Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Chairman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) testified before the House Committee on Rules in support of H.J. Res. 140. 

Below are Stauber's full remarks, as prepared: 

“Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to testify on H.J. Res. 140 to disapprove of Public Land Order 7917 in accordance with the Congressional Review Act.

“The data is clear – demand for critical minerals is projected to skyrocket in the coming years, and we must be ready to meet the need. According to a recent study from S&P Global, global copper demand alone is projected to increase 50 percent by 2040, driven by the growing needs of artificial intelligence, defense, and manufacturing. This surge could cause a shortfall of up to 10 million metric tons of copper without a meaningful expansion in supply.

“In other words, we need to mine more, and we should have started yesterday.

“Our critical mineral dependency plays right into the hands of our adversaries. Most notably, China controls approximately 60% of global critical mineral production, 90% of processing, and 75% of manufacturing. We’ve repeatedly seen the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implement mineral export restrictions and leverage its stranglehold over critical and rare earth minerals as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations.

“Unfortunately, under the Biden Administration, the United States moved in the opposite direction, reversing project approvals and restricting mineral development on millions of acres of public lands.

“H.J. Res. 140 reverses a dangerous Public Land Order, or PLO, finalized during the Biden Administration. The PLO withdrew 225,504 acres—that’s nearly a quarter of a million acres—in the Superior National Forest from mineral development for 20 years, where I will note, the Forest Service’s forest plan states mining and timber harvesting are desired activities. The Biden Administration even went so far as to state that its purpose in issuing the withdrawal was to prevent mineral and geothermal exploration and development. And when former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland testified to Congress following the withdrawal, she stated, ‘I didn’t think there were any critical minerals there.’

“The former Secretary and the Biden Administration either clearly did not do their work, or they simply chose to ignore the facts, as this withdrawal area includes the Duluth Complex—the largest untapped copper-nickel find in the entire world. The Duluth Complex contains one-third of our country’s copper reserves, 95% of our nickel reserves, 88% of our cobalt reserves, and 75% of our other platinum-group resources. Again, Secretary Haaland, whose signature is on PLO 7917, testified to Congress that she didn’t think there were critical minerals there when she took action.

“Under the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act, the Department of the Interior is required to notify Congress of Public Land Orders impacting an excess of 5,000 acres. The Biden Administration failed to properly transmit PLO 7917 to Congress when it was finalized in January 2023.

“Public Land Order 7917 implemented a broad policy that hinders access to American resources and is wholly detrimental to our nation’s national and mineral security. It is exactly the kind of action Congress intended to review under the CRA. The withdrawal substantially affects private companies and local economies by foreclosing leasing opportunities, qualifying it as a substantive rule under the Administrative Procedure Act and the CRA.

“Disapproving PLO 7917 is also consistent with previous GAO opinions that large-scale land-use withdrawals or management plans closing areas to leasing are ‘rules,’ thereby subject to CRA submission and review. PLO 7917 should have been submitted to Congress under the CRA as a covered rule, allowing for Congressional Review. 

“The intent of the Biden Administration’s actions is shocking given our nation’s dangerous dependency on foreign mineral supply chains. We have a growing vulnerability that our adversaries, particularly China, have already shown themselves happy to exploit by withholding supplies that are crucial for our national and energy security.

“But this withdrawal does not only impact our access to critical minerals. This area is also home to helium, a gas that the United States is largely reliant on foreign imports for. Recent discoveries in the area have found one of the largest and most concentrated helium deposits in the entire world. But when a developer tried to nominate acreage for a BLM lease sale, their request was denied because of the mineral withdrawal. Since we can’t responsibly develop this resource in Northern Minnesota under these bans, our country will continue to become increasingly reliant on imports from countries like Qatar and Algeria, all the while Russia’s share of the global helium market continues to grow.

“It is abundantly clear Congress must act to overturn PLO 7917 to secure our mineral security and allow the United States to compete in the 21st Century.

“I urge the Committee to adopt an appropriate rule so we can bring this resolution to the floor.