[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7982-S7983]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORZINE (for himself, Mr. Bayh, Mrs. Clinton, and Mr. 
        Kennedy):
  S. 1272. A bill to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970 to modify the provisions relating to citations and penalties; to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the ``Wrongful Death 
Accountability Act,'' legislation that would, among other things, 
increase the maximum criminal penalty for those who willfully violate 
workplace safety laws and cause the death of an employee.
  Unbelievably, under existing law, that crime is a misdemeanor, and 
carries a maximum prison sentence of just 6 months. This legislation 
would increase the penalty for this most egregious workplace crime to 
10 years--making it a felony. The bill also would increase the penalty 
associated with lying to an OSHA inspector from 6 months to 1 year, and 
would increase the penalty for illegally giving advance warning of an 
upcoming inspection from 6 months to 2 years.
  In recent months, this Congress has focused on a shocking succession 
of corporate scandals: Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, to name a few. These 
revelations of corporate abuse raised the ire and indignation of the 
American people. But corporate abuses can sometimes go further than 
squandering employee pension funds and costing shareholder value. 
Sometimes, corporate abuses can cost lives.
  My legislation is based on the simple premise that going to work 
should not carry a death sentence. Annually, more than 6,000 Americans 
are killed on the job, and some 50,000 more die from work-related 
illnesses. Many of those deaths--deaths that leave wives without 
husbands, brothers without sisters, and children without parents--are 
completely preventable.
  Earlier this year, the New York Times published an eye-opening, 
multi-part series that documented the failure of the Federal government 
to prosecute violators of workplace safety laws. The articles were 
deeply disturbing to anyone concerned about the health and well being 
of workers in America, detailing one company's pattern of recklessly 
disregarding basic safety rules. The authors linked at least nine 
employee deaths in five states--New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Alabama, 
and Texas--over a 7-year period with the failure of a single company, 
McWane Foundry, to follow established workplace safety regulations. 
Three of those deaths were judged to have been caused by deliberate and 
willful violations of federal safety rules.
  As a result of that article and a subsequent criminal investigation, 
McWane has begun to clean up its act.

[[Page S7983]]

But no one should be deluded. McWane is not the only company with a 
record of putting employees at risk. Others--although still the clear 
minority--continue to flout workplace safety rules and jeopardize the 
health and well being of workers.
  The administration recognized that there was a problem and recently 
announced its ``enhanced enforcement policy,'' a small step in the 
right direction. But more needs to be done, and I have requested the 
support of Secretary Henshaw, Administrator of OSHA, for my 
legislation.
  While many factors contribute to the unsafe working environment that 
exists at certain jobsites, one easily remedied factor is an 
ineffective regime of criminal penalties. The criminal statutes 
associated with OSHA have been on the books since the 1970s, but--over 
time--the deterrence value of these important workplace safety laws has 
eroded substantially. With the maximum jail sentence a paltry 6 months, 
Federal prosecutors have only a minimal incentive to spend time and 
resources prosecuting renegade employers. According to a recent 
analysis, since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted, 
only 11 employers who caused the death of a worker on the job were 
incarcerated.
  The logic behind this legislation is simple. The bill will increase 
the incentive for prosecutors to hold renegade employers accountable 
for endangering the lives of their workers and, thereby, help ensure 
that OSHA criminal penalties cannot be safely ignored. This will 
provide the OSHA criminal statute with sufficient teeth to deter the 
small percentage of bad actors who knowingly and willfully place their 
employees at risk.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation 
and ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1272

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Wrongful Death 
     Accountability Act.''

     SEC. 2. OSHA CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

       Section 17 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
     1970 (29 U.S.C. 666) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (e)--
       (A) by striking ``fine of not more than $10,000'' and 
     inserting ``fine in accordance with section 3571 of title 18, 
     United States Code,'';
       (B) by striking ``six months'' and inserting ``10 years'';
       (B) by striking ``fine of not more than $20,000'' and 
     inserting ``fine in accordance with section 3571 of title 18, 
     United States Code,'';
       (C) by striking ``one year'' and inserting ``20 years''; 
     and
       (E) by inserting ``under this subsection or subsection 
     (i)'' after ``first conviction of such person'';
       (2) in subsection (f), by striking ``fine of not more than 
     $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months,'' and 
     inserting ``fine in accordance with section 3571 of title 18, 
     United States Code, or by imprisonment for not more than 2 
     years,''; and
       (3) in subsection (g), by striking ``fine of not more than 
     $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more than six months,'' 
     and inserting ``fine in accordance with section 3571 of title 
     18, United States Code, or by imprisonment for not more than 
     1 year,''.
                                 ______