{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141024002022/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/in-the-news/senator-tammy-baldwin-visits-bad-river-and-red-cliff-reservations", "Senator Tammy Baldwin visits Bad River and Red Cliff Reservations", "2014-10-22", "2014", "2014-10", "Democrat", "House", "WI", "Tammy Baldwin", "B001230", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Tammy Baldwin visits Bad River and Red Cliff Reservations\t\n\t\t\t\t\n                \n                Economic and education issues on agenda in visits\n                \n            \n            \n            \n                \n                    By:\u00a0\n                    Rick Olivo\n                \n            \n            \n                \n                \n                \n            Wednesday, October 22, 2014\n            \n\t\n            \n            U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin made stops in Ashland and Bayfield County Tuesday, visiting the Bad River and Red Cliff Indian Reservations.\nIn Bad River, Baldwin visited the tribal head start operation and the human services offices before meeting with Bad River Tribal Chairman Mike Wiggins and members of the Tribal Council.\n\nIn Red Cliff, she met with Chairwoman Rose Soulier and participated in a driving tour of the reservation, which included a tour of the Red Cliff Community Health Clinic.\n\n\nIn his presentation to Baldwin, Wiggins spoke against the development of the Gogebic Taconite (GTAC) iron mine in Ashland and Iron County.\n\n\nHe charged that Gogebic Taconite owner Chris Cline has a pattern of mine development at the expense of local communities.\n\n\n\u201cThey say that company knowingly reintroduced arsenic-laden tailings into the aquifer of Seville,\u201d he said, asserting that the current president of GTAC has been indicted in Spain.\n\n\nHe identified Cline with the legend of the Wendigo, a malevolent, demonic half-beast of Native American legend.\n\n\nHe also spoke against the development of a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFOS) proposed for Bayfield County, which he said was a part of a class of development that could \u201cleave Main Streets and towns just devastated, and we don\u2019t want that.\u201d\n\n\nHe contrasted those proposals with food expansions involving Memorial Medical Center, Northland College and the Chequamegon Food Cooperative.\n\n\n\u201cThey have committed to 30 percent buying local,\u201d he said, noting that the Alliance for Sustainability has asserted that the area was actually 189 growers short.\n\n\n\u201cThe spirit that is driving that local movement is not apples to apples with those CAFOs,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people do not want that.\u201d\n\n\nBaldwin said her visit to Bad River and Red Cliff was \u201ca wonderful opportunity\u201d for her.\n\n\n\u201cI regret previously that I\u2019ve just driven through U.S. Highway 2,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve had the opportunity to speak with the chairman on a couple of occasions, but this was a really great opportunity for me to deepen my understanding of tribal services, their focus on early childhood education, future generations, thinking forward.\u201d\n\n\nBaldwin said the real goal of the visits was to build relationships with tribal officials.\n\n\n\u201cI hope to be in my role for a long time, and I hope that Chairman Wiggins will also be in his role for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a sovereign nation within the State of Wisconsin, I hope that we can build a long and complementary relationship.\u201d\n\n\nBaldwin said she viewed one of the key interactions in her job involving Wiggins\u2019 concerns involved the Environmental Protection Agency.\n\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have an application from any companies yet,\u201d she said of the Penokee Hills mine. \u201cBut everyone predicts there will be one forthcoming and I have tried to impress upon the EPA that they need to deepen their knowledge of the Lake Superior basin watershed in particular, because we really need that knowledge to advocate for its protection.\u201d\n\n\nBaldwin observed that to date, the questions concerning the Gogebic Taconite issue have been largely state issues.\n\n\n\u201cOne of the things that I have taken great note of in recent months has been that in many ways the state\u2019s rewriting of their mining laws to give short shrift to some of the very vital issues being studied has in a way backfired on them,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Army Corps of Engineers has said that typically in states they like to work hand-in-hand with the State DNR, but because they have so shortened the review, they are going to have to start their activities when they are done. So in a way, the state legislature may have elongated the process when they were trying to shorten it.\u201d\n\n\nBaldwin noted that there were a number of federal angles to the GTAC mining plans, including the Army Corps, EPA and agencies involved in wildlife habitat protections, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.\n\n\n\u201cThey have an obligation to protect treaty rights and tribal traditions and culture,\u201d she said.\n\n\nBaldwin said she was concerned about an issue of economic development raised by Wiggins, that of broadband connectivity.\n\n\n\u201cIn the Congress recently, we reauthorized the farm bill, and in it there are provisions that allow for greater support of connectivity,\u201d she said. \u201cWe would like to see those grants deployed quickly and fairly. I understand the chairman\u2019s strong points about what happens to a community that isn\u2019t connected. They are behind in terms of opportunity for economic development but also for building community and opportunity.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141024002022/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/in-the-news/senator-tammy-baldwin-visits-bad-river-and-red-cliff-reservations"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0182939004153013, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}