SAVE OAK FLAT ACT (SOFA)Currrent and Historical Record

The Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act (SOFA)
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2023-2024 118th CONGRESS - The Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act 
To repeal section 3003 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, and for other purposes.

Note:  The 118th Congress failed to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. As of January 11, 2025, the legal case Apache Stronghold v United States is currently at the Supreme Court waiting to be heard. See Press Releases for additional information regarding this legal case.

March 6, 2023 | Ranking Democrat Raul Grijalva Introduces Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act to Protect Sacred Site in Central Arizona | Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today announced the introduction of the Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act to permanently protect Tonto National Forest’s Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District, also known as Oak Flat, from foreign mining operations that will permanently desecrate the area and destroy its tribal cultural and religious heritage sites. Passage of the Save Oak Flat Act, H.R. 1351 is critical to stop this project that promises big profits to multinational mining companies, while imposing irreversible harm to the people and environment of Arizona. 
|2023-2024 H.R.1351 Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act
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Please urge your congressional leaders to cosponsor and support the Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act.

HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE SAVE OAK FLAT ACT 2015-Present
to "Reverse Backroom Deal that Threatens Apache Religion and Sacred Areas"
(In chronological order)
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THE FIRST "SAVE OAK FLAT ACT" | On Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Arizona Congressman. Raul Grijalva with 14 bipartisan co-sponsors introduced the first “Save Oak Flat Act”. The bill would repeal Section 3003 of the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which approved Section 3003 Southeast Arizona Land exchange & Conservation Act to became public law during the 113th Congress (2013-2014) 
H.R.3979 — 113th Congress (2013-2014) Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015
12/19/2014 | Became Public Law No: 113-291 
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San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman, Terry Rambler, praised the bill’s introduction. Rambler stated, “I applaud Congressman Grijalva and the co-sponsors of the Save Oak Flat Act. They are true champions of Indian Country and justice for the American taxpayer. The Save Oak Flat Act directly responds to the deception that was used to approve the Land Exchange through an eleventh hour rider. That process directly ignored the will of the people and exemplifies everything wrong with Congress.”   View original article  One of the lawmakers involved in the fight to save Oak Flat, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), introduced the first “Save Oak Flat Act” in June 2015 to protect the sacred grounds from mining. 
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Grijalva’s original 2015 bill reads:  “As a result of previous Federal land policies that resulted in the significant loss of lands of American Indian tribes, many sacred areas of tribes are now located on Federal lands. The United States has a trust responsibility acknowledged by Congress to protect tribal sacred areas on Federal lands. [The deal] sets dangerous legislative precedent for the lack of protection of tribal sacred areas located on Federal lands … [and] will require significant amounts of water that will likely affect the local hydrology, including the underlying aquifer, and will result in polluted water that will seep into drinking water supplies.”  Since 2015, the Save Oak Flat Act has died in committee.

2015-2016 H.R.2811 | S.2242 (Save Oak Flat Act) 

2017-2018 H.R. 2915 | S. 1375 (Save Oak Flat Act)

2019-2020 H.R. 665 | S.173 (Save Oak Flat Act)

PRESS RELEASE: SAVE OAK FLAT ACT 1/17/2019 | SAVE OAK FLAT ACT - Introduced in 116th Congress 1/17/2019

March 12, 2020, Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States
The Irreparable Environmental and Cultural Impacts of the Proposed Resolution Copper Mining Operation
Watch Subcommittee Hearing on YouTube | Witness and Support Documents Submitted
2021-2022 H.R.1884 | S.915 - To repeal section 3003 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, and for other purposes.
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April 13, 2021, Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States
Watch Subcommittee Hearing on YouTube | Support Documents Submitted  

The Save Oak Flat Act (SOFA) would protect a 2,422-acre site known as Chí’chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat), the foundation of traditional Western Apache culture and religion. Congress now has a historic opportunity to protect American Indian cultural and religious resources by enacting the Save Oak Flat Act, which is currently included in the House version of the budget reconciliation legislation in Subtitle B—Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands 3 SEC. 70201. OAK FLAT WITHDRAWALSubtitle B—Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands 3 SEC. 70201. OAK FLAT WITHDRAWAL starts on page 10.
2023-2024 H.R.1351 To repeal section 3003 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, and for other purposes. * *NOTE:  January 11, 2025  The 118th Congress did not bring the bill to the floor for a vote.  The Apache Stronghold v United States case is currently in the US Supreme Court waiting to be heard.