Lobbying Pays Off, As Senate Passes Resolution Copper (& Natl Defense Auth Act)

The long-running land swap soap opera for a Superior copper mine is headed to the President's desk as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.  Why is it one small step away from becoming a done deal?  Besides the bipartisan pushing of Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1) and Paul Gosar (R-CD4), one would have to look at Resolution Copper's commitment to lobbying.

Although we will not see how much Resolution Copper has spent on lobbying in the last few weeks, we can see that it significantly boosted its annual lobbying budget over previous efforts (courtesy of the good folks at the Center for Responsive Politics).

$360,000 in payments to four different lobbying firms through the first nine months of the year.

And, of course, Resolution Copper had several friends lobbying alongside it.  Rio Tinto Group, the National Mining Association, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce helped, among others.  (Many others also registered to lobby on the land swap, on both sides of the issue; here is the list.)

Here are the speeches made by four of Arizona's Representatives last fall when it was debated on the House floor as a standalone bill on September 27.  It stalled that day, as Congress was on the verge of shutting down the entire government.





For details on the land exchange, which will have Resolution conveying to the federal government several wilderness parcels in Coconino, Maricopa, Yavapai, Pima and Santa Cruz counties, here is the House Report from last year:

  h. Rept. 113-167 - Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 _ Congress

We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.