U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Pete Stauber (R-MN) on Feb. 5 rebuked legislation that would permanently withdraw 234,328 acres of federal land and waters in the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota, threatening the state’s mining industry.
“I am disappointed that members of my delegation introduced a bill that directly affects the livelihood of my constituents without providing me or my office any consultation whatsoever,” Rep. Stauber said during a hearing held on Wednesday by the U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
“The communities on the Iron Range are in desperate need of economic revitalization,” said Rep. Stauber during the legislative hearing. “There needs to be quality jobs available for folks to stick around after high school.”
Reps. Stauber and Emmer both criticized the bipartisan Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act, H.R. 5598, introduced on Jan. 14 by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN).
If enacted, H.R. 5598 would protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected federal lands and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in Minnesota, according to the text of the bill, which is under consideration by the House Natural Resources Committee.
Reps. Stauber and Emmer think that H.R. 5598 would circumvent the current environmental review process for mineral development.
“This bill is the largest obstruction of our existing environmental standards to date,” Rep. Emmer said. “Placing an arbitrary, permanent ban on the way of life for generations of Minnesotans to further a political agenda is pitiful.”
Rep. Stauber pointed out that the Twin Metals project already has signed a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Iron Range Building Trades, promising high-wage, labor-protected jobs.
“Your bill would nullify this PLA, making it clear you believe my constituents are not worthy of high-wage, labor protected jobs,” said the congressman.
Undermining the established process with “an arbitrary withdrawal,” Rep. Emmer said, “is short-sighted and a slight to thousands of hardworking men and women in Minnesota.”