WASHINGTON -- Congress may use must-pass legislation in the next two weeks to slip through a controversial land deal that would help a company that jointly owns a uranium mine with Iran, sources told HuffPost.
The company, the international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, has been trying for nearly a decade to acquire 2,400 acres of the federally protected Tonto National Forest in southeast Arizona -- land that sits atop a massive copper deposit.
Under legislation offered in the House and Senate, the company's subsidiary, Resolution Copper -- which Rio Tinto co-owns with another international mining giant, BHP Billiton -- would get land originally set aside during the Eisenhower administration to conserve the environment and protect sacred Native American sites.
The deal foundered in the mid-2000s when then-Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), who was convicted in 2013 on charges of conspiracy, racketeering and a number of other felonies, tried to use it to score his own real estate windfall. It has since run into opposition from Native Americans, conservationists and people concerned about the company's ties to Iran.
The Iran link comes from Rio Tinto's Rossing uranium mine in Namibia, in which Tehran owns a 15 percent stake. That connection hasn't bothered many members of Congress, but the linkage has become more important in recent years as legislators have ratcheted up their rhetoric against Iran and called for even tighter sanctions to stop the Islamic Republic from becoming a nuclear power.
But Rio Tinto and Resolution Copper have spent millions lobbying Congress and donating to lawmakers, according to data from federal election records and the Center for Responsive Politics. And according to opponents of the deal, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and backers in the House are trying to attach the deal to must-pass legislation -- most likely the National Defense Authorization Act, which comes from the Armed Services Committee that McCain will chair starting in January.
The NDAA is expected to be dealt with in the House as early as this week, and a Democratic aide told The Huffington Post that McCain has been working with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to draft a new version of the NDAA that brings the Senate and House versions into alignment. The Rio Tinto deal could also be attached to legislation to fund the government, or to a package of land deals that also includes preservation measures favored by Democrats.
"I’m worried that it’s going to get a wink and nod in the Senate, and become part of a package at the behest of Sen. McCain, who wields considerable influence there, and it’ll come to the floor where it will be part of an entire package, and we won’t have the ability to pull that out and separate it," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told The Huffington Post. "It will be an up or down vote only. I think at that point it would pass because it would be tucked into bills that both Democrats and Republicans want to get done."
A spokesman for McCain declined to say what avenue he is pursuing, but said the senator stands behind the deal despite the Iran association, and despite the fact that China owns nearly 10 percent of Rio Tinto and would -- according to opponents of the deal -- get most of the copper.
Much More: Iran Uranium Partner Could Get Gift From Lame-Duck Congress
Why must Native Americans continually live under the threat of having their remaining lands and resources stolen? Now, Natives Americans even live under the threat of having their remaining lands and resources stolen by foreign sources. Does anyone care enough to stand up and say NO?
The company, the international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, has been trying for nearly a decade to acquire 2,400 acres of the federally protected Tonto National Forest in southeast Arizona -- land that sits atop a massive copper deposit.
Under legislation offered in the House and Senate, the company's subsidiary, Resolution Copper -- which Rio Tinto co-owns with another international mining giant, BHP Billiton -- would get land originally set aside during the Eisenhower administration to conserve the environment and protect sacred Native American sites.
The deal foundered in the mid-2000s when then-Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), who was convicted in 2013 on charges of conspiracy, racketeering and a number of other felonies, tried to use it to score his own real estate windfall. It has since run into opposition from Native Americans, conservationists and people concerned about the company's ties to Iran.
The Iran link comes from Rio Tinto's Rossing uranium mine in Namibia, in which Tehran owns a 15 percent stake. That connection hasn't bothered many members of Congress, but the linkage has become more important in recent years as legislators have ratcheted up their rhetoric against Iran and called for even tighter sanctions to stop the Islamic Republic from becoming a nuclear power.
But Rio Tinto and Resolution Copper have spent millions lobbying Congress and donating to lawmakers, according to data from federal election records and the Center for Responsive Politics. And according to opponents of the deal, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and backers in the House are trying to attach the deal to must-pass legislation -- most likely the National Defense Authorization Act, which comes from the Armed Services Committee that McCain will chair starting in January.
The NDAA is expected to be dealt with in the House as early as this week, and a Democratic aide told The Huffington Post that McCain has been working with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to draft a new version of the NDAA that brings the Senate and House versions into alignment. The Rio Tinto deal could also be attached to legislation to fund the government, or to a package of land deals that also includes preservation measures favored by Democrats.
"I’m worried that it’s going to get a wink and nod in the Senate, and become part of a package at the behest of Sen. McCain, who wields considerable influence there, and it’ll come to the floor where it will be part of an entire package, and we won’t have the ability to pull that out and separate it," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told The Huffington Post. "It will be an up or down vote only. I think at that point it would pass because it would be tucked into bills that both Democrats and Republicans want to get done."
A spokesman for McCain declined to say what avenue he is pursuing, but said the senator stands behind the deal despite the Iran association, and despite the fact that China owns nearly 10 percent of Rio Tinto and would -- according to opponents of the deal -- get most of the copper.
Much More: Iran Uranium Partner Could Get Gift From Lame-Duck Congress
Why must Native Americans continually live under the threat of having their remaining lands and resources stolen? Now, Natives Americans even live under the threat of having their remaining lands and resources stolen by foreign sources. Does anyone care enough to stand up and say NO?
