Stauber to Haaland: 'Do You Understand Why This Statement That You Made Under Oath Is False?' (April 19, 2023)

Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., confronted Interior Secretary Deb Haaland with her own words. “Late last month, you testified in front of the Appropriations Committee, my friend and colleague Mr. Reschenthaler asked you about the mineral withdrawal in my district. You said, and I quote, ‘Well, we did a mineral withdrawal in the boundary waters.’ Secretary Haaland, do you understand why this statement that you made under oath is false?” Stauber asked at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on April 19, 2023, according to the official hearing record [1].

“Congressman, it is my understanding that we made a decision in this area,” Haaland began [1].

“Madam Secretary, I have to interrupt you. Do you understand why the answer that you made under oath is false? There is no mining in the wilderness area, and there is no mining in the surrounding buffer zone, either,” Stauber said [1].

The video above shows the exchange on April 19, 2023. Quotes are from the official hearing record and the Federal Register [1][2][3].

”I Don’t Think They Were Critical Minerals”

Stauber held up a document. “For those that don’t know, it is the updated list of critical minerals released from your Department last year,” he said. “OK, yes,” Haaland answered [1].

“In your exchange with Mr. Reschenthaler, you said in reference to the minerals in the Superior National Forest that you banned, and I quote, ‘I don’t know what kind of minerals were there. I don’t think they were critical minerals,’” Stauber said [1].

“Let me tell you, those minerals that you banned include nickel, cobalt, palladium, platinum, and other group metals,” he said. “That is unbelievable.” [1]

“I Should Have Added the Word Watershed”

Haaland gave ground. “Congressman, I should have said that it was boundary waters watershed,” she said [1].

“Then you either misspoke, or misled, in the testimony. Which was it last week?” Stauber asked. “I should have added the word watershed, Congressman,” Haaland said [1].

”More Dependent on China”

“So, how can you as Secretary of the Interior not know where the wilderness is? And how can you not know that your agency withdrew critical minerals?” Stauber asked [1].

“Your decision, Madam Secretary, is either purely political, or ignorance. It is either ignoring your own agency’s research, or a political move to satisfy your radical anti-mining activists. This ill-informed decision has left the United States more dependent on China,” he said [1].

Haaland answered that “it was always called a copper mine, and copper is not on that list.” Stauber shot back: “It has nickel and cobalt. It is the biggest copper nickel find in the world.” [1]

“80 Percent of This Nation’s Steel”

Stauber closed on jobs. “Madam Secretary, the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota mines iron ore that makes 80 percent of this nation’s steel, and you banned taconite,” he said [1].

“You had no idea that we had project labor agreements to put union men and women to work for generations, and I yield back,” Stauber said [1].

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., complained. “Mr. Chairman, has the time expired, or is there more hyperventilation that we need to endure,” Huffman said [1].

”Words to Be Taken Down”

The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, objected. “We have significant differences in terms of policy and philosophy on this Committee, no question about it, but berating the Secretary or any witness that we have before us, diminishing and demeaning the victim exactly, but—” he said [1].

“I request the Ranking Member’s words to be taken down. That is factually inaccurate,” Stauber said [1].

“I will save us the exercise of going through that and indicate to the gentleman that my comments are directed in general and not specifically to anyone, but if he is offended by them, I apologize for that, but I do not apologize for the call for real decorum in this dais,” Grijalva said [1].

The Order

The withdrawal was Public Land Order No. 7917, effective Jan. 31, 2023. It “withdraws approximately 225,504 acres of National Forest System lands in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis counties, Minnesota, from disposition under the United States mineral and geothermal leasing laws, for a period of 20 years.” [2]

The order says its purpose is “to protect and preserve the fragile and vital social and natural resources, ecological integrity, and wilderness values in the Rainy River Watershed, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Mining Protection Area (MPA), and the 1854 Ceded Territory of the Lake Superior Chippewa in northeastern Minnesota.” [2] Haaland’s fix, “watershed,” was in it.

By the Numbers

225,504: acres closed to mineral leasing [2].
20: years the withdrawal lasts [2].
80%: the share of the nation’s steel that Stauber said comes from Iron Range ore [1].
4: critical minerals Stauber named: nickel, cobalt, palladium and platinum [1].

What Happened Next

Biden’s team killed the mine’s review on its way out. On Dec. 30, 2024, three weeks before Biden left office, the Bureau of Land Management announced “the termination of the Twin Metals Project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).” [3]

For Biden’s Interior Secretary on jobs a month later, see HYGO News’ page on May 11, 2023. For Biden’s Grand Canyon monument and the uranium fight, see the page on Aug. 8, 2023.