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Beckleynews.net

From the office of 3rd District Congressman Nick Joe Rahall

NOT TIRED OF LIVING, TIRED OF DYING

When Linda Chapman crossed the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge this week and entered the nation's capital under a blazing sun, her month-long widow's walk from West Virginia was over But her journey for justice had only begun. Of her husband's death from black lung disease she said, at the end "he wasn't tired of living, he was just tired of dying." His is the tragic tale of thousands. For as long as men have labored underground digging coal, silica dust has ravaged miners' lungs and stolen miners' lives.

In 1981, the Reagan Administration spearheaded an assault on the black lung benefits paid to sick miners and their survivors. I have repeatedly fought to reverse those changes, winning twice on the floor of the House, only to have my legislation die in the Senate. On the day Linda Chapman arrived in Washington, I introduced a new bill in Congress to remove the Reagan-era barriers. I expect the battle to be fierce, but I know that justice cannot sleep forever.

A West Virginia coal miner once told me that every mining law we have was penned in blood. Benefits for miners hobbled by black lung disease are no exception. As early as 1822, doctors noted that coal miners often developed a unique - and lethal - lung ailment. They called it "miner's asthma." It took the catastrophic 1968 coal mine explosion at Farmington, West Virginia, that killed 78 miners, to horrify the nation into action. A year later, Congress passed the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, committing the federal government for the first time to the protection of miners' health.

III miners and miners' widows suffered two brutal blows when the mine health and safety law changed. Originally, those who had worked at least fifteen years in the mines and took an xray that showed lung damage w eye presumed to have black lung disease and be eligible for benefits. Furthermore, when a miner afflicted by black lung disease died, his widow continued to receive his disability income without question. Both of these humane, responsible regulations were turned upside down in 198 1. Miners barely able to draw a breath were required to do battle in court against teams of coal company and government lawyers and "experts." After nursing their husbands through agonizingly slow deaths, widows of miners who were already receiving benefits were forced to prove a second time that their spouses had really suffered from the disease.

The Clinton administration was able to ease the painful process by rewriting some of the program's regulations, but these rules have been challenged in court and they overlook the Linda Chapmans of the world. Only a new bill like the one I've introduced will bring true and lasting relief.

I am more hopeful of success now than ever before. First, we have Linda Chapman who bravely brought her story to the Capitol steps. She has shown the Congress and the country the sadness and suffering caused by black lung and compounded by an unfair system. Her courage and commitment cannot help but move my Capitol colleagues. And then there's President Bush He came to West Virginia and claimed to be a friend of coal. If this is true, he will not limit his Friendship to tax credits for the companies that own our reserves of compressed carbon. He will truly be a friend of our coal miners and support justice for them.

I am more hopeful of success now than ever before. First, we have Linda Chapman who bravely brought her story to the Capitol steps. She has shown the Congress and the country the sadness and suffering caused by black lung and compounded by an unfair system. Her courage and commitment cannot help but move my Capitol colleagues. And then there's President Bush He came to West Virginia and claimed to be a friend of coal. If this is true, he will not limit his Friendship to tax credits for the companies that own our reserves of compressed carbon. He will truly be a friend of our coal miners and support justice for them.