May 20, 2006
 
RAHALL REPORT: Congressional Inaction on Mine Safety Legislation is Unacceptable
 
From the desk of U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Representing West Virginia's 3rd District
 
Washington, D.C. (HNN) -- Four months have passed since the accident at the Sago Mine in Upshur County killed 12 brave miners, and while this tragedy and the deaths of six other West Virginia miners this year might have faded from our televisions and from the minds of some Americans, I assure the families and many friends of these men, and the thousands of miners who go beneath the ground every day and their families, that I have not forgotten.
 
This week, I joined several family members of the Sago miners, the president of the UMWA and U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-CA, at a rally in Washington to urge the House to go forward with mine safety measures and to discuss comprehensive new legislation designed to keep our workers safe.
 
The West Virginia delegation proposal, which was introduced in the aftermath of the Sago accident, is a surgical strike. It deals with our most immediate mine safety needs. It is simple, straightforward legislation that tells the Mine Safety and Health Administration to do its lawful job. But no action has been taken on that bill in the House of Representatives. And, since the hour of its introduction, eight coal miners have died. This is unacceptable.
 
The deaths of these good and decent men should have been more than enough to spur this government to act to provide our Nation's miners with every possible safety measure.
 
The new, more comprehensive mine safety bill introduced on May 16 builds on the West Virginia bill, taking into account much of what was learned in the aftermath of the mine disasters this year. It prescribes specific steps to address the glaring shortages in coal field safety. It reflects the true depth and breadth of our mine safety challenges.
 
The most gripping and eloquently expressed evidence to date of this Nation's neglect of its coal miners came recently in the form of a letter from Sago survivor Randal McCloy Jr. to the families of his fellow miners. It paints a picture of hardworking, God-fearing men who put their lives in the hands of a broken system and slipped away while waiting for it to work.
 
This Congress has a moral obligation to those men and the miners toiling in the coal fields today to pass mine safety legislation and to do so now.
 
I am humbled by the strength of the families who came to Washington to fight for this cause. If their loved ones were here today, they would be proud of them as they stand together to honor them and to encourage Congress to act to secure their legacy.
 
It is my hope that my colleagues in Congress will take note of their solidarity, their dedication, their sacrifice, and move forward with mine safety legislation. The tragedies of Sago and Alma may no longer pepper the front pages of the national newspapers, but the sense of urgency to enact change should not fade. The families of our lost miners, and all of our coal miners still toiling underground, deserve nothing less.