H.R. 6391

[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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