David Schlichting shared Samuel Butler's post.
An astute observer reminded that SNOPES is supported by Soros!
And the information below is outdated!
Did the house Republicans just approve a bill to give away 2400 acres of Apache ceremonial land to a foreign mining company?
For over 5 years, a measure to cede 2,400 acres sacred to the Apache tribe for use in copper mining has been pushed in Congress. Backed by various well-paid corporatist congress members such as Senator John McCain, this measure inevitably dies from the outrage of the native tribes who care for this land. So, this year the members backed by legalized bribes by foreign corporations have attached the measure to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act in a lame duck session of congress.
The attempt to hide this brazen attempt to sell off cultural heritage for mere coin tells us how these congress members feel about their duty to protect this nation. One must wonder how much of the estimated$61 billion in revenue is to be lining these congress members pockets if the bill passes intact. After all, members of congress regularly reap huge profits from bills they introduce.
A more detailed explanation of the controversial measure observed that: The attempt to hide this brazen attempt to sell off cultural heritage for mere coin tells us how these congress members feel about their duty to protect this nation. One must wonder how much of the estimated
The House approved a bill on December 4 that gives 2,400 acres of sacred Apache land to a giant international mining corporation, then sent it to the Senate for a fast vote in a process that won't allow amendments to be made. The Senate is expected to act on it this week.
The land swap bill, called the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013(H.R. 687), was attached as a rider to the annual must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) along with several other land-related bills.
Much of the claim was correct at the time it was written: a The land swap bill, called the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013
Native Americans and conservation groups opposed the legislative transfer of land to Resolution Copper Mining, citing both environmental and cultural concerns. Critics of the measure believed the proposed mode of transfer was heavy-handed and unwarranted:
Pushing a land-swap through Congress is not the only option for the mining company to acquire the land, opponents say.
"Rio Tinto has yet to articulate any credible reason why a congressional land exchange is needed, versus the normal administrative processes," states the 2013 letter from the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona to Congress.
Administrative land exchanges are much more common than legislative land exchanges, says a 2010 policy brief from the University of Montana.
Conservation groups also objected to the privatization of public land, especially culturally significant areas: "Rio Tinto has yet to articulate any credible reason why a congressional land exchange is needed, versus the normal administrative processes," states the 2013 letter from the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona to Congress.
Administrative land exchanges are much more common than legislative land exchanges, says a 2010 policy brief from the University of Montana.
"We don't think we should be privatizing public land, especially land that's part of a national forest," and land that's important to indigenous groups, said Athan Manuel, director of the lands protection program for the Sierra Club in Washington.
While the land in question in Arizona is culturally significant to Native American groups such as the Apache, it was not tribal land that belonged to them prior to the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act. The proposal also didn't mandate that the land be "given" to a mining company; rather, it would be traded for several other parcels (which although cumulatively larger in size than the property given up did not include land culturally important to local tribal groups). Nevertheless, use of the areas adjacent to the proposed mining site would likely be disrupted or devalued. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell expressed her disapproval of language in the NDAA that provided for the exchange of a 2,422 acre parcel of U.S. Forest Service land to Resolution Copper Mining, LLC for a number of parcels in Arizona to be managed by the USFS and the Bureau of Land Management by stating:
The Oak Flat area, or Chi'Chil'Ba'Goteel, has significant religious, cultural, historical, and archeological value to the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other tribes in the region.
I am profoundly disappointed with the Resolution Copper provision, which has no regard for lands considered sacred by nearby Indian tribes. The provision short circuits the long-standing and fundamental practice of pursuing meaningful government-to-government consultation with the 566 federally recognized tribes with whom we have a unique legal and trust responsibility.
Although there are consultation requirements in the legislation, the appropriate time for honoring our government-to-government relationship with tribes is before legislating issues of this magnitude. The tribe's sacred land has now been placed in great jeopardy.
I look forward to working with Rio Tinto to better understand their plans for development and to see what additional measures they can take to work with the tribes, including forgoing development in these sacred areas.
On 5 November 2015, Vermont senator (and Democratic presidential candidate) Bernie Sanders introduced the Save Oak Flat Act (S. 2422), a bill seeking to "repeal the authorization and requirement for a land exchange between the Department of Agriculture and Resolution Copper Mining, LLC." No action has yet been taken on that bill. I am profoundly disappointed with the Resolution Copper provision, which has no regard for lands considered sacred by nearby Indian tribes. The provision short circuits the long-standing and fundamental practice of pursuing meaningful government-to-government consultation with the 566 federally recognized tribes with whom we have a unique legal and trust responsibility.
Although there are consultation requirements in the legislation, the appropriate time for honoring our government-to-government relationship with tribes is before legislating issues of this magnitude. The tribe's sacred land has now been placed in great jeopardy.
I look forward to working with Rio Tinto to better understand their plans for development and to see what additional measures they can take to work with the tribes, including forgoing development in these sacred areas.
Efforts have since been made to include the Oak Flat area in the National Register of Historic Places, but Republican Rep. Paul Gosar and Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, both of Arizona, have opposed that move and have asserted that such a designation would not necessarily preclude mining activity on the land:
[T]wo U.S. House members from Arizona sent a letter to the National Park Service asking that the property in Pinal County be withdrawn from consideration for the National Register of Historic Places.
A Jan. 21 [2016] notice in the Federal Register lists the site for the proposed designation as Chi'chil Bildagoteel Historic District, Superior.
Gosar and Kirkpatrick protested to the Park Service last summer when a similar notice was published. The Park Service withdrew the nomination.
In their letter, the two lawmakers ask for an additional 60 days for people to comment on the proposal.
The 50-page application form for the National Register of Historic Places was filled out by the officials of Tonto National Forest who consulted with members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
Steve Smith, a spokesman for Gosar, said it is not clear what impact the historic designation would have on the mine.
The website for the National Register of Historic Places states the listing "places no obligations on private property owners" and imposes "no restrictions on the use" of private property.
Rep. Gosar also maintained in a press release that the land in question has "never been a sacred site": A Jan. 21 [2016] notice in the Federal Register lists the site for the proposed designation as Chi'chil Bildagoteel Historic District, Superior.
Gosar and Kirkpatrick protested to the Park Service last summer when a similar notice was published. The Park Service withdrew the nomination.
In their letter, the two lawmakers ask for an additional 60 days for people to comment on the proposal.
The 50-page application form for the National Register of Historic Places was filled out by the officials of Tonto National Forest who consulted with members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
Steve Smith, a spokesman for Gosar, said it is not clear what impact the historic designation would have on the mine.
The website for the National Register of Historic Places states the listing "places no obligations on private property owners" and imposes "no restrictions on the use" of private property.
Oak Flat is currently on Forest Service land and is slated to be transferred to a private mining company as part of the bipartisan Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act signed into public law in December 2014. Environmental groups, a D.C. lobbyist from the Clinton Administration and other mining opponents encouraged the Forest Service and National Park Service to list the Oak Flat Campground as a historical site in a deceitful attempt to quietly undermine the copper project.
Shame on the Park Service and Forest Service for ramming a bogus historic place listing down the throats of Arizonans. Clearly, the Obama Administration cares more about pandering to extremist environmental groups and a D.C. lobbyist from the Clinton Administration than following the law and listening to the American public. Oak Flat has never been a sacred site, as confirmed by the local tribe's own former historian. Yet, Obama's minions are hell-bent on sabotaging an important mining effort by listing a small, public campground 20 miles away from the nearest tribe's reservation as a historic site.
The agency's attempt to silence public comments through deceptive notices and short comment periods is outrageous and inexcusable. Neighboring tribal members who have seen unemployment numbers as high as 70%, a Superior community in dire need of good-paying jobs and Americans throughout the country all need this important mining project. A bipartisan Congress and the president have declared the land exchange for this copper mine to be the law of the land. That should have been the end of it. But blatantly deceitful collaboration that ignores the Rule of Law cannot be tolerated. This fraudulent action is the latest in a long list of egregious bureaucratic abuses of power by the Obama Administration. I will continue to fight this overreach.
Shame on the Park Service and Forest Service for ramming a bogus historic place listing down the throats of Arizonans. Clearly, the Obama Administration cares more about pandering to extremist environmental groups and a D.C. lobbyist from the Clinton Administration than following the law and listening to the American public. Oak Flat has never been a sacred site, as confirmed by the local tribe's own former historian. Yet, Obama's minions are hell-bent on sabotaging an important mining effort by listing a small, public campground 20 miles away from the nearest tribe's reservation as a historic site.
The agency's attempt to silence public comments through deceptive notices and short comment periods is outrageous and inexcusable. Neighboring tribal members who have seen unemployment numbers as high as 70%, a Superior community in dire need of good-paying jobs and Americans throughout the country all need this important mining project. A bipartisan Congress and the president have declared the land exchange for this copper mine to be the law of the land. That should have been the end of it. But blatantly deceitful collaboration that ignores the Rule of Law cannot be tolerated. This fraudulent action is the latest in a long list of egregious bureaucratic abuses of power by the Obama Administration. I will continue to fight this overreach.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/apacheland.asp
IF YOU PEOPLE ARE NOT PISSED OFF ABOUT THIS YOU ARE BEYOND HELP! I AM PISSED BEYOND BELIEF! OBAMA -- THE BEGINNING OF THE END!! HIS SHOULD TRADE IN THAT SURNAME FOR OMEGA - THE END INDEED! I CALL BULLSHIT!
Defense Bill Passes, Giving Sacred Native American Sites To Mining Company
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed a measure authorizing the nation’s defense programs Friday, and along with it managed to give lands sacred to Native Americans to a foreign company that owns a uranium mine with Iran.
The $585 billion National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 is one of the must-pass pieces of legislation that Congress moves every year. But like they did in attaching extraneous riders to the must-pass government funding bill, lawmakers used the defense bill as a vehicle to pass a massive public lands package.
The bill sailed through on a vote of 89 to 11.
Many of the land measures were popular. But one, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, had twice failed to win support in the House of Representatives, blocked both by conservationists and conservatives.
The deal gives a subsidiary of the Australian-English mining firm Rio Tinto 2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest in exchange for several other parcels so it can mine a massive copper deposit.
The Iran connection comes from a uranium mine in Namibia, in which Tehran has owned a 15 percent stake since the days of the shah.
Rio Tinto, which removed Iran’s two members of the mine board in 2012, has argued that Iran gets no benefit from the property, that there is no active partnership, and that it has discussed the issue with the U.S. State Department to ensure that no sanctions against Iran are violated.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that officials had discussed the site, but declined to say that they could assure there were no violations of sanctions.
“We are aware of the mine in question and have discussed relevant compliance issues with the company,” the spokesperson said.
The official also declined to say if, as might be expected, Iran would be able to benefit from the mine if Secretary of State John Kerry is successful in negotiations to limit the regime’s nuclear aspirations, and sanctions are lifted. “We are not going to speculate on any hypotheticals,” the official said. A Rio Tinto official also declined to speculate, but noted that under the current sanctions and Namibian law, it’s impossible to buy out Iran’s share or sever the tie.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) mounted a bid to strip the entire lands package from the bill, but secured only 18 votes in his favor.
It’s not only people concerned about any benefit Iran might get who were worried about giving American forest land to a foreign firm that has such a connection.
Native Americans, particularly the Apache tribe in the area, say digging a massive mine under their ancestral lands will destroy sacred ceremonial and burial grounds.
Rio Tinto says it will work closely with the tribes to ensure their concerns are heard, and will work with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the environment.
The measure was added into the NDAA largely thanks to the efforts of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who, along with fellow Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, sees the project as an economic boon that will create 3,700 jobs over several decades.
Flake acknowledged that the deal never would have passed on its own, even as he lamented the process that got it through the Senate.
“It’s never good to see big packages with so many things in them — that’s what we want to get away from,” Flake said. “But it’s been very difficult to move individual pieces of legislation over the last few years.”
In this case, the addition of the Arizona swap and the other land measures were never discussed in public, and were added during secret negotiations between the House and Senate Armed Services Committee. the deal was never publicly revealed until the House started work on passing the entire defense bill last week.
It will become law as soon as President Barack Obama signs it. Rio Tinto, though subsidiary Resolution Copper, will take possession of the land a year later. Although the land will then be private property and federal environmental reviews will no longer be enforceable, the company said in a statement after the measure passed that it would abide by such reviews. It also pledged to be a good neighbor:
“RESOLUTION COPPER MINING IS PLEASED THAT THE SOUTHEAST ARIZONA LAND EXCHANGE AND CONSERVATION ACT PASSED THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE WITH STRONG BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. PASSAGE OF THE LEGISLATION MEANS THAT RESOLUTION COPPER CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS WORLD-CLASS ORE BODY WHICH WILL CREATE APPROXIMATELY 3,700 JOBS, GENERATE OVER $60 BILLION IN ECONOMIC IMPACT AND RESULT IN ALMOST $20 BILLION IN STATE AND FEDERAL TAX PAYMENTS,” SAID PROJECT DIRECTOR ANDREW TAPLIN.“THERE IS MUCH MORE WORK TO BE DONE BEFORE COMMERCIAL MINING CAN BEGIN AND RESOLUTION COPPER LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH ALL STAKEHOLDERS AS WE CONTINUE TO PROGRESS THROUGH THE REGULATORY REVIEW PROCESS TOWARD RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION OF A WORLD-CLASS COPPER MINE THAT WILL SAFELY PRODUCE OVER 25 PERCENT OF THE CURRENT ANNUAL DEMAND FOR COPPER IN THE UNITED STATES.”ONCE THE LEGISLATION IS SIGNED INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT OBAMA, RESOLUTION COPPER WILL FOCUS ON THE COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL AND REGULATORY REVIEW UNDER NEPA, WHERE THERE WILL BE BROAD PUBLIC CONSULTATION, GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION WITH ARIZONA NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES AND A COMPREHENSIVE VALUATION APPRAISAL OF THE COPPER DEPOSIT AS REQUIRED BY CONGRESS.RESOLUTION COPPER PLANS TO WORK TO EXPAND EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS AND CREATE NEW ONES WITH NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES AND NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES. THE COMPANY WILL ENDEAVOR TO HIRE LOCALLY AND REGIONALLY WHENEVER POSSIBLE.THE HEART OF THE LEGISLATION IS THE EXCHANGE OF 2,400 ACRES OF FEDERALLY OWNED LAND ABOVE THE COPPER DEPOSIT FOR 5,300 ACRES OF LAND OWNED BY RESOLUTION COPPER COMPOSED OF VALUABLE RECREATIONAL, CONSERVATION AND CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT LAND THROUGHOUT ARIZONA. CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS MADE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS TO THE LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRIBAL CONCERNS. THESE CHANGES INCLUDE PROVISIONS FOR COMPLETION OF A FULL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (EIS) PRIOR TO THE EXCHANGE OF TITLE, EXTRAORDINARY PROTECTIONS FOR HISTORIC APACHE LEAP, AND SAFE ACCESS TO THE OAK FLAT CAMPGROUND AFTER THE EXCHANGE HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
