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“THE MINERALS ISSUE” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Senate section on pages S16752-S16753 on Nov. 7, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE MINERALS ISSUE
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have been here many times discussing a very important issue for the State of Nevada, and that is mining. This statement today is a follow up of the conference which was completed with the House in recent days. It was during that conference that I was reminded of the old ``Dragnet'' program where Jack Webb, who was Joe Friday on the program, when interviewing the witnesses, would say,
``Just the facts ma'am,'' or ``Just the facts, sir.'' Many times we need this as we debate mining.
As the Chair knows, the debate on this issue has centered in recent years between the Senator from Nevada and my good friend, the senior Senator from the State of Arkansas. And during the course of that debate, and the conversations and the discussion we had during the conference, my friend from Arkansas on a number of occasions referred to one of the big employers in Nevada, the Newmont Mining Co., as a foreign corporation. I wanted to make sure that I was right. I on a number of occasions questioned my friend from Arkansas.
I think it is important that we understand the motives for raising this issue are clear--the desire of some to arouse fear that somehow the minerals industry has been taken over by people from outside the United States. The fact of the matter is that the vast, vast majority of investors in the mineral industry are American citizens.
Mr. President, Newmont Mining Co., as I have indicated in recent weeks, in recent years, recent months, has been the target of some very negative statements and rhetoric by the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, and the senior Senator from Arkansas.
The latest tirade that was offered against this company was the fact that they had been issued a patent by the Interior Department of some 118 acres in the State of Nevada.
Now, in the State of Nevada, keep in mind, we are a State of approximately 72 million acres, and this was a patent of a little over 100 acres.
Both the Secretary and my friend from Arkansas continue, as I have indicated, to refer to Newmont as a foreign company taking title to U.S. land and resources. First of all, understand, Newmont Mining Co., was formed in the United States, in the State of Delaware, in 1921. The name Newmont comes from the two areas where the company at that time was operating--New York and Montana. Therefore, the name Newmont.
Putting aside, Mr. President, the larger debate that foreign ownership should not, I believe should not even be an issue, when you understand that Newmont Mining Co. has invested over $1.5 billion, now approaching $2 billion in its Nevada operations, and has paid about
$700 million in wages and about $600 million in payroll, property, sales and net proceeds taxes, including Federal income taxes since they have been there--not bad--Newmont Mining Co. is not now and never has been a foreign company.
Newmont Mining Co. stock has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1925. If anyone in this room decided they wanted to go buy some Newmont stock, they could walk into any stock dealer in the United States and purchase shares of Newmont stock. No one is asked for proof of U.S. citizenship or should they be, when purchasing stock in U.S. companies.
At the present time, records show that about 95 percent of Newmont's stockholders are U.S. citizens or institutions or U.S. residents. The largest single stockholder in Newmont Mining Co., owning some 13 percent of the stock, is a man by the name of Mr. George Soros, who has a very interesting background--a man who escaped from Communist Hungary in 1956, came to America, settled in New York where he made a fortune.
Mr. Soros owns not only 13 percent of Newmont Mining Co. but various pieces and sometimes the whole of various U.S. companies. No shareholder owns more than 13 percent of the stock that Mr. Soros owns in Newmont Mining Co.
The next largest shareholders are very important institutions in the United States: the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System; the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which manages pensions for Wisconsin State government retirees, is a large holder of Newmont stock; the State of New York Employees Retirement Fund holds a very large block of Newmont stock; Fidelity Investment Management of Boston, the largest mutual fund organization in the United States, owns a large block of Newmont stock; Ark Assessment Management, a New York City pension management firm, owns a large block of Newmont stock.
Mr. President, this information is readily available to be obtained either by the Secretary of Interior or my good friend from the State of Arkansas. I think the time has come that we should stop attempting to degrade, in any way belittle this fine mining company that has invested almost $2 billion in the State of Nevada.
I think it is time, as I stated at the start of this discussion, we deal just with the facts. Let us deal just with the facts. As Jack Webb, I repeat, the Joe Friday of the ``Dragnet'' series, said, we need to deal with the facts, have this discussion on the facts, not rhetoric that has no bearing on the issues.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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