Congress has been working to undo some of the overly burdensome and highly unnecessary regulations imposed on American families, businesses and states over the past eight years. We’ve had many successes in this area, and last week our efforts continued.

I was proud to gain unanimous support for my amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill. This amendment will roll back a lame duck action from the Obama Administration and give us the opportunity to bring much-needed jobs and revenue to the great state of Minnesota.

Not only is this a win for the people of our state and the country as a whole, but it is also a win for our Constitution and its delegated powers. For far too long, we’ve watched unelected bureaucrats wield more and more power, even going as far as allocating taxpayer dollars – something that is reserved for Congress.

Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution states that the power of the purse rests in the hands of Congress. My amendment that passed last week seeks to enforce that by prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars, which the Obama Administration attempted to spend, to effectively block the advancement of sound and safe mining in Northern Minnesota.

I am proud this amendment was a success last week, and it is important we continue our efforts to rein in the executive branch and return the power of the purse to Congress where it belongs.

It is very important to note that the passage of this amendment by no means is intended to bypass the environmental review process. In fact, there is still an extremely thorough process that any potential mining project would have to go through, and it could be up to a decade before one got under way. Our actions simply will undo the Obama Administration’s overreach and reinstate Congress’ power.