Who Looks Out For Us? Raúl

Just think of this as a continuation from today's 10AM post about figuring out who in politics can be trusted. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) is the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. There's nothing about him that would make anyone think he's part of the 1% and there's nothing in his record that indicates he serves the interests of the 1%. Wednesday the House voted on one (Paul Gosar's H.R. 1904) in a series of bills dealing with mining that Raúl has been all worked up about. I noticed he-- as well as Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Ed Markey (D-MA) put forward-- amendments that the GOP defeated before going on to pass the overall bill 235-186, the import of which is to give away federal lands filled with copper ore to a private, foreign-owned copper company, while waiving meaningful compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. Seven Democrats, including some of the worst corporate whores in the Democratic caucus-- John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Larry Kissell (NC), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC) and Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)-- crossed the aisle to vote with the GOP. Seeing that the Republicans had the voted needed to pass the bill, Raúl's amendment would have required that the remote operations center for the proposed mine be located in the local community, that the company actively recruit and hire local employees, that all ore produced from the mine be processed in the United States and that all equipment used at the mine be made in the U.S. It was defeated 182-240, six Democratic corporate whores crossing the aisle to vote for their corporate masters along with the GOP.

Nancy Pelosi did a good overview of Gosar's bill and how it shortchanges American taxpayers:

·         Provides A Taxpayer Giveaway. This GOP special-interest bill shortchanges U.S. taxpayers-- transferring land currently owned by U.S. taxpayers that is potentially worth billions to Resolution Copper company without requiring royalty payments in return.
 
·         Provides A Giveaway to a Multinational Mining Conglomerate. The Resolution Copper company that receives this windfall from U.S. taxpayers is actually a joint subsidiary of two large, foreign-owned mining corporations-- Australian-owned BHP-Billiton and British-owned Rio Tinto.  
 
·         Instead of Providing Royalties to U.S. Taxpayers, Provides for Highly Unusual Appraisal Procedures. The Resolution Copper company estimates that the value of the copper ore in the land they are acquiring is several billion dollars. And yet the bill does not provide royalty payments to U.S. taxpayers as copper ore is extracted from the land. Instead, the bill requires highly unusual appraisal procedures which fail to guarantee that Resolution Copper will pay a fair price for the copper it stands to receive from the American people.
 
·         Rep. Ed Markey Will Offer An Amendment to Provide Royalties to U.S. Taxpayers. One of the amendments made in order by the rule on the bill is an amendment by Rep. Ed Markey. The Markey amendment would require, as a condition of the land exchange authorized by the bill, that Resolution Copper pay an 8 percent royalty to U.S. taxpayers on all locatable minerals produced in commercial quantities from the federal land the company receives in the exchange.

Yesterday, another Republican giveaway to their "generous" donors at the expense of the country was slowed down by a Bureau of Land Management environmental impact statement recommending a 20-year withdrawal from new mining claims of approximately 1 million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon, something Raúl has been organizing for and working towards all year. The GOP has been eager to let mine owners start mining for uranium almost right to the rim of the Grand Canyon and some of it inside the Kaibab National Forest. Arizona Republicans, John McCain, Jon Kyl, Paul Gosar, Jeff Flake, David Schweikert, Trent Franks and Ben Quayle, all of whom take immense sums from the mining interests, are pushing the bill while the GOP still has control of the House. Grijalva pointed out that his 7 colleagues are "ignoring the public will and pushing a back-door corporate giveaway of our nation’s heritage despite the express public will to defend this land. I have to wonder what the motive is behind trying so hard to open the Grand Canyon for business when every federal expert studying the issue has told us this territory should be preserved... This has never been about corporations on one hand and environmentalists on the other. This has been about disinterested science telling us we need to protect this land for the public good. This finding makes sure the Colorado River won’t be contaminated, the area will maintain its attraction for tourists all over the world, and the Grand Canyon will be preserved for future generations. This is the crown jewel of our National Parks system, not a random geological formation to be stripped for parts and sold to the highest bidder.”

I got to Raúl yesterday just as he was hopping a plane to fly back to Tucson. He was happy about the Bureau of Land Management putting the breaks on the Republican push to open up the Grand Canyon area to mining but he's dealing with the GOP's unending efforts on behalf of their campaign donors to pillage the land. "All this year," he told me, "Republicans have been pushing an open season on some of our most important public and Tribal land. They’re trying to approve uranium mining at the Grand Canyon, copper mining at sacred Apache sites, and stripping public spaces all over the country for spare parts. If they get their way, nothing would be spared. It doesn’t matter if a company like Rio Tinto, facing genocide charges and known to operate a uranium mine with the Iranian government, co-owns a proposed venture in Arizona-- Republicans want it to go through. It doesn’t matter if projects would send their profits overseas, hire out-of-state, non-union labor, and sell their product to China. Republicans are for it.
 
"This is especially awful because companies like Shell Oil are already making fortunes off cheaply leased property and resources that belong to the taxpayers. We’re giving our natural resources and our public trust away for pennies on the dollar, whether it’s rock-bottom leases, low royalty rates or sweetheart tax subsidies. I’ve asked some of the biggest companies to open their books and give working families a look at how much these companies are making off public property, how much they’re returning in royalties, and how much they paid for these goods in the first place. I think everyone’s going to be shocked when we finally get some answers.
 
"This has been a tough year for public land and the environment, and I’ve been doing what I can to stop the worst of it. Republicans are doing whatever companies ask them to do, regardless of the public interest. It hasn’t been an easy run, but we’re committed to making sure some of these giveaways don’t go through and preventing any more pointless giveaways of our public resources.”

Believe me when I tell you that there aren't that many Members of Congress to take on their colleagues and take on the might and power of Big Business and fight for the country the way Raúl Grijalva does. The GOP and their corporate allies spent millions of dollars in his district last year to try to defeat him. They're gearing up to do the same thing next year. Last year Blue America helped him fend off the danger and this year-- though he'll be fighting in a somewhat gerrymandered and redder district-- we hope to do that same thing. Please consider helping him win reelection here. As you can see, he's only one of three incumbents Blue America has endorsed in this cycle.