RAHALL REPORT: Mining Safety Legislation an Important Beginning
From the desk of U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Representing West Virginia's 3rd District
Washington, D.C. (HNN) -- This has been a dark, mournful year in our Nation's coalfields. Thirty-three deaths. Thirty-three lives lost by decent, hardworking men who placed their trust in a mine safety system that failed them. On June 7, 2006, the clouds began to part.
That evening, the U.S. House of Representatives, at my urging, overwhelmingly approved legislation to make our mines safer, which will, in turn, make our loved ones safer. It is my hope that what the Congress has passed, the President will sign expeditiously, because West Virginia and our fellow coalfield residents deserve better.
This legislation, which was passed unanimously by the Senate previously, will allow for more oxygen to help miners survive a disaster, including mandating caches of oxygen stationed throughout the mine. To aid in communication, the bill requires devices that will provide at least one-way communications for those trapped underground, and sets a realistic deadline for the development and deployment of two-way, wireless devices. The bill also calls for timelier reporting of mine accidents, and provides the Secretary with new and stronger enforcement powers.
At its inception, Congress armed the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) with a sharp regulatory axe. But in recent years, there has been growing complacency and diminishing compliance with Federal mine safety laws. And as new safety technologies have become commonplace in the mines of foreign competitors, MSHA failed to prod American mines that have plodded along with antiquated devices.
This bill is not a cure-all, it's not the perfect bill. But it is misleading and dangerous to suggest that any bill can be a cure-all. It is a step in the right direction. West Virginians know better than anyone that mining is a dangerous job. But when our brave miners descend underground to provide for the Nation and their families, they need every assurance that the safety laws in place are as strong as possible. They deserve a mine safety system fully devoted to ensuring that they will emerge safely from a hard days' work.
The passage of this bill is a testament to those families from Sago and Alma who pounded the Halls of Congress again and again demanding repair of the mine safety system that failed them, tragically. They should be proud because this bill is a fitting monument to the memories of the men they love and miss.
The measure passed by Congress will begin, begin- I stress, the long process toward making our mines as safe as possible. It's an important bill that comes not a moment too soon.
To have waited any longer would have been to gamble recklessly with the lives of our Nation's coal miners.