Stauber calls Democrats’ spending bill policy rider ‘an attack on mining jobs’

U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) opposes a policy rider to the fiscal year 2022 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill that would stop federal permitting for critical minerals in the United States and leave the door open for America’s continued reliance on China for such minerals.

“If we have learned anything over the course of this past year, it is that we cannot continue to tolerate China’s chokehold over our supply chains, especially when we desperately need these minerals for modern energy technology, national defense, and our daily lives,” Rep. Stauber said on June 30. “That’s why I will continue to fight shortsighted, anti-mining efforts every step of the way and work to empower Minnesota’s highly skilled workforce.”

The policy rider, which was authored by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), was led by House Democrats and would halt permitting for minerals including taconite, copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum-group elements, and others, along with aggregates within the Rainy River Watershed and the Superior National Forest.

“Make no mistake, House Democrats’ legislation is not just an attack on mining jobs in Minnesota, it is an attack on our entire way of life,” Rep. Stauber said. “Drafted behind closed doors as a rider on a spending bill to fund the government, this legislation will sideline construction trades and miners as the Communist regime of China and other foreign adversaries flood our markets with steel and minerals sourced under some of the worst environmental and labor standards in the world.”

According to the congressman’s office, the funding bill would directly impact four existing mining operations, including three iron mines in Rep. Stauber’s home state of Minnesota: the Minntac Mine, the largest iron ore mine in North America that employs 1,100 workers; the Minorca Mine, an iron ore mine that employs 350 workers; and the North Shore Mine, an iron ore mine that employs 570 workers.

Local union members and miners also condemned the spending bill, including those from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 and the Iron Range Building and Construction Trades.