Doc Hastings

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield the gentleman from Virginia an additional 1 minute.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I would tell my friend I have no more requests for time, and I am prepared to close if the gentleman is.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes again to the author of this legislation, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, once again, I urge adoption of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2467) to take certain Federal lands in Mono County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Bridgeport Indian Colony, as amended.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2467, which is sponsored by our colleague from California (Mr. McKeon), places two parcels of land in trust for a tribe in his district known as the Bridgeport Indian Colony. This is a small tribe located in a fairly remote area in eastern California. The two parcels are approximately 40 acres of public land currently administered by the Bureau of Land Management. One parcel is a 32-acre tract located along Highway 182, adjacent to the tribe's existing reservation. The tribe states that it intends to use the lands for housing and related community development because its existing reservation is running out of room for additional uses. The other parcel is a 7.5-acre tract located 30 miles off the tribe's reservation. The tribe originally leased this property from the Bureau of Land Management for a health clinic which closed several years ago. The tribe still owns the building and has expressed its intent to reopen the clinic, but without ownership of the property in trust it is unlikely this purpose can be achieved. Hearings were held on a similar bill in the last Congress, and the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing this year. The Department of the Interior has not expressed reservations with holding these public lands in trust for the tribe, nor has it requested the tribe to pay for the public land. Though the committee has heard no opposition to the bill, the local public utility district serving the city of Bridgeport requested language to clarify that existing easements serving the district's customers remain the responsibility of the BLM. The bill's sponsor, Mr. McKeon, worked out language, after consulting with all affected parties, to ensure this request was appropriately handled for the benefit of the town and of the tribe. I want to point out that while the bill was reported by the Natural Resources Committee without objection from its members, it lacked language addressing potential tribal gambling rights on the new trust land. Because the expansion of gambling under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act may cause concern among many Members in the House, and because the primary purpose of the lands, as explained by the tribe, is not for operating a casino, the text of the bill before us today includes new language prohibiting class II and class III gaming on the public lands. With that, the bill is a good bill, and I urge its passage. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased to yield 5 minutes to the author of this legislation, the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I tell my friend I have no requests for time, and I am prepared to yield back if the gentleman is.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Madam Chairman, I'm very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), who is the chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee on the Committee on Natural Resources.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. What page? I asked the gentleman--I'm yielding to him to respond to me at what page. The gentleman cannot respond.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chair, the United States of America is rarely last at anything. Unfortunately, that is not the case when it comes to permitting mining projects. In 2012, the U.S. was ranked dead last, along with Papua New Guinea, out of 25 major mining companies on the pace of mining permitting. Now I can't speak for Papua New Guinea, but the reason the U.S. is so slow to issue new mining permits is simple: government bureaucracy. Burdensome red tape, duplicative reviews, frivolous lawsuits, and onerous regulations can hold up new mining projects for more than a decade. These unnecessary delays cost Americans jobs as we become more and more dependent on foreign countries for raw ingredients to fuel manufacturing and our economy. The lack of American-produced strategic and critical minerals are prime examples of how America has regulated itself into 100 percent dependence on at least 19 unique elements. Rare Earth elements, a special subset of strategic and critical minerals, are often used as core components for the manufacturing of everything from national security systems to consumer electronics to medical equipment to renewable energy components and everyday household items. Even though America has a plentiful supply of rare Earth elements, our negative approach to producing these crucial materials has resulted in China producing 97 percent of the world's rare Earth elements. Just like the United States' dependence on foreign oil causes pain at the pump, Americans will soon feel the impact of China's monopoly on the rare Earth element market. Those impacts will be felt when they need a CAT scan or they want to buy a new computer for their small business or purchase an iPhone or install solar panels on their roof. H.R. 4402, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, introduced by our colleague from Nevada (Mr. Amodei) will help to end this foreign dependence by streamlining government red tape that blocks strategic and critical mineral production. First and foremost, this is a jobs bill, and the positive impact of this bill's intent will extend beyond the mining industry. For every metals mining job created, an estimated 2.2 additional jobs are generated. And for every nonmetal mining job created, another 1.6 jobs are created. This legislation gives the opportunity for American manufacturers, for small business technology companies, and construction firms to use American resources to help make the products that are essential for our everyday lives, and in the process this will put Americans back to work. As China continues to tighten global supplies of rare Earth elements, we should respond with an American mineral mining renaissance that will bring mining and manufacturing jobs back to the United States. The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act will help supply our national security, high-tech, health care, agriculture, construction, communications, and energy industries with homemade American materials. This bill is the latest example of House Republicans' commitment to and focus on American job creation. The House has passed over 30 job creation bills that still sit in the Senate, where their leaders, unfortunately, refuse to take any action. This includes several bills from the Natural Resources Committee to increase production of our all-of-the-above energy resources and to protect our public access to public land. H.R. 4402 will enable new American mineral production. We must act now to cut the government red tape that is stopping American mineral production that furthers our dependence on foreign minerals. So I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' for this underlying legislation; and with that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 4402.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. I will reserve my time, and I will not object if the gentleman wants to reclaim his time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I would just advise the gentleman that I have no more requests for time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Madam Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the author of this legislation, the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds, and I would yield to the gentleman from Georgia, if he can tell me, in this 11-page bill, where environmental laws are gutted, and I'll yield to the gentleman if he can give me a specific, what page. I'm asking you a question, and I'll yield to you if you respond to my question.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. What page?

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. What page?

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. The gentleman obviously can't respond. I reclaim my time. I am very pleased at this point to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar), a member of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.