09.18.25

Democrats Vote to Prevent Massive Giveaway of American Resources to Foreign Adversaries; Republicans Reject Protections

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the House Natural Resources Committee Republicans voted to reject an amendment offered by Rep. Teresa Leger-Fernandez that would have blocked projects owned by Foreign Entities of Concern from getting priority permitting treatment on public lands. All Republicans present voted against the amendment, while all Democrats present voted for it. Ultimately, the committee passed—without these important protections—H.R. 4090, a Republican bill that would create a regulatory system for the mining industry designed by the mining industry, directing the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to work exclusively with the industry to clear the way for a mining free-for-all.

Excerpts from Ranking Member Huffman and Rep. Leger Fernandez:

"We recognize the same goal. I think we want to secure supply of minerals that are critical to power our country, from clean energy to batteries to medical and industrial use and national security. But I assure you, we cannot mine our way to security in the reckless way that Republicans are proposing today. Trying to dominate a global mining industry using a law that's over a century and a half old is simply a handout to multinational mining conglomerates that will continue taking from our public lands without paying a cent to the citizens of this country,” said Ranking Member Jared Huffman.

“None of these giveaways guarantee that the minerals that are mined here will stay here or benefit Americans. Under the Mining Law of 1872, anyone, including subsidiaries of foreign adversaries, can claim our publicly owned minerals and then mine them for free, ship them abroad into the global market,” said Huffman. “My colleagues and I plan to offer some amendments that build on those good parts of his legislation and protect against the bad. So, to my Republican colleagues, you have an opportunity here to do something positive and bipartisan for the things that I think we all care about. I hope you'll come to the table in a constructive way."

"I think it is important to recognize you can be in favor of mining and oil and gas development, and at the same time enforce sensible environmental protections, make sure you get paid, because in the end, these resources don't belong to those companies. They belong to the people, the American people, the public. And we are giving them away for free without insisting that we get enough back. We should not be so lenient and give away our resources because it's not ours. It belongs to the American people. And there are ways in which we can have both,” said Rep. Leger Fernandez.

“This amendment [...] prohibits the Department of Interior and Agriculture from expediting or improving mining operations plans when the applicant or operator is owned or operated by a foreign entity of concern, subsidiary of a foreign entity of concern. In other words, China and Russia. That's what we're looking at here. So, if you do not want China to have dominance, it would make sense to say that China cannot have ownership of a certain amount in mining companies that operate in the United States. It's that simple,” said Leger Fernandez. “We can't compete if we are giving away to our competitor our resources. [T]he reality is, foreign investors get rich off of our public owned critical minerals. Well, as I mentioned, American taxpayers get nada, zero. We're giving them the resources and getting nothing back. And so, if we're going to call this the Critical Mineral Dominance Act [and fast track projects] they've got to consider who is the corporate owner before they do it.”

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