[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 73 (Friday, June 9, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1106-E1107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        MINE IMPROVEMENT AND NEW EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 7, 2006

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today not in opposition to the 
content of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act, but to 
the process by which it is brought to the floor. By bringing this 
important legislation to the floor as a suspension bill, members of 
this body are denied the opportunity to offer necessary amendments to 
improve the safety of miners.
  A clear message was apparent when the most recent edition of the 
comprehensive report on workplace safety, ``Death on the Job,'' was 
released in April: American workers and their families need stronger 
enforcement of OSHA and MSHA for their health and safety. In the first 
increase in the number of workplace deaths since 1994, 5,703 U.S. 
workers were killed on the job in 2004. The vast majority of workplace 
deaths occur with little national recognition or public outcry. But 
early this year an explosion at the Sago mine in West Virginia focused 
the attention of the entire Nation on 13 families waiting to hear the 
fate of their loved ones. Our failure to protect miners from 
preventable tragedies was made evident 40 hours after the explosion, 
when the trapped miners were reached and only one survivor was found.

[[Page E1107]]

  Despite numerous calls for action on mine safety legislation in the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce, this Congress chose to do 
nothing to improve the safety of miners until a second tragedy--this 
time at a mine in Kentucky--forced action in the Senate. Now this bill 
is brought to the floor of the House for a vote, without any chance for 
members to offer amendments and improve upon the Senate's initial step. 
The reason offered for this rush to passage is that action is needed 
immediately to ensure the safety of miners. Immediate action is needed. 
Immediate action was needed in January, following the tragedy at Sago. 
Action was needed over the past 5 years as the administration withdrew 
or delayed action on 18 different mine safety rules. We do need to act 
now. But in our haste to improve safety we should take the time to 
ensure we do things right.
  It is clear this bill will in fact improve mine safety. The Senate 
bill will improve the tracking and communications devices used in 
mines, increase penalties for noncompliance and improve mine rescue 
team operations. It is a good step, but we can and should do more. We 
should use the lessons learned from Sago and take the steps to ensure 
other miners do not suffer the same fate.
  My colleague, Congressman Miller, has proposed three simple and 
necessary amendments to this bill that would do just that. These 
amendments would require random testing of self-rescue devices by MSHA 
to ensure these vital devices are functional when needed. They would 
require a minimum of 2 days worth of air for trapped miners. And they 
would shorten to 15 months the time period for mines to install 
technology to track and communicate with miners underground. These are 
simple changes, which miners and the mine industry in West Virginia 
have already agreed are necessary as a part of the West Virginia Mine 
Safety Technology Task Force. Miners at the Sago mine and other West 
Virginia mines will now be protected from the problems that led to the 
death of those 12 miners earlier this year, not because of the bill we 
are debating today, but by State law. Miners across the Nation deserve 
and require those same protections. Passage of this bill, without such 
amendments, gives false hope to the families of miners in other States 
that a Sago-like disaster will not befall their loved ones in the 
future.

  The core mission of MSHA is to protect workers by enforcing safety 
standards. These workers are not the bosses who decide if and how a 
business will obey the law. Instead they face the consequences of those 
decisions. They need strong workplace safety laws and vigorous 
enforcement, and that is what this Congress should be focused on 
providing. We do a great disservice to workers by ignoring the 
resources that would offer them greater protections. I urge my 
colleagues to consider the additional improvements we can and should 
make for the safety of miners across the Nation. We must refocus our 
time and efforts toward protecting workers.

                          ____________________