Congressman Stauber battling in DC
After walking in Ely’s July 4 Patriotic March, Congressman Pete Stauber returned to Washington D.C. to fight the good fight. He’s had his hands full as of late.
Stauber represents the Eighth District, which is a good portion of northeast Minnesota. He’s a first-term Republican with union endorsements and the Democratic party has basically waved the white flag for this year’s election.
One of his current battles is trying to keep the area’s economy alive with attacks coming from metro Rep. Betty McCollum. With the Democrats controlling the U.S. House, McCollum wields some power.
She’s decided a top issue for the Twin Cities is shutting down all mining in northeast Minnesota. One of the other top issues on her website is the renaming of the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
We wouldn’t be surprised if she’s also pushing to rename Redskin Lake by Isabella. Not that she’s ever fished trout in Redskin or shot ducks there in the fall. But you can bet workers from Minntac and Northshore have. McCollum seeks to eliminate those mines and the jobs they provide as well.
According to Stauber, a bill from McCollum’s subcommittee “contains a policy rider which seeks to ban not only new mines, but future operations in existing iron ore mines within the Rainy River Watershed and the Superior National Forest.”
McCollum is on speed dial for Becky Rom and others who make up the Friends or Save the Boundary Waters and any other anti-mining group.
But this time McCollum hasn’t done any favors to the DFL party in northeast Minnesota.
Stauber isn’t pulling any punches.
“Congresswoman McCollum’s attack on iron mining is an all-time low, even for her. Communities across my district continue to suffer as a result of COVID-19, and many iron mining operations across the region have been forced to idle. And then this week, McCollum’s provision, was folded quietly into this bill. It is clear there is a pattern here. It seems many Democrats like McCollum would prefer to see child labor in foreign countries mine the resources that our nation needs, rather than responsibly extracting these minerals with American workers and American jobs,” said Stauber.
We would think McCollum would be more concerned about what’s going on her own riot-torn backyard instead of working to eliminate jobs and livelihoods on the Range.
Stauber understands the people of the Range, that’s why they voted for him and will re-elect him in November. He knows McCollum wouldn’t stand a chance on a ballot up here.
“We have the highest environmental and labor standards in the world, so I find it offensive that Congresswoman McCollum would attempt to sneak language in an appropriations bill that would slow iron mining and keep Minnesotans out of work. In northeast Minnesota, iron mining is a proud tradition, and I will not stand by as anti-mining Democrats in Washington, D.C. continue this dangerous pattern with McCollum leading the charge. I will continue to fight for our way of life every step of the way.”
That’s how you fight for your district. Go get ‘em Pete - keep up the good work.
