR 4241, which would make substantial changes to current mining laws. We are opposed to the inclusion of these provisions in the budget reconciliation bill.
This section of the budget reconciliation bill contains provisions that are expected to raise $155 million over 5 years by altering Federal mining laws to permit the sale of federal land for mining. These provisions would lift the moratorium on the sale of mining claims, imposed by Congress in 1994, and allow claimants to purchase the underlying public lands for $1,000 per acre, or “fair market value” for the surface estate, whichever is greater. There is also some question as to whether or not claimants would be required to prove that their claims contain mineral deposits before they can purchase the rights to the land. Claimants would not have to pay for or share royalties with the Federal government or states for the minerals extracted from the lands.
If enacted, this bill could lead to rapid sale of public lands throughout the West. To substantively alter the process by which mining claims are handled without full debate and hearings concerns us. Although we believe that the General Mining Law of 1872 is antiquated and should be updated, putting these provisions in a budget reconciliation bill is not the way to go about doing this.
We urge you to remove these mining provisions from the reconciliation package. Such important legislation needs to be fully debated on the merits, not included in a reconciliation bill.
Thank you in advance for considering our input on this important matter.
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