[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 10 (Wednesday, February 1, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S447-S453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. BYRD (for himself, Mr. Rockefeller, and Mr. Kennedy):
S. 2231. A bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to prescribe
additional coal mine safety standards, to require additional penalties
for habitual violators, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, it is my honor today to join with my
colleague Senator Byrd, who I am sure will be here very shortly. We are
very proud to announce that we are, as an entire West Virginia
delegation, introducing the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006.
The last few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster in West
Virginia and across large parts of the country as we watched the damage
and the pain and the crying and the anger because of a series of coal
mine accidents that happened in West Virginia where 14 miners lost
their lives and in the State of Kentucky where a miner lost his life.
There is no real way of describing the sadness and the grief of being
with families as they find out their coal-miner spouses are no longer
alive.
Everybody understands that coal mining is very dangerous, but you go
in every day with the hope that it will be all right. It is a way of
life. People ask, Why do you go into coal mining? They go into coal
mining to keep the lights of America on and they do it to earn a good
wage.
What we have to do is make sure the legacy of these 15 miners who
died--1
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in Kentucky and 14 in West Virginia, 15 miners in all--is that we make
sure this kind of tragedy never happens again.
It is amazing to be in a coal-mining community when tragedy hits.
People pull together amazingly, in Kentucky very much like West
Virginia in that respect, and there is a sense of family. One person's
loss is every person's loss.
Obviously, we have the losses that come in Iraq and in wartime in
general. But there is something about coal mining. When there is a
death in coal mining, it is devastating to a community and it takes a
long time to heal.
I would come to churches--the Freewill Baptist Church in Logan
County, the Sago Baptist Church in Upshur County, one south and the
other up north--and you learn spiritually and personally forever with
people who are bound together forever because they have gone through
something which is truly difficult.
I note that in the case of Kentucky, we even have evidence of a miner
who was killed two years ago who was actually videotaping with his
video camera things which he thought were not proper in that particular
mine, as he was killed. He was still videotaping as he was killed.
Legislation is needed.
I note the presence on the floor of my distinguished senior
colleague, Senator Byrd.
What we plan to do in the Senate and in the House--we in the Senate
and our three Members in the House--is, in fact, to take the first step
toward improving mine safety and doing it through legislation.
It is a sad thing to say, for the country and for all of us, where we
have gone through a period of years where we haven't had large numbers
of people killed in the mines, that we have been lulled into thinking
that mining is not dangerous. That has been compounded by the fact that
the obsession with oil which the President spoke about last night has
been very real. What is going on overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq, and
other places of danger across the world has generally tended to pull us
away, I think maybe for 20 years, from a review of what coal mine
safety legislation, rules, and regulation through MSHA, the Mine Safety
and Health Agency, ought to be. Things haven't changed a lot. The
safety technology in the mines has not changed a lot. There is a bit of
a lax attitude, and a little bit of indifference. This is the world we
live in--the world of mining--and it is as it is, and it ever shall be.
That kind of thinking we have to stop.
As a delegation, led by Senator Byrd, we are determined to do that.
We are determined that the legacy of these 14 miners in West Virginia
and the one in Kentucky will be that this kind of accident never takes
place again. We do not want that to happen.
The irony is that coal, which has always been taken for granted by
the American people, to my distress, is a full 31 percent--and it has
been for years--of all of our energy use in America. People are always
thinking about importing oil, and we do. That is a tremendous addition
to our trade deficit, and it causes all kinds of other problems when we
are dealing with very unstable countries--increasingly unstable
countries. But all the while coal has been sitting there. We have a
250-year supply of coal in the United States of America. That can be
substituted for much of that oil.
The coal industry is growing. The price of coal is going up. People
are going to be opening new coal mines. I wouldn't say it is a hot
industry in financial terms, but it is very close to it, which means
there are going to be more mines opened. Therefore, more people will be
getting into mining--some will be small, some will be larger. We have
to make sure they will be mining safely and responsibly. That takes
vigilance on our part, on the part of the Secretary of Labor, and on
MSHA's part. That is why Senator Byrd, my senior Senator, will no doubt
submit the bill.
But we want to call immediate attention to the Mine Safety and Health
Administration and the Secretary of Labor because they have in their
power right now the ability to cause to happen a number of the
suggestions which we are making. They can simply do it. They have the
rulemaking power to do that, but they have not done that.
What we are doing is looking at a few ways that the Mine Safety and
Health Administration and also the Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, can
act aggressively to improve mine safety, as they can do without a
single change in any law at all. In many cases, Congress has given them
this authority. It is just a matter of the Secretary of Labor moving
on these issues. It ought to ring loud and clear, and there ought to be
results from that.
In our bill, we also instruct the Secretary to promulgate rules
quickly to require a series of things: advanced communication and
breathing apparatus, technologies that can be deployed in our mines.
This is something which has baffled Senator Byrd, myself, and our
delegation for a long time. We have a lot of rules and regulations;
regarding breathing apparatuses, for example; oxygen supplies, for
example--which have not changed since 1977, or before. We have just
gone through a period of years when we have not put the focus on coal
mine safety. Now that is at an end. We have to have advanced
communications and breathing apparatus technologies.
It has been said often--it will be said once again--that we could
talk with Neil Armstrong on the Moon when he was there many years ago,
but we can't talk with a coal miner in a two-way communications system
who may be 1,000 or 2,000 feet underground. To say the technology for
that doesn't exist is to say that America isn't America.
I have had in my office, as I am sure others have, numerous people in
the last several days pouring out ideas they are working on or have
developed. The families of the victims gave us many ideas of what could
be done. We are a country of new technologies. We have simply declined
to apply it to coal mine safety, and the coal mines have been a bit lax
to take the initiative on that. This is something we are all going to
have to do together. We have to demand that rescue teams be staffed and
on site in every single mine.
There was a major problem, particularly at the Sago mine up north.
But rescue teams have to be a part of an operation. If you are going to
start a business, a rescue team within your workforce has to be a part
of what you do--not simply wait for a rescue team 2 hours away to
collect itself and then come. That is usually too late. It is amazing
to me that that situation exists.
We have to also develop a schedule of fines for mining violations.
They have to mean something. The average mine violation at Sago--there
seem to be several hundred of them--all seems to be $60 or $270. That
doesn't change behavior. That encourages a company to say, Look, we
will pay because there is no real penalty on us.
Fines can be charged up to $60,000, and we are going to increase
that. Mines can be shut down by Federal mine inspectors if they choose
to do that. But for the most part they have not chosen to do that. The
lesson has to sink in to be responsible as a coal mine or else you
can't do it.
Another matter in our legislation is that we have to notify the MSHA
immediately when there is an accident. That was not done in a couple of
our cases. In one case, it took a very long period of time to notify
the agency. That seems a small thing, but that is a huge thing,
particularly because small mines today don't necessarily have their own
rescue teams.
There have to be extra alerts that go out across the Federal and the
State bureaucracy and within the mining community so that rescue teams
can get to the spot as soon as possible.
So we want the Federal mine safety agency to make the health of
miners its first and foremost priority.
As of the day that first problem happened at Sago with the death of
so many miners, it has become my first priority and will stay that way
until we get what we need in coal mine safety, working with the
companies, with the Federal Government and, where necessary, to use
legislation.
The enforcement of mine safety laws requires a set of penalties that
reflects the seriousness. We cannot have a situation such as we had at
Sago Mine--$60 or $270 fines with over 200 violations. They have to
reflect the seriousness, and be proportional. They have to be larger
and have impact. Companies cannot just say, I will go ahead and pay
that, but I don't have to make any
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change because I can afford to pay that; then I don't have to have
people coming in and looking at what is going on in my mine as much.
MSHA has minimal penalties and that is the fault of all of us; but
primarily MSHA should do its job. As part of MSHA's invigorated
commitment to the safety of miners, we are going to seek to have in our
legislation the agency enforce a longstanding rule which was canceled
in 2004. It is a very serious rule and one that I will briefly explain.
Mine operators have been using fresh air escapeways to house coal
conveyer belts. What does that mean? The first thing we need to
understand, mines are required to have fresh air escapeways. These are
supposed to be free from potentially combustible material, combustible
gases, and the possibility of fire. Where there is a beltway--which
costs $100 million plus in some cases; it is a very large operation--a
single friction could ignite a fire. That fire, then, can take off into
the coal seams and cause terrible damage and destruction of human life.
Belt fires such as the one resulting in the deaths of the two brave
West Virginians at the Alma mine in southern West Virginia are some of
the most dangerous occurrences in coal mining in any form. The very
least we can do to protect miners is keep the entrances to the mines--
where these miners risk their lives every day to provide the rest of
the country with the energy--free of such avoidable hazard. That was
the rule. That was the law for many years.
For reasons we can only guess, MSHA altered the enforcement practices
to allow for entry coal belts in 2004. That is wrong. That is the lack
of vigilance on the part of all who watch over mining.
Finally, our legislation calls for the creation of a position of
miner ombudsman. People say, So what? There is a big ``so what.'' It is
a fact that miners in some mines are afraid to report safety
deficiencies. They are afraid to report certain matters because they
think if they do they will get in trouble or get fired or their sister
or brother will get fired from a coal mine. I am not making an
accusation, but I heard a great deal of talk about that condition when
I was in West Virginia for many days, along with my senior Senator,
Senator Byrd. I heard that a great deal.
The miners have to have a voice in an overall Federal agency. That
voice in the overall Federal agency--MSHA--has to be out of the
political process, almost detached, in a sense, from MSHA itself. That
is important because we have to provide people a place to report mine
safety problems. They have to be able to do it anonymously and they
have to be able to do it feeling safe about so doing.
My West Virginia colleague and I do not pretend to be doing a
complete fix of mine safety legislation. We do believe our act is a
first strong step on a path that Congress should have started down some
time ago. It is immensely sad it took the deaths of 14 West Virginians
and 1 Kentuckian to galvanize the emotion, anger, and determination one
has to have when it comes to making sure the coal mines are safe.
Coal mines are a world within themselves. The taste of a coal mine,
the smell of a coal mine, the brotherhood of a coal mine, the danger of
a coal mine, these are things which are part of people's lives. Most
people in West Virginia, most people across the United States of
America, have never been down a coal mine because it is restricted and
people cannot wander in to look around. Those who have oversight
responsibility have to make sure they do their job.
I, for one, believe those who do represent the mining State need to
take this responsibility, as do the companies, as do the operators at
the ground level, and also the miners themselves. I have had a slew of
ideas in the last several days. I am optimistic we can find
technology--it may come out of DARPA or DOD. Remember in the first gulf
war, the Marines, Air Force, Navy, and Army could not communicate with
each other when they went into Kuwait. Their radio bands were all
different. Everyone knows that story. That was bad. They fixed it. That
is what we have in our coal mines. That has to be fixed.
Mine safety moved to the top of my legislative priority list the very
day I heard of these tragedies. I commend this important legislation to
my colleagues. I invite them to join Senator Byrd and myself in
cosponsoring this legislation.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.
Mr. BYRD. How much time do I have under the order?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 25\1/2\ minutes remaining on the
minority side. There is no more specific order.
Mr. BYRD. How much time was there at the beginning?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The allotted time was 45 minutes.
Mr. BYRD. And 25 minutes remain?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Correct.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, it has been almost 1 month since the
explosion that killed 12 miners at the Sago mine in Upshur County, WV,
and almost 2 weeks since the conveyor belt fire that killed two miners
at the Aracoma Alma mine in Logan County, WV. In that same time, the
Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, of the U.S. Department of
Labor has briefed my office on several occasions. The Senate Labor-HHS
Appropriations Subcommittee, at my request and under the leadership of
Chairman Arlen Specter and ranking member Tom Harkin, has held a
hearing and solicited testimony from mine safety experts. The West
Virginia delegation in the House and the Senate has met with the
Governor of West Virginia, Governor Joe Manchin, has met with the White
House Chief of Staff, and has met with the acting MSHA Director to
review mine safety legislation passed by the West Virginia legislature
in the wake of the Sago and Alma tragedies.
We now can speak with some certainty about what contributed to the
tragedies at the Sago and Alma mines that killed 14 coal miners. We
know these tragedies have highlighted gross weaknesses in mine
emergency preparedness and the failure of leadership at the Federal
Mine Safety and Health Administration to get tough about rescue
procedures.
We know that communications technology in our Nation's coal mines is
inadequate. The Federal mine regulators require only that a telephone
line connect the working sections of mines to the surface. If that
telephone line does not work, in the event of an emergency, the miners
trapped underground are cut off from the rescue effort. Those on the
surface cannot get a message to the miners underground and the miners
underground cannot get a message to those on the surface.
At the Sago and Alma mines, families waited, waited, waited in
anguish for 40 hours, not knowing if their loved ones were alive or
dead because the communications equipment in the mine did not work.
We know that Federal mine safety officials cannot immediately locate
miners trapped underground. At both the Sago and Alma mines, families
waited, and waited, and waited while rescue teams searched meticulously
through the underground caverns. Those teams could only make educated
guesses about the location of the trapped miners, putting the rescue
teams' lives and the lives of the trapped miners at increased risk
while the search went on.
We know that the MSHA notification and response system is ponderously
slow. Federal mine safety officials did not know of the Sago explosion
until 2 hours after it happened. It took another 9 hours--9 long,
excruciating hours--before rescue teams could enter the mine.
The same thing happened at the Alma mine. Federal mine safety
officials did not know of the underground fire for 2\1/2\ hours, and in
that time the fire spread and got worse. We know Federal mine
regulators require only that miners have a 1-hour emergency breathing
device; and at the Sago mine, 1 hour of oxygen was not nearly adequate
to sustain those miners through a 40-hour rescue operation. We also
know that the Mine Safety and Health Administration, tragically--
tragically--abandoned its assessment of the rules governing these 1-
hour emergency breathing devices in December of 2001. What a travesty.
We know that the mine rescue teams, at both the Sago and Alma mines,
were forced to wait for a frustrating amount of time because the coal
operators had to negotiate the question of liability before the rescue
teams could enter the
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mines. We know that Federal mine regulators have been aware of this
liability problem since 1995. We know that MSHA has not taken steps to
address it, or to update and improve the rules related to the number of
rescue teams per mine and their ability to respond rapidly. The only
recent effort to update these rules was halted by MSHA--now get that--
the only recent effort to update these rules was halted by MSHA in
2002.
The Sago mine was a habitual violator with 276 citations and orders
issued in 2004 and 2005. The coal operator never paid a fine more than
$440, even though mandatory health and safety standards were
repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly violated. Meanwhile, MSHA assessed
fines as low as $99 for violations that were classified as
``significant and substantial.'' Let me say that again. Meanwhile, MSHA
assessed fines as low as $99 for violations that were classified as
``significant and substantial'' in threatening the safety and health of
the miners at Sago.
MSHA has broad authority to protect coal miners, and the 1977 Mine
Act is the strongest and most sweeping workplace safety law ever
enacted in the United States, and, yet, even with these tools--even
with these tools--the Mine Safety and Health Administration failed--
yes, it failed--to protect the 14 miners who perished at the Sago and
Alma mines. What a shame. What a shame.
MSHA has the authority to require that secondary communications
equipment be available in the event of an emergency. That authority was
not used. MSHA has the authority to require that emergency breathing
devices be placed in the mines in the event of an extended recovery
effort. That authority was not used. That authority was not used. MSHA
has the authority to penalize habitual violators, and to close those
mines where pattern violations threaten a coal miner's life. That
authority was not used. That authority was not used. What a travesty.
MSHA is the Federal agency charged with protecting coal miners. I
will say that again. MSHA is the Federal agency charged with protecting
coal miners, but it has scuttled--get that; it has scuttled--18
initiatives in the last 5 years to update and improve mine safety and
emergency preparedness. MSHA's leadership has embraced the status quo
as good enough, and that attitude puts miners' lives at risk.
In the past, mine disasters such as these have spurred tougher mine
safety laws. The Farmington, WV, disaster spurred the 1969 Coal Act,
and subsequent disasters spurred the 1977 Mine Act. Now, I was here at
the time in both instances. I was in the Senate. This time, the legacy
of the Sago and Alma mine disasters must be a tougher agency that
will--will--enforce the law.
Together with Senator Jay Rockefeller and the West Virginia
delegation in the House, I am introducing legislation today that is a
mandate for action. Our legislation does not amend the Mine Act. Our
delegation takes the position that the Mine Act already provides the
Secretary of Labor with every authority necessary to prevent these
kinds of tragedies. Instead, the legislation that I am introducing on
behalf of myself and Mr. Rockefeller--and which is being likewise
introduced in the House of Representatives today--our legislation
directs the Labor Secretary to employ the authorities of the Mine Act.
It directs the Labor Secretary, within 90 days, to promulgate a series
of health and safety rules aimed at improving mine safety enforcement
and emergency preparedness.
This legislation directs the Labor Secretary to establish a rapid
notification and response system. This legislation requires coal
operators to expeditiously notify MSHA of emergencies. Any coal
operator who fails to expeditiously notify Federal mine safety
officials will be subject to a $100,000 fine.
We must reduce the amount of time that is lost between a mine
emergency and MSHA's notification and arrival on the scene.
Our legislation directs the Labor Secretary to reassess regulations
that govern mine rescue teams to ensure that their numbers are
sufficient and that obstacles to their deployment are minimized. Mine
rescue teams ought to be able to respond just as local fire departments
would respond to an emergency. It must not take 11 hours.
Our legislation requires coal operators to store additional emergency
breathing supplies underground to sustain miners who may be trapped for
an extended period. Our legislation requires the Labor Secretary to
update and improve the rules governing emergency communications
equipment that would allow miners underground to communicate with
surface rescue efforts, and allow surface rescue efforts to locate
miners underground. Never again--never again--should a coal miner or
any other miner lack access to a reasonable supply of oxygen
underground or be unable to receive directions from the surface about
escape routes--never again.
On the enforcement side, our legislation requires the Labor Secretary
to create a new $10,000 mandatory and minimum penalty for coal
operators who display negligence or reckless disregard for safety
standards. By negligence or reckless disregard, I am talking about coal
operators who knew or should have known of a dangerous condition or
practice and failed to take the steps necessary to fix the problem, or
who displayed conduct which exhibits a deplorable absence of care for
the safety and health of the miners. If penalties are required in this
kind of situation, then this statutory floor will help to ensure that
those penalties will hurt--let me say that again--if penalties are
required in this kind of situation, then this statutory floor will help
to ensure that those penalties will hurt, and hurt sufficiently to
encourage violators to comply with the law.
Our legislation prohibits the use of belt entries for ventilation in
contravention of an MSHA regulation issued in 2004, which likely--hear
me now--which likely played a part in the Alma fire.
Our legislation creates a science and technology office in the Labor
Department to help expedite the introduction of the most advanced
health and safety technologies into the mines, and to ensure that
Federal mine safety officials are actively pulling from other Federal
agencies those technologies that can help to protect miners. No
longer--hear me; hear me now: no longer--should miners be sent
underground with safety equipment that is decades out of date.
Our legislation creates the new position of ombudsman in the Labor
Department's Inspector General's office to allow miners to more easily
report safety violations. To be effective, such a position requires the
appointment and the confirmation of someone with at least 5 years--no
political hack--someone with at least 5 years of expertise in mine
safety and health. No place for a political hack. A miner should never
have to feel that he has no options other than to continue to work in a
dangerous environment.
Now, I speak from the heart. I grew up in a coal miner's home. My dad
was a coal miner--a coal miner. I married a coal miner's daughter.
Loretta Lynn sings a song. She is a coal miner's daughter. Well, my
wife is a coal miner's daughter. My brother-in-law died of silicosis,
black lung. His father was killed by a slate fall in a coal mine. So I
speak from the viewpoint of a coal miner, a coal miner's son.
For 5 years, the leadership in the Labor Department and the Mine
Safety and Health Administration has worked against--get that--worked
against the health and safety needs of coal miners. If we must hold the
hand of the Labor Department--if we have to hold the hand of the Labor
Department--and lead it like a stubborn and obstinate child, to force
it to promulgate rules to implement the Mine Act and save lives, then
that is exactly what we should do. If this administration and if MSHA
will not lead, then this Congress must lead, and, if necessary, poke,
prod, kick, and push MSHA into fulfilling its mandate.
At this late date, we need more than platitudes--more than
platitudes--to protect the safety of our Nation's miners. We are not
just talking about West Virginia miners, not just talking about coal
miners in West Virginia. We need resources. We need swift action. And
we need to impress deeply upon the psyche of MSHA--they better hear
that--impress deeply upon the psyche of MSHA and the Nation's coal mine
operators that the safety of miners will not be compromised for
personal profit or for politics.
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Protecting the safety of our miners is a moral responsibility. Hear
me. Protecting the safety of our miners is a moral responsibility, and
this legislation will help to make sure that we never, ever forget
that.
I send the bill to the desk, a bill by Mr. Byrd for himself and Mr.
Rockefeller. I ask that it be relayed to the appropriate committee.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be received and appropriately
referred.
The minority leader is recognized.
Mr. REID. Has the Senator from West Virginia yielded the floor?
Mr. BYRD. Yes, I yield the floor, and I thank the distinguished
leader.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader is recognized.
Mr. REID. I had the opportunity to listen to the remarks of Senators
Byrd and Rockefeller. I wanted to add my remarks about mine safety.
As I have told the Senator from West Virginia, my father was a miner.
When I was less than a week old, my father was working in a mine at
Chloride, AZ. It was a gold mine. It was a vertical. There were two men
in the hole. That was standard operating procedure at the time. There
was only one person present to light the holes for obvious reasons. So
my dad's working companion, a man named Carl Myers, had gone up to the
next level so he would be away from the dynamite. In those days, they
didn't have product liability protection, and so my dad had lit 12
holes. One of them went off early. The fuse ran and blew my dad in the
air, blew the soles off his shoes, blew his carbide light out. In those
days, you would take a sinking ladder down in the hole with you, and
when you would go out, when the holes were burning, you would take it
up with you. My dad was in a state of shock and didn't know that it had
blown one of the legs off the ladder. So every time he would try to put
the ladder down to climb out, he would fall. And he kept falling.
The man in the next level who heard the 1 hole go off knew there were
11 others that were supposed to go off and knew my dad hadn't come out.
This man, Carl Myers, climbed down the hole and, even though he was a
smaller man than my father, helped my dad out of the hole, drug him up
to the next level. The other holes went off. My dad went to the
hospital and spent some time there. But as a result of the heroic feat
of Carl Myers, who received a medal for heroism for doing what he did,
my father was able to raise his four boys.
The reason I mention that to the distinguished Senator from West
Virginia is mine safety means saving people's lives. Growing up in
Nevada, my dad worked many times down in the mines alone. That was
against the law, but he did it all the time. It was against the law,
but there were no mine inspectors. He was down there alone all the
time.
I have watched with interest the rash of mining accidents in West
Virginia and Kentucky in the last few weeks. I want the Senators from
West Virginia to know that I will do anything I can legislatively to
make sure these mines are safe. I speak from experience. Mining is a
terribly difficult job. That is why there are so many songs written
about the dangers of mining.
As I indicated, when I was growing up, my dad didn't have much
protection from the State. They abandoned Searchlight. There wasn't a
lot going on, so they didn't watch it very much. A rock fell on the
head of my dad's best friend. They carried him out of the mine. It
killed him. He wasn't as fortunate as my dad because his widow raised
the three Hudgens children alone. There are lots of accidents. These
things happen.
Without proper protection, there is no occupation more dangerous than
being down in a hole.
I applaud the Senator from West Virginia for protecting his State as
he always does. But understand also that in faraway Nevada, 2,500 miles
away, you have a Senator who will do anything possible to make sure
that in the State of West Virginia and in all places where mining takes
place, there are Federal regulations in place to protect people like my
dad.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, if I may be recognized.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. BYRD. Let me thank my friend, the leader, our leader on this side
of the aisle, who is a gold miner's son. There are not many of us in
here who are gold miners' sons. I am proud that my leader is a gold
miner's son. I am proud that he assured us, from his standpoint and
within his power, that he will do everything possible--and I hope he
will--to help bring this legislation to the floor. He understands that
it is needed, and I will welcome his assistance in that regard. I am
proud of him as a gold miner's son. I am glad he reminds us of this
from time to time. I believe this legislation is badly needed. I
implore my leader to do everything he can to see that this bill gets on
the calendar and gets taken up by the Senate and acted upon promptly.
I thank all Senators and yield the floor.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to express my support for the
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006, introduced today by
Senators Byrd and Rockefeller.
The recent tragedies at Sago Mine and Alma Mine in West Virginia
remind us that the safety of the Nation's workers is paramount. Mining
continues to be extremely hazardous--it has consistently been the first
or second most dangerous industry in the country. This year we have
already had 17 mine fatalities, 15 of them in coal mines, and 14 of
them in West Virginia. And sadly, I understand that two more miners may
have been killed today.
Our entire Nation joins their families and communities in mourning
these fallen miners. We have a continuing obligation to do everything
we can to protect the safety of America's workers. It is obvious that
we are not meeting that obligation.
Two weeks ago, I traveled with Senator Rockefeller, HELP Committee
Chairman Enzi, and Subcommittee Chairman Isakson to meet with the
family members of the miners who were killed at Sago Mine, and with
coalminers, company representatives, and health and safety experts.
Each of us made a sincere commitment to improving the Nation's mine
safety laws.
This legislation provides a vital first step. It requires swift
action by the Mine Safety and Health Administration to adopt standards
that are long overdue and bring mine safety standards out of the Stone
Age and into the 21st century. It will bring stronger enforcement and
up-to-date technology to every mine in America.
First and foremost, we need to ensure that the rescue and
communications technology available to our Nation's miners is the most
up-to-date available. Coal companies have spent millions on improving
techniques for extracting coal and metals from the ground, but miners
still have to rely on oxygen units and phone lines that were developed
30 years ago. We already know better communications and miner tracking
technology exists in other countries. It has been available in the
United States for several years but, despite its proven availability to
help save miners' lives, only a handful of mines here in the U.S. are
using it. This bill would create a dedicated office at MSHA to explore
mine safety technologies and to work with other Federal agencies to
ensure that our Nation's mines are using the newest and best safety
equipment.
While innovation is important, we also need to ensure that we use all
of the tools available today to keep our Nation's miners safe. Earlier
this week, 72 workers at a mine in Canada were saved because Canadian
mines are required to provide adequate stores of oxygen. It's a
travesty that we aren't doing the same for American miners. This bill
would require every coal mine in this country to have rescue chambers
available, with emergency air supplies and breathing devices to help
keep miners alive while they are waiting for rescue.
We also need to see that every mine is adequately prepared to respond
to future emergencies. When miners are trapped underground, every
minute is precious. Yet our laws and policies do not require mine
rescue teams to be onsite. All too often it takes hours for rescuers to
reach a mine and, when they do arrive, they are not familiar with the
mine's layout. We also are losing experienced miners to work on these
teams, as the average age of rescue workers is rising. The number of
trained rescuers is decreasing, even as demand for coal production
increases.
This legislation would require coal companies to have onsite rescue
teams
[[Page S452]]
employed by the mine, who are familiar with the layout of the mine and
are at the ready in the case of an emergency. It also directs the
Secretary of Labor to develop requirements for the training and
qualifications of mine rescue workers, and the equipment and technology
used in mine rescues.
We also need to ensure that our penalties are a significant deterrent
to mine operators who continually violate the law. Sago Mine had an
injury rate nearly three times that of the national average and had
been cited by MSHA for over 200 safety violations in 2005. Nearly half
of these were ``serious and substantial''--meaning that the violations
had the potential to lead to serious injury. Eighteen of the violations
were so serious that they led to partial closures of the mine.
I know that President Bush has proposed raising maximum fines for the
most flagrant violations from $60,000 to $220,000. But this ignores the
critical failures of our minimum penalties, which are so low as to be
toothless. It is difficult to believe that penalties lower than traffic
tickets will deter companies that make millions of dollars in profits
each year. This legislation would ensure that willful and negligent
violators of the law would face a minimum fine of $10,000. Mine
operators who fail to immediately notify MSHA of an emergency face
fines of up to $100,000.
This bill starts a long overdue process to improve the safety of our
Nation's miners. We must act before another tragedy like those at the
Sago and Alma Mines occurs. I commend Senator Byrd and Senator
Rockefeller and the West Virginia Delegation for crafting this
legislation. And I join them in asking my colleagues to support its
swift passage.
______
By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
S. 2233. A bill to reform and improve the regulation of lobbying and
congressional ethics; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am introducing legislation today
that reforms and improves the regulation of lobbying and raises
congressional ethics standards.
There is a perception in America that members of Congress care less
about the public interest and more about advancing their own personal
and financial interests. We need to make fundamental changes in how we
permit lobbyists to influence legislation, hearings, appropriations,
and our general oversight of the Executive Branch.
The Democratic leadership bill to reform lobbying rules, the Honest
Leadership and Open Government Act, which I am cosponsoring, contains
sensible enough reforms.
Rather than standing pat, the measure I am introducing today is
tougher medicine. I believe it will go a long way to changing the view
of constituents that Congress is corrupt and ethically challenged.
The measure: institutes a Congress-wide two year ban on Senators,
House members and their staffs lobbying Capitol Hill; takes a zero
tolerance approach to lobbyist offered sports and entertainment tickets
and meals; prohibits any lobbyist sponsored, or paid for, travel; and
eliminates the option of registered lobbyists working in any capacity
for a Senator's or House Member's election campaigns or fundraising
operations.
A New York Times poll this past Friday sums up, in stark terms,
public perceptions of Congress.
When asked ``Do you think that recent reports that lobbyists may have
bribed members of Congress are isolated incidents or is this the way
things work in Congress'', 77 percent of the respondents said bribing
is the ``way things work'' in Congress. The survey indicates a 61
percent disapproval rating of Congress as well.
One poll participant, Mr. Donald Pertius from Arkansas, commented
that ``It seems like the integrity of Congress Members in the last few
years has just gone to pot.''
A key step, that will go a long way to clearing up the perception
that individuals leaving the Hill immediately trade on their contacts
and friendships, is a two year Congress-wide ban on lobbying for
Members and staff once they leave their jobs.
Members and staff make a beeline for K Street when they leave the
Hill. According to the New York Times, 50 percent of the 36 Senators
retired since 1998 and 40 percent of the 162 House Members have signed
up as lobbyists.
The Democratic leadership bill, and from what I understand the
Republican measure being drafted, restricts staff from lobbying their
former offices. That is good but we need to go further.
We need to change the minds of people across America that working in
the Senate or House is about a commitment to public service--not a
revolving door to cashing in as a private sector lobbyist.
On another front, numerous Senate and House campaigns have registered
lobbyists as Treasurers for Members' PACs and in other key finance
roles. It's another backdoor way for a lobbyist to insinuate his or her
way into a politician's inner circle.
Published reports confirm that 71 lawmakers now list lobbyists as
treasurers to their PACs or their campaign committees, nearly a
fivefold increase since 1998. We need to make a clean break from this
kind of collaboration that's fast on the rise.
The legislation I am introducing prohibits the formation of any
political committee by a politician if a person registered as a
lobbyist is formally affiliated with such an entity. Alex Knott at the
Center for Public Integrity stated in the Wall Street Journal last week
that ``By putting a lobbyist in charge of your political operations,
you are conflicted from the start.'' He's absolutely correct.
Senators, House Members, their staffs and lobbyists alike ought to
brace themselves for major change. The old rules and regulations that
govern Washington are due for overhaul, and I believe that the two
comprehensive leadership bills will represent a good start to that
process. I hope my colleagues are receptive to even more stringent
efforts, in the form of this legislation I am introducing today, and
look forward to the full Senate debate on this issue in the coming
months.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation be printed
in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 2233
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 ``Lobbyist Reform Act of
2006''.
SEC. 2. TWO-YEAR TOTAL BAN ON LOBBYING BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
AND EMPLOYEES OF CONGRESS.
Subsection (e) of section 207 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(e) Restrictions on Members of Congress and Officers and
Employees of the Legislative Branch.--
``(1) In general.--
``(A) Prohibition.--Any person who is a Member of Congress,
an elected officer of either House of Congress, or an
employee of a House of Congress and who, within 2 years after
that person leaves office, knowingly makes, with the intent
to influence, any communication to or appearance before any
of the persons described in subparagraph (B), on behalf of
any other person (except the United States) in connection
with any matter on which such former Member of Congress or
elected officer seeks action by a Member, officer, or
employee of either House of Congress, in his or her official
capacity, shall be punished as provided in section 216 of
this title.
``(B) Contact persons covered.--The persons referred to in
subparagraph (A) with respect to appearances or
communications are any Member, officer, or employee of either
House of Congress, and any employee of any other legislative
office of Congress.
``(2) Definitions.--As used in this subsection--
``(A) a person is an employee of a House of Congress if
that person is an employee of the Senate or an employee of
the House of Representatives;
``(B) the term `employee of the House of Representatives'
means an employee of a Member of the House of
Representatives, an employee of a committee of the House of
Representatives, an employee of a joint committee of Congress
whose pay is disbursed by the Clerk of the House of
Representatives, and an employee on the leadership staff of
the House of Representatives;
``(C) the term `employee of the Senate' means an employee
of a Senator, an employee of a committee of the Senate, an
employee of a joint committee of Congress whose pay is
disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate, and an employee on
the leadership staff of the Senate;
``(D) the term `Member of Congress' means a Senator or a
Member of the House of Representatives; and
``(E) the term `Member of the House of Representatives'
means a Representative in,
[[Page S453]]
or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, Congress.''.
SEC. 3. BAN ON GIFTS FROM LOBBYISTS.
Paragraph 1(a)(2) of rule XXXV of the Standing Rules of the
Senate is amended by adding at the end the following: ``This
clause shall not apply to a gift from a lobbyist.''.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON PRIVATELY FUNDED TRAVEL.
Paragraph 2(a)(1) of rule XXXV of the Standing Rules of the
Senate is amended by striking ``an individual'' and inserting
``an organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is not affiliated with any
group that lobbies before Congress''.
SEC. 5. REGISTERED LOBBYISTS PROHIBITED FROM SERVING ON
AUTHORIZED POLITICAL COMMITTEES.
Subsection (d) of section 302 of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is amended by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
``(6) No political committee may be designated as an
authorized committee if a person registered as a lobbyist
under section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 is
formally affiliated with such committee.''.
______
By Mr. MARTINEZ (for himself and Mr. Nelson of Florida):
S. 2239. A bill to prohibit offshore drilling on the outer
Continental Shelf off the State of Florida, and for other purposes; to
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague from
Florida, Senator Bill Nelson, in introducing the Permanent Protection
for Florida Act of 2006.
I believe this bipartisan legislation will provide Florida's pristine
coastline, beaches, and our critical military training area with
strong, permanent protections--while at the same time providing limited
oil and gas exploration in areas that have traditionally been under
Presidential moratoria.
Our Nation is struggling with crippling energy prices and the growing
pressure to explore off Florida's coast has never been greater than
now. Instead of sitting on the sidelines and waiting for others to
dictate the terms of oil and gas operations on our coast, we felt
compelled to offer an alternative that will protect our State's
interests in perpetuity.
This legislation offers historic protections that would create a
Florida Exclusion Zone--a buffer area extending 150 miles south of the
Panhandle that would also place the Florida Straits and Atlantic Coast
permanently off limits to oil and gas exploration.
All leases inside the Florida Exclusion Zone would be relinquished or
removed in exchange for royalty forgiveness on active leases in the
Central and Western Gulf of Mexico. These relinquished leases must also
be environmentally restored to their original condition. In addition,
the Permanent Protection for Florida Act would remove the mandatory
inventory of the Outer Continental Shelf and extend the current
Presidential moratorium through 2020.
This bill sends a message that is loud and clear--Florida's waters
are off limits. Florida's leaders have worked too long and too hard on
building up these protections just to have them disappear during a
brief moment of high energy prices. We have a lot at stake and it is
time to solidify our protections into law.
I believe these historic protections will garner significant support
from our State's congressional delegation and coastal members of
Congress that are concerned with resource exploration off their coasts.
I urge those that are looking for bipartisan solutions to energy
exploration to join with me and my colleague Senator Nelson in
supporting this legislation.
Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce with
my fellow Senator from Florida, Mel Martinez, legislation we believe
will enhance our Nation's military preparedness, while also protecting
the State of Florida's economy from harm by oil drilling.
It could be said that debate on this issue began 37 years ago last
month. It was in January 1969 when an explosion at an offshore drilling
site caused a 200,000-gallon crude oil spill off California's coast.
While small in comparison to other spills, that incident dealt a
devastating blow to neighboring beaches and aquatic life.
As tides brought an 800-square-mile slick ashore, oil coated 35 miles
of the coastline, blackening beaches and killing thousands of birds,
dolphins, seals, fish and other wildlife. A national outcry followed,
and sparked a movement that led to legal bans on drilling on the Outer
Continental Shelf, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico off of Florida.
Unfortunately, this past year has seen a number of legislative and
administrative attempts to undo this longstanding ban--without a cause
that is worth the risk.
In fact, Senator Martinez and I have been fighting an almost daily
battle to protect our State's tourism economy, which is heavily
dependent on our beautiful beaches and abundant fisheries. At the same
time, we have been fighting to preserve our military's vital testing
and training sites there in the eastern gulf.
The Martinez-Nelson Permanent Protection for Florida Act will forever
safeguard the State's tourism-dependent economy from offshore drilling,
while also removing active drilling leases in the eastern gulf. It
creates the Florida Exclusion Zone, which will extend out at least 260
miles off much of the State's west coast, and at least 150 miles off
the Florida Straits and all the way around the entire east coast.
In short, our proposal will protect Florida's economy and its
environment; and, at the same time, enhance our Nation's military
preparedness. We, therefore, expect to receive strong support from the
Florida Congressional Delegation.
We also expect to receive support from our fellow Senators
representing other coastal States. That is because we are fighting not
only to protect Florida, but many other environmentally fragile areas
along our Nation's coastline. In fact, a key provision of our bill
extends the Outer Continental Shelf moratorium from 2012 to 2020.
Senator Martinez and I speak as one on this issue, and, together, we
believe we can accomplish great things for Florida and the country. We
ask our colleagues to recall with us the words of former President
Teddy Roosevelt, who, in essence, said, ``A nation that destroys its
environment destroys itself.''
We look forward to working with the Chairman and Ranking Member of
the Energy Committee, and the rest of our colleagues, to enact this
legislation as soon as possible.
____________________