[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6391 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6391
To repeal section 3003 of Public Law 113-291, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 3, 2025
Mrs. Grijalva (for herself, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Min, Ms.
Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Stansbury,
Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Tran, Ms. McCollum, and Ms.
Kamlager-Dove) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To repeal section 3003 of Public Law 113-291, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Save Oak Flat from Foreign Mining
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Resolution Copper is a joint venture of the world's two
largest foreign mining entities, Rio Tinto (55 percent) and BHP
(45 percent), and these foreign corporations formed Resolution
Copper to acquire public land called Oak Flat to extract United
States copper located beneath it primarily for export to the
People's Republic of China.
(2) Rio Tinto's largest shareholder is Chinalco, a company
wholly owned by the People's Republic of China, which owns
14.56 percent of Rio Tinto, 4 times more than the next largest
shareholder.
(3) Rio Tinto generates over 57 percent of its revenue
through the export of minerals to the People's Republic of
China, and BHP generates over 62 percent of its revenue through
the export of minerals to the People's Republic of China,
making the People's Republic of China the largest market for
Rio Tinto and BHP.
(4) In 2014, despite bipartisan opposition, congressional
allies of Resolution Copper inserted the Southeast Arizona Land
Exchange Act (section 3003 of Public Law 113-291; 16 U.S.C.
539p) as a closed-door, last-minute rider in the Carl Levin and
Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113-291; ``FY15 NDAA'').
(5) Section 3003 of the FY15 NDAA--
(A) requires the Forest Service to give away Oak
Flat to Resolution Copper within 60 days of publication
of a legal Final Environmental Impact Statement so
these foreign corporations can mine copper from beneath
Oak Flat to export to the People's Republic of China;
and
(B) lacks any requirement that Resolution Copper
smelt, refine, or sell the copper it extracts from
beneath Oak Flat in the United States or any
requirement that this copper, derived from public land,
benefits United States consumers.
(6) The United States Geological Survey reports that over
30 percent of the copper mined in the United States is already
exported, and economic studies show that the bulk of this
copper is shipped to the People's Republic of China.
(7) Rio Tinto stated in comments to the Department of
Commerce dated April 1, 2025, that China is ``the most
profitable destination for almost any mine in the world to sell
its copper''.
(8) Resolution Copper has never provided a plan to the
United States showing that the copper extracted from beneath
Oak Flat would remain in the United States because Resolution
Copper instead plans to export Oak Flat copper to the People's
Republic of China in order to maximize shareholder profits.
(9) Resolution Copper will enable the People's Republic of
China to strengthen its control over global copper supply
chains.
(10) Over the years, the People's Republic of China has
ramped up manipulative and malign actions within the United
States, exposing United States citizens to ever-increasing
security and economic vulnerabilities.
(11) Giving away publicly owned Oak Flat and the natural
resources beneath it under section 3003 of the FY15 NDAA to
Resolution Copper to benefit the People's Republic of China
will weaken United States security.
(12) Rio Tinto has a long record of human rights violations
and environmental devastation, harming communities around the
world, including in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar,
Indonesia, Mongolia, and Namibia.
(13) In 2020, Rio Tinto intentionally blew up an area
sacred to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples in
Western Australia, including the Juukan Gorge Rock Dwellings,
which have evidence of human habitation dating back 46,000
years, because it was the cheapest way to access ore, resulting
in immeasurable cultural and spiritual loss and pain for
Indigenous communities.
(14) Oak Flat, located in the Tonto National Forest is the
ancestral homeland of American Indians--
(A) forcibly removed at gunpoint from Oak Flat, and
other areas that are now administered as public lands,
by the United States Army during the 1880s; and
(B) held as prisoners of war until the early 1900s.
(15) Oak Flat is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places as the Traditional Cultural Property of
Chi'chil Bi5dagoteel Historic District.
(16) Resolution Copper plans to extract copper located one
mile beneath Oak Flat's surface, which will result in a crater
2 miles wide over 1,000 feet deep and deplete, destroy, and
contaminate substantial amounts of limited and precious water
resources in a region that is already suffering from severe
drought and aridification by--
(A) consuming over 250,000,000,000 gallons of
groundwater over the 40-year life of the mine, which is
enough water to support 180,000 people annually for 40
years, resulting in over 4 feet of land subsidence over
large swaths of the East Salt River Valley due to
decreases in groundwater levels, in some areas by
nearly 200 feet; and
(B) redirecting water from the East Salt River
Valley, which will comprise approximately 70 percent of
Resolution Copper's groundwater, to slurry
1,370,000,000 tons of toxic mine waste through almost
20 miles of pipelines to a massive toxic waste dump
nearly 500 feet high and spanning approximately 15,000
acres, in the Gila River watershed.
(17) The Arizona State Land Department in a letter to the
Forest Service dated August 4, 2025, objected to Resolution
Copper's proposed mine because Resolution Copper would withdraw
substantial amounts of groundwater from the East Salt River
Valley, causing irreversible subsidence and earth fissures,
jeopardizing future residential development of Arizona State
Trust Land needed for the growing population in the Phoenix
metropolitan area, which will result in the loss of billions of
dollars for public education and other basic needs of
Arizonans.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Oak flat.--The term ``Oak Flat'' means the
approximately 2,422 acres of Forest Service land in the Tonto
National Forest in southeastern Arizona commonly known as ``Oak
Flat'' and generally depicted as ``Oak Flat Withdrawal Area''
on the map titled ``Save Oak Flat from Foreign Mining'' and
dated November 2025.
(2) Resolution copper.--The term ``Resolution Copper''
means Resolution Copper Mining, LLC, formed by foreign mining
entities, Rio Tinto (55 percent) and BHP (45 percent), to
acquire Oak Flat and extract and monetize United States copper
located beneath it.
SEC. 4. REPEAL AND WITHDRAWAL.
(a) Repeal.--Section 3003 of Public Law 113-291 (16 U.S.C. 539p) is
repealed.
(b) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid rights in existence on the date
of the enactment of this Act, Oak Flat is withdrawn from all forms of--
(1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land
laws;
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(3) disposition under all laws pertaining to mineral and
geothermal leasing or mineral materials.
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