[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 7, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16752-S16753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           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 

[[Page S 16753]]
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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