Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today, I am proud to stand up for fairness by introducing legislation with my Senate colleague, Senator TOM UDALL of New Mexico, to ensure American taxpayers receive the full value of coal produced on public lands.

The Coal Royalty Fairness Act would require the Interior Department to collect royalties for coal mined on Federal lands based on the actual market value of coal. This bill is based on current successful practices in Montana--the Nation's second largest Federal coal-producing State. Currently, some private mining companies sell coal to their own affiliated companies at a lower cost than market value, and pay Federal royalties based on the cheaper, first point of sale.

American taxpayers are getting ripped off by coal companies under the current, broken coal royalties system. I raised concerns about this 2 years ago, and today, Senator UDALL and I are introducing legislation to get the public every penny owed by companies that may be taking advantage of a loose system. Instead of subsidizing private coal companies, it is time to put this money back where it belongs--into rural communities and the pockets of taxpayers.

Our bill will require the Interior Department to collect royalties based on the actual market value of coal, not the below-market price they charge their own companies.

Our bill will also bring some much-needed transparency to the Federal coal program by requiring the Interior Department to publish more information and calling for Government Accountability Office to review the program every 3 years.

I urge my colleagues to join Senator UDALL and me by cosponsoring and ultimately passing this important bill.

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