Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Bureau of Land Management Relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, Mn

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1009, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 140) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Res. 140.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this Congressional Review Act resolution, which would overturn the Biden administration's reckless withdrawal of more than 225,000 acres in the Superior National Forest from mineral exploration and development.

Mr. Speaker, at issue is the Duluth Complex in northern Minnesota, one of the largest mineral deposits on the planet, including the world's largest copper-nickel deposit.

The Federal Government routinely granted and renewed mineral leases to these deposits beginning in the 1960s. Decades of planning, exploration, investment, and environmental reviews have gone into the region, and with good reason.

The minerals in the Duluth Complex include copper, nickel, and cobalt. They are the ones that make up the 21st century economy and help it run. They are the essential inputs for telecommunications devices, cutting-edge defense systems, and much more.

As we are all keenly aware, the Chinese Communist Party has a stranglehold on far too many mineral supply chains. Mining in the Duluth Complex was poised to change that. It was going to help usher in a new era of American mineral dominance and create and support thousands of American jobs. It was going to help end our dependence on foreign adversaries and reorder the entire global mineral market, positioning the United States at the center and driving our rivals to the margins.

When President Biden abruptly closed off 225,000 acres of Federal land in the Duluth Complex for mineral development, he threw a future of American abundance, security, and global leadership into chaos. The decision undermined America's economic, military, and strategic interests and those of our allies.

The minerals in the Duluth Complex are called ``critical'' for a reason. We need them. The whole world needs them. Nations, businesses, militaries, and individual consumers are going to acquire these minerals. The only question is whether they will be mined here in the United States by American workers, protected by American labor laws, and with the strongest environmental standards and most advanced mining techniques, or not.

The Duluth Complex is also home to a world-class helium reserve, which has attracted investment from investors. Specifically, the withdrawal itself locks up roughly 11,000 acres for helium exploration, blocking development of one of the largest and most concentrated helium deposits in the entire world.

Don't let the rhetoric around this issue confuse what is at stake here. The resolution before us today is about more than just one project. There are two options, Mr. Speaker: mineral dominance or mineral dependence. There isn't a third option, and it is long past time for the Federal Government to act like it.

Our global allies rely on America's leadership. If we are to remain a leader in the global economy, then domestic mineral abundance is a strategic necessity, not a political football.

The resolution before us does not mandate projects, mining sites, firms, or schedules. It simply reverses the Biden administration's unilateral short-circuiting of the normal permitting process.

This resolution is a step toward balance and the rule of law. It is a step toward the mineral abundance that the American people deserve and that Washington has denied them for too long.

I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber) for introducing this resolution and for his tireless work on behalf of his constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Facts can be stubborn things. There are some things that we all can agree on. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is a wonderful place, but the Boundary Waters Canoe Area has been protected, is currently protected, and will be protected even after this CRA is passed.

The Congresses that came long before us made sure this was the case, long before the Obama administration ever did a lease withdrawal in the area. They established the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Then, they set a buffer zone around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and they said this other part of the Superior National Forest could be used to develop mining and also used for forestry purposes.

Any deposits that we are talking about are not inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. They are not inside the buffer zone to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. They are out in the forest that the Biden administration said can't be developed anymore, even after Congress had already said this was the case.

I think what we are doing today is we are exercising our Article I power where an administration abused it and tried to make rules. The Government Accountability Office said this bill or this rule is subject to the Congressional Review Act, so here we are, to right the wrong.
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, again, I can't emphasize this enough: There is not going to be any mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. There is not going to be any mining in the boundary area around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. If there is ever a project approved, it would be in the land set aside by Congress in the Superior National Forest for mining and timber harvesting.

Again, Mr. Stauber said it, I have said it, and others have said it. This CRA simply reverses the withdrawal that the Biden administration put out. It takes us back to Congress' original intent to allow somebody to propose to develop a project. It doesn't change any of the permitting laws. They still have to go through every permitting law.

There seems to be a lot of scare tactics on what this mine, which hasn't even been permitted or approved yet, is going to do, but we know one thing. It will have to stand up to all the rigorous permitting requirements that the U.S. has to offer. It will also have to stand up to the labor, health, and safety requirements that we have here in the U.S., unlike many of the places around the world where these critical minerals are mined.

This gives somebody a chance to develop a project to provide the things that we need here in America, to provide jobs for northern Minnesota, and to provide a stronger sense of national security, as we all saw the equipment that these critical minerals go into that Representative Zinke showed in the poster.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time.

I include in the Record a coalition letter from over 140 organizations in support of H.J. Res. 140. These groups include the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Power, MiningMinnesota, Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council, Ely Public School District, Jobs for Minnesotans, Laborers' International Union of North America, and more. January 20, 2026. Hon. Mike Johnson, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. John Thune, Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. Hon. Charles Schumer, Minority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader Schumer: Our organizations represent a broad range of Americans who care deeply about advancing opportunities for individuals and families across the country and fostering a stronger nation. We represent vital industries such as mining, manufacturing, transportation and energy; we represent hundreds of thousands of union workers; we include economic development associations; we are business leaders and much more.

We are writing to express our strong support for Congress' efforts to utilize the Congressional Review Act to disapprove of the mineral withdrawal that was enacted in northeast Minnesota by the Department of the Interior (DOI) in January of 2023 on more than 225,000 acres of federal lands.

Minerals are fundamental to everything in our modern world, from wiring in homes, to energy technologies and infrastructure, medical technologies, transportation, defense capabilities, smartphones and laptops and more. Simply put, critical minerals are vital for a safe, secure and prosperous America.

Currently, China and other adversarial nations dominate the globe in critical mineral production and processing, while U.S. dependence on foreign sources for these materials has recently reached an all-time high. The ban on mining across a significant portion of Minnesota only set us further behind as a nation.

As a result, this mineral withdrawal, an administrative action which forbids any mining or exploration activity on these lands for 20 years, was enacted in an area of the United States that contains enormous amounts of the critical minerals our nation needs to achieve its goals of energy independence, stronger domestic supply chains and American job creation. These are goals our organizations collectively work to advance.

Northeast Minnesota is home to the world's largest known undeveloped deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum group metals and more. The area contains 95 percent of domestic nickel resources, almost 90 percent of domestic cobalt and about a third of our nation's copper. Industries pursuing the responsible development of these resources, from the mining companies who have invested in the region to the suppliers to the high-skilled workers seeking employment, have been negatively impacted by the enactment of the mineral withdrawal, as have the communities in the region that want to see mining projects move forward for the betterment of the local and statewide economy.

Congress now has the opportunity to correct a detrimental action that ran contrary to our national interest, and to do so assures that these minerals will be produced domestically according to some of the world's most rigorous environmental standards.

Minnesota and the federal government have already put in place comprehensive rules and a framework to ensure the environment is protected and that any proposed industrial activity in the area meets stringent regulatory standards. The U.S. also has some of the most robust safety standards for workers. To ignore the opportunity to produce domestically for materials we use in our everyday lives means that we are relying upon nations with low-to-non-existent worker protections.

Disapproving the withdrawal in Minnesota will undo an unnecessary and damaging action. It will also correct a course in which industries seeking to generate jobs and revenue for generations to come, were simply no longer allowed to propose mining projects in the area and forbidden to go through the law and science-based environmental review process to prove they can meet the high standards in place before earning permits to construct a mine.

We collectively support the use of the Congressional Review Act to overturn the mineral withdrawal currently under consideration in Congress, as it is an essential step forward in unlocking the resources that our nation needs to reduce our dangerous reliance on China and other adversarial nations. Signed,

Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA); Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council; The National Association of Manufacturers; International Brotherhood of Teamsters; MichAuto; Indigenous Business Advisors; Better in Our Back Yard; Iron Range Building Trades; Minnesota Pipe Trades Association; LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota; Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters; Minnesota Power; Whitebird Services Inc.; Duluth Seaway Port Authority; Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions; Minnesota Chamber of Commerce; Women's Mining Coalition; ClearPath Action; International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49; Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 589; Area Partnership for Economic Expansion (APEX).

Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS); Mining Minnesota; Jobs for Minnesotans; American Exploration and Mining Association; Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration; National Mining Association; United Way of Northeastern Minnesota; American Chemistry Council; Teamsters Joint Council 32; Teamsters Local 346; Laborers Local 1097 ``Iron Range''; Sprinkler Fitters Local 417; UA Plumbers Local 15; Local 6 Plumbers and Pipefitters; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Minnesota State Council; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 242; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 110; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 31; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1426; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 160.

Up North Jobs Inc.; Minnesota Conservative Energy Forum; Green Bridge Metals; City of Babbitt, MN--Mayor Andrea Zupancich; Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce; Laurentian Chamber of Commerce; Hermantown Area Chamber of Commerce; Copper Development Association; Mt. Iron-Buhl School Board, MN--Lisa Kvas; Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce; American Coal Council; Industrial Township, St. Louis County, MN--Don Carlson; Northeast Technical Services; Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital; Lakehead Constructors; Ely Public School District--Anne Oelke; Fight for Mining Minnesota; Road Machinery & Supplies Co.; Feeley Township, Itasca County, MN--Deb Langanki; Lake Country Power; Encampment Minerals, Inc.

Giant; B.R. Clark Consulting LLC; RMS Tritec; Global Minerals Engineering; Wyoming Mining Association; American Peat Technology; Millcreek Engineering Company; Mine Development Management LLC; Borell Consulting Services LLC; StarPoint Resources, LLC; Geobrugg North America; Clementine Exploration; Idaho Mining Association; Agnico Eagle; Pebble Limited Partnership; Archkey--Parsons Electric; Superior Rock Bit; Innate North; GEOTEMPS/GEOPROS, Inc.; Superior Marine Charters.

American Peat Technology; Wescom Inc; Furin & Shea Welding & Fabricating, Inc.; Sandvik Mining and Rock Processing; City of Hibbing, MN--Mayor Pete Hyduke; City of Kinney, MN--Mayor Patrick E. Haley; APi Group Inc.; ME Global Inc; A Martin Consulting, LLC; Malton Electric Co.; Quick Supply Co.; North Star Manganese Inc & Electric Metals (USA) Limited; GR Engineering Services; Amvest Capital Securities; Twin Metals Minnesota; Kalenborn Abresist Corporation; Larkin Hoffman Attorneys; ME Elecmetal; City of Biwabik, MN--Mayor Steven Biondich; Solenis LLC.

Kirscher Transport; General Equipment & Supplies Inc; JBW Consulting Engineers; PX4 Software; Gerdau Amersiteel US Inc; QT Environmental; Wolverine Fuels; Alaska Miners Association; Furin & Shea Welding & Fabricating, Inc.; Universal Polymer And Rubber; TJR Technical Services, Inc.; Beaver Bay, Inc.; AMIGOS; Hayday; Tidal Health; Northeast Title; Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce; Timberline Drilling; Ziegler Cat; Kalenborn Canada Inc.

Superior Fuel Company; Baldwin Supply Company; Dodge Industrial; Baldwin Supply; Avivid Global Water; Vics Crane & Heavy Haul; Hamilton Monroe & Co; Electric Power Door; Duncan Co.; Victaulic; General Equipment and Supplies, Inc.; LRL Construction; Contour Inc.; Borealis Fuels & Logistics; Cenovus Energy Superior Refinery; Hibbing Taconite Co.; Snowbird Willies Boat Canvas; Hamilton Monroe; MHE Consulting; Salem Republic Rubber; Enbridge.

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, the letter states: ``Disapproving the withdrawal in Minnesota will undo an unnecessary and damaging action. It will also correct a course in which industries seeking to generate jobs and revenue for generations to come were simply no longer allowed to propose mining projects in the area and forbidden to go through the law and science-based environmental review process.''

Mr. Speaker, I will just say that I actually have taken hydrology courses. I am a professional engineer. It has been a long time ago, but I remember something very distinct from those hydrology and hydraulic engineering courses, and that is that water flows downhill. If it doesn't, you can get a pump. That is an engineering joke. It is probably not very funny.

The thing about these mines in Minnesota is, they are below-grade mines. They are not pit mines. They are actually digging tunnels down into the earth to pull this ore out to take it to the top to refine it. If there are tailings, these tailings will be placed in a secure area where there is no way they can be leached back into the watershed.

Don't let the scare tactics influence the way you vote on this legislation because the inputs we need to sustain our fast-growing electricity grid are right under our feet. We should be leading the world in technological innovation and AI infrastructure.

The only reason we are mired in mineral dependence today and not enjoying or sharing the benefits of American mineral dominance is because of outdated or misguided policies like the one we are overturning today.

The resolution before us would correct these policies by reopening mineral-rich land to exploration and reducing our reliance on China for minerals.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber) for his leadership on the issue. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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