I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2811 

To repeal section 3003 of the the Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon 

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 17, 2015 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. COLE, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. JONES, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. TORRES, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. BEN

RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. POLIS, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. 

BECERRA, Mr. GALLEGO, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To repeal section 3003 of the the Carl Levin and Howard 

P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act 

for Fiscal Year 2015. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Save Oak Flat Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds as follows: 

7 (1) Section 3003 of the Carl Levin and Howard 

8 P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon National Defense Authorization 


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1 Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113–291) au2 thorizes approximately 2422 acres of Forest Service 

3 land known as ‘‘Oak Flat’’ in the Tonto National 

4 Forest in Southeastern Arizona that is sacred to In5 dian tribes in the region, including the San Carlos 

6 Apache Tribe and the Yavapai-Apache Nation, to be 

7 transferred to a mining company called Resolution 

8 Copper. That company plans to hold the Forest land 

9 privately for a mining project that will result in the 

10 physical destruction of tribal sacred areas and de11 prive American Indians from practicing their reli12 gions, ceremonies, and other traditional practices. 

13 The mining project will also create significant nega14 tive environmental impacts by destroying the area 

15 and depleting and contaminating precious water re16 sources. 

17 (2) Once Resolution Copper owns the Oak Flat 

18 area, it plans to use the highly destructive block cave 

19 mining method to remove one cubic mile of ore that 

20 is now 7,000 feet beneath the surface of the earth 

21 without replacing any of the earth removed because 

22 that is the cheapest form of mining. Resolution Cop23 per admits that the surface will subside and ulti24 mately collapse, destroying forever this place of wor25 ship. 


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1 (3) The Tonto National Forest in which Oak 

2 Flat is located was established in 1905 from the an3 cestral homelands of the Tonto Apache and other 

4 American Indians who were forcibly removed at gun5 point from the Oak Flat area and other areas of the 

6 Tonto National Forest by the United States Army 

7 in the 1880s and imprisoned in other areas, includ8 ing what is now the San Carlos Apache Reservation, 

9 located approximately 15 miles from Oak Flat, 

10 where Apaches were held as prisoners of war until 

11 the early 1900s. 

12 (4) Section 3003 was included in the Carl Levin 

13 and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon National Defense 

14 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 without 

15 proper legislative process and circumvented the will 

16 of the majority of Members of the House of Rep17 resentatives. Section 3003 was originally introduced 

18 in the House of Representatives as H.R. 687 and in 

19 the Senate as S. 339 in the 113th Congress. H.R. 

20 687 was brought to the floor of the House of Rep21 resentatives for consideration twice and was pulled 

22 from consideration both times. S. 339 was never 

23 considered by the Senate or even considered for 

24 mark up by the Senate Committee on Energy and 

25 Natural Resources. Section 3003 was then included 


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1 in the Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon 

2 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

3 2015 without majority support from either the 

4 House or Senate and an amendment to remove sec5 tion 3003 was not allowed to be considered. 

6 (5) American Indian tribes have ceded or have 

7 had taken from them millions of acres of land to 

8 help build the United States and have suffered 

9 under Federal assimilationist policies that sought to 

10 destroy tribal cultures. Despite these policies, Amer11 ican Indians continue to practice their religions as 

12 they have done for thousands of years. American In13 dian places of worship, or sacred areas, are often 

14 land based, including mountains, streams, and trees. 

15 As a result of previous Federal land policies that re16 sulted in the significant loss of lands of American 

17 Indian tribes, many sacred areas of tribes are now 

18 located on Federal lands. 

19 (6) The United States has a trust responsibility 

20 acknowledged by Congress to protect tribal sacred 

21 areas on Federal lands. These laws require meaning22 ful consultations with affected Indian tribes before 

23 making decisions that will impact American Indians. 

24 In contradiction to these laws, section 3003 requires 

25 the mandatory conveyance of a tribal sacred area loVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Jun 19, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2811.IH H2811

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1 cated on Federal lands regardless of the outcome of 

2 consultation with affected Indian tribes. 

3 (7) Section 3003 was strongly opposed by In4 dian tribes nationwide because it sets dangerous leg5 islative precedent for the lack of protection of tribal 

6 sacred areas located on Federal lands by mandating 

7 the conveyance of Federal lands with significant reli8 gious, cultural, historic, and anthropological signifi9 cance for Indian tribes to a private company that 

10 will destroy the land. 

11 (8) Section 3003 circumvents standard environ12 mental review procedures that ensure that the public 

13 interest is protected, including the interests of In14 dian tribes. Section 3003 requires a mandatory con15 veyance of the Oak Flat area regardless of the find16 ings resulting from the environmental review proc17 ess. The mining project will require significant 

18 amounts of water that will likely affect the local hy19 drology, including the underlying aquifer, and will 

20 result in polluted water that will seep into drinking 

21 water supplies. 

22 (9) The inclusion of section 3003 in the Carl 

23 Levin and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon National De24 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 sets 


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1 negative precedent for legislative process and for 

2 Federal Indian policy. 

3 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF THE SOUTHEAST ARIZONA LAND EX4 CHANGE AND CONSERVATION. 

5 Section 3003 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. 

6 ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for 

7 Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113–291) is repealed. 

Æ 


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