Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, the land swap in today's legislation would grant two of the world's largest, foreign-owned mining companies--Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton--mining rights to 760 acres of the Tonto National Forest in Southeastern Arizona in exchange for other land the companies currently own. This exchange is necessary for Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton to gain access to significant copper deposits they believe lie underneath the land in the Tonto National Forest.

Mr. Chair, I am not opposed to responsible domestic energy and mineral production--but I am strongly opposed to this majority's complete disregard for our environmental laws and this legislation's failure to ensure American taxpayers get full value for the resources at issue in this proposed transaction.

Specifically, H.R. 1904 would exempt this land swap from the requirements of the National Environmental Protection Act--a law specifically designed to evaluate the impacts of proposed actions on our natural resources before public resources are sold to private interests. The value of a thorough NEPA analysis is especially significant in this case, where unanswered questions about the water demands of the proposed mining operation are especially consequential to the surrounding community. Furthermore, as we work to reduce our national debt, I believe taxpayers have a right to fair compensation for resources taken from public lands, something the convoluted appraisal process called for in H.R. 1904 will almost certainly fail to do.

Mr. Chair, if this land swap is truly in the interests of the American people, it has nothing to fear from an appropriate environmental review and should be expected to fairly compensate the American taxpayer for the value of the resources taken from their land.

I urge a no vote.

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