Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition of H.R. 1501, the Protecting Domestic Mining Act.

At a time when we should be strengthening environmental protections, respecting Tribal sovereignty, and ensuring communities have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their land and water, this bill moves us in the wrong direction.

I offered an amendment that would have required robust, meaningful, and enforceable consultation with potentially impacted Tribal nations before a mining project may be eligible for expedited permitting under FAST-41.

Unfortunately, the Rules Committee refused to make my amendment in order, denying this body the opportunity to even debate or vote on a very basic principle: Tribal nations deserve a meaningful seat at the table when mining projects threaten their lands, resources, and communities.

My amendment would have ensured that Federal agencies uphold the United States' trust and treaty obligations by engaging in intentional and substantive consultation with Tribal Governments. It would have made clear that consultation is not a procedural checkbox but a meaningful government-to-government dialogue. It would have also ensured that no mining project could receive expedited permitting treatment unless the affected Tribal nations had been engaged from the earliest possible stages of the project's development.

This issue has become increasingly relevant in my district with the Hermosa Project in the Patagonia Mountains, southeast of Tucson, Arizona. Its designation as the first critical minerals project under FAST-41 highlights the growing use of expedited permitting frameworks. While FAST-41 is intended to improve efficiency, mining is among the most environmentally consequential sectors it covers. Expedited timelines must not come at the expense of meaningful public participation or environmental assessment.

We have already seen the consequences of insufficient engagement and analysis. The town of Patagonia formally requested a comprehensive groundwater study of the Patagonia mountains from the Coronado National Forest in both 2020 and 2021, specifically citing concerns related to the proposed Hermosa project. Despite these repeated requests, and the support of my dad, Congressman Raul M. Grijalva, the study was never completed. For that exact reason, I sent a letter to the U.S. Forest Service in April to follow up on this same request. This gap leaves significant uncertainty about potential impacts to groundwater and undermines public confidence in the adequacy of the review process.

I also think it is noteworthy that I kept hearing: American project, American project.

This specific project is run by an Australian mining company.

When I met with local leaders and community members in Patagonia, they raised serious concerns about their drinking water, their health, and the long-term sustainability of their aquifers. Those concerns are not abstract. They reflect lived experience and legitimate questions that deserve answers before, not after, decisions are made.

What these experiences make clear is that the communities closest to these projects cannot be left to react once decisions are already in motion. They must be engaged from the very beginning, with their voices meaningfully incorporated into decisionmaking.

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Mrs. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, my amendment does not slow progress. It strengthens it. By ensuring Tribal nations and impacted communities have a real seat at the table, we produce more informed and more mindful policy outcomes. Respecting Tribal sovereignty and listening to affected communities is not optional. It is a fundamental obligation.

For those reasons, Mr. Speaker, I oppose H.R. 1501, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

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