Support PolyMet land exchange, MINER Act

To Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith,

Recently an opportunity was squandered in the U.S.Congress when Congressman Rick Nolan's H.R. 3115 was removed from the Omnibus Spending bill. You are well aware that this bill will finalize an already approved land exchange between PolyMet and the U.S. Forest Service. You also know that this exchange is being held hostage in the courts by anti-mining groups.

Now I am not going to point fingers at anyone, but H.R. 3115 passed the U.S. House with bipartisan support in November of 2017. Since that time it has languished in the Senate waiting for either a sponsor as it stands or companion legislation. This is where the two of you come into the picture. There was ample time for either of you to sponsor or come up with companion legislation, but you did neither. Then when H.R. 3115 was attached to the Omnibus Spending bill as a rider it ended up being removed. The curious thing here is that Rep. Betty McCollum from the 4th District in Minn. is taking credit for that happening. What I find hard to believe, is that if you had actually supported H.R. 3115 that Rep. McCollum ever would have touched the bill. Like I said previously an opportunity squandered.

Presently another chance may be on the horizon and this time the onus falls directly on you. You can attach H.R. 3115 to the Farm Bill , but not just H.R. 3115 — we also want H.R. 3905 Rep. Tom Emmer's MINER Act attached as well. The time has come to seal the deal on the PolyMet land exchange and bypass the frivolous lawsuits. The time has also come for the passage of the MINER Act to protect Minnesota's National Forests from unwanted and politically-motivated monument designations and mineral withdrawals. Congressional approval would be required for both to happen.

Those of us on the pro-mining side are tired of empty words. Show us that you actually support copper nickel mining through your actions. We will be watching.