[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 16, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H45-H75]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SUPPLEMENTAL MINE IMPROVEMENT AND NEW EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACT OF 2007

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 918 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 2768.

                              {time}  1230


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 2768) to establish improved mandatory standards to protect miners 
during emergencies, and for other purposes, with Mr. Gutierrez in the 
chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.

                              {time}  1230

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and the gentleman 
from California (Mr. McKeon) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller).
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, today I rise in strong 
support of legislation that would greatly enhance the health and safety 
protections in the Nation's coal mines.
  Despite significant progress over the last several decades, mining 
remains one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Mining fatalities 
occur at a rate more than seven times the average of all private 
industries; and we are reminded of how dangerous mining can be by the 
tragedies like the one in Utah in August of this last year, where six 
miners and three rescuers died in what appears to have been a 
preventable disaster, and the tragedies of Kentucky and West Virginia 
in 2006.
  Accidents every year claim the lives of one or two miners at a time. 
In 2007, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, 32 
coal miners and 31 metal and nonmetal miners died on the job. Miners 
also face serious health risks, including a resurgence of black lung 
disease.
  The legislation we are considering today, the S-MINER Act, builds on 
the work of the last Congress when it passed the MINER Act of 2006. The 
S-MINER Act represents a comprehensive approach to minimize the health 
and safety risks facing miners. It is critical that Congress take this 
action, because one of the things that is clear is that we cannot leave 
mine safety and health to the Bush administration.
  When the Sago Mine disaster occurred, we learned that the Bush 
administration had withdrawn or delayed more than a dozen health and 
safety proposals that would have benefited miners. The Bush 
administration filled top-level positions at MSHA with executives from 
the very industry that the agency was charged with regulating. 
Dangerous rules favored by the industry, which would leave miners 
vulnerable to aggressive ``belt air'' fires, became law under this 
administration.
  From 2001 to 2006, the Bush administration gutted MSHA by cutting 
funding and staffing, and especially in coal mine enforcement, where 
the worst tragedies would strike in 2006 and 2007. Even as coal 
production increased around the country, the Bush administration cut 
the Mine Safety and Health Administration's coal enforcement personnel 
by 9 percent by 2006. And then came the Sago disaster, Aracoma Alma, 
Darby, and Crandall Canyon mines. Even after these recent tragedies, 
even after the MINER Act was enacted, we continue to see neglect from 
this administration.
  The Inspector General found this past fall that MSHA was failing to 
conduct mandated inspections on time, leaving thousands of miners 
unprotected. In 2006 alone, MSHA failed to complete the required 
inspections of 107 mines, employing 7,500 miners. And,

[[Page H46]]

Secretary Chao failed to meet a simple deadline under the MINER Act to 
produce regulations on rescue teams, fundamental regulations on rescue 
teams, at the end of this last year.
  The track record of this administration on mine safety and health has 
been horrendous, and Congress needs to act. That is why we are here 
today, to make sure that our government fulfills its obligations to 
protect those brave men and women who risk their safety to keep this 
country running.
  The S-MINER Act addresses three broad issues: disaster prevention; 
improved emergency response; and long-term health risks. And I will 
talk more about those areas in a moment.
  Later today, in addition to the underlying bill, I will be offering a 
manager's amendment that makes modifications to the bill. Among other 
things, that amendment will address the troubling problems of substance 
abuse. Because of injuries, overwork, and stress that miners often 
suffer, we have heard reports of substance abuse among miners.
  I want to be absolutely clear. None of the recent mine tragedies have 
been linked to drug use in any way, but we should nevertheless be 
proactive in heading off the dangers that drug use poses to the miners. 
A few States have already adopted drug testing requirements for miners. 
Most, if not all, of the large coal mining companies already utilize 
some form of drug testing program. It will take further study to 
determine what role, if any, the Federal Government should play here, 
but this issue should be dealt with. That is why the amendment I will 
offer later today will require the Secretary of Labor to conduct a 
study on best practices and will authorize her, within 6 months, to set 
up a drug testing and rehabilitation program for miners, in 
consultation with miners, their unions, operators, State agencies, and 
public health experts.
  Two other amendments will be offered by Representatives Boucher and 
Ellsworth to build upon and modify this legislation, and I support 
those amendments.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of mine safety and in 
opposition to this bill, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The men and women who work in and around our Nation's mines are often 
unrecognized for the integral role they play in powering our country. 
These individuals work hard, in difficult and often dangerous 
conditions, to unearth the raw materials that each of us relies upon in 
our day-to-day lives.
  While mining is inherently dangerous, there are steps we can take to 
mitigate that risk. For that reason, mine safety has been an ongoing 
priority both legislatively and within the context of oversight.
  Although our commitment to mine safety is constant, we also recognize 
that new mandates from Washington translate into major changes within 
the operation of our Nation's mines. For that reason, we do not and we 
must not take a piecemeal approach to mine reform. Rather, we should 
develop thoughtful, comprehensive consensus reforms, and then give 
those reforms a chance to work. I am pleased to say that we did just 
that less than 2 years ago. In 2006, Congress passed the MINER Act 
which required MSHA to revise its penalties, increase penalties for 
major violations, undertake several studies regarding mining practices, 
and work to improve the technology for communications underground. The 
MINER Act received strong bipartisan, bicameral support. It was backed 
by both industry and labor, and its reforms were understood to be the 
most significant in a generation.
  With the MINER Act, we called on the mining industry to overhaul 
itself, to develop and implement new technologies, and to comply with 
strong new protections that were to be developed by the experts. This 
type of transformation cannot take place overnight; but let there be no 
doubt, change is well under way.
  Mr. Chairman, I fear that with this bill before us, we run a very 
real risk of derailing that progress and returning to square one on 
many critical mine safety issues. H.R. 2768 ignores the safety 
guidelines being developed through expert research and review, and 
replaces them with arbitrary new mandates established by Congress. This 
bill makes an end run around the regulatory process, shutting 
stakeholders out.
  Simply put, the S-MINER Act abandons the mine safety momentum of the 
MINER Act and sends us back to the drawing board.
  I appreciate Chairman Miller's concern about the dangers faced by our 
Nation's miners, and I share his desire to see strong reforms in place 
that will promote safety. That is why Republicans will offer a 
substitute amendment that would accomplish exactly that.
  The Wilson/Kline amendment will balance successful implementation of 
the 2006 MINER Act with a number of mine safety enhancements. I look 
forward to supporting that amendment when it is offered, because it 
provides a real opportunity to promote mine safety without backing away 
from the progress that has been made.
  In addition to the Republican substitute, we will consider a number 
of other amendments today, including one to be offered by Chairman 
Miller. I would be remiss, however, if I did not point out the rather 
transparent political expediency of one portion of that amendment.
  Included in the Republican substitute is a proposal to implement 
mandatory drug testing within the mining industry. A similar proposal 
was offered by the late Charlie Norwood, our colleague from Georgia, 
who was a stalwart on this issue. The ravaging impact of drug abuse 
among miners came into sharp focus this past weekend, when the front 
page of the Washington Post carried a story of miners who struggle with 
addiction to pain killers. We believe that mandatory drug testing is 
the most effective and, indeed, the only way to immediately address the 
prevalence of drug abuse that is putting miners' lives at risk.
  Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, however, appear to 
have discovered the devastation of drug abuse among miners only late 
yesterday afternoon. At that time, several hours after the deadline for 
submitting amendments, the chairman was permitted to resubmit a revised 
version of his manager's package that included a hastily drafted study 
of drug abuse among miners. While this amendment may offer a fig leaf 
now that the issue of drug abuse can no longer be ignored, it should 
not be mistaken for a legitimate attempt to deter drug abuse in the way 
that testing would.
  Mr. Chairman, the S-MINER Act is fundamentally flawed. It brings the 
progress of the 2006 MINER Act to a jarring halt, creating instead a 
package of new prescriptive mandates from Washington. The bill imposes 
$1 billion in unfunded mandates on the mining community, placing the 
jobs of miners in jeopardy. This bill is the wrong answer at the wrong 
time for our Nation's miners. There is a better way.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 
seconds.
  My colleague from California said that we had a study in this. Yes, 
we have a study for the Secretary to determine the best way to 
implement a drug testing and treatment program after 6 months of 
talking to the States and local agencies and the companies and the 
miners. We don't impose this from Washington. And then the Secretary, 
if she determines that it is feasible, she is instructed to start the 
program.
  We just thought it would be wise to consult the companies who have 
programs, States that have programs, the miners themselves, the local 
public health agencies.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell).
  (Mr. BOSWELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BOSWELL. Mr. Chairman, I think we all agree that, first and 
foremost, safety is the top priority for everyone involved in the 
mining industry. We, as a Congress, must ensure that legislation is 
heading in the right direction for the health and safety of American 
miners. Over the past several years, we have seen bad safety conditions 
and the devastating effects these conditions can have, not only on 
communities, but on human life.
  We also must recognize the fact that not all mining operations are 
the same.

[[Page H47]]

Repeat. Not all mining operations are the same. So I understand, Mr. 
Chairman, that you will continue to work with us Members, that you just 
said a moment ago, to address any concerns the bill raises as it moves 
through the process. And I want to thank Chairman Miller for his 
leadership on this issue and his willingness to continue to work and 
listen to other Members on the issue. He in fact is a true champion of 
our Nation's workers.
  Again, I would like to thank him for yielding this time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. I am happy now to yield to the gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Kline), the ranking member of the committee, such time as he may 
consume.

                              {time}  1245

  Mr. KLINE of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, today I rise in favor of mine 
safety but in strong opposition to the S-MINER Act.
  Unfortunately, the bill as written does little to improve safety in 
our Nation's mines. As someone who voted for the MINER Act, I am 
concerned that this legislation derails much of what has already been 
achieved. I appreciate that there is concern about the speed of 
implementation, but the answer is not to call a halt to the work that 
has already been done and completely turn direction.
  We have heard from mine engineering academics that this bill is 
flawed. We have heard from over 28 industry groups that this bill 
interrupts the progress being made in mine safety, while the Mine 
Safety and Health Administration's opinion has been dismissed by the 
other side, apparently until today, when we are going to turn over to 
MSHA the issue of drug testing. The President has issued a veto threat 
citing safety concerns.
  The statement of administration policy specifically states, ``The 
requirement to use boreholes to sample behind mine seals weakens 
existing safety standards since boreholes have metal casings that could 
introduce an ignition source, such as lightning, into an area of the 
mine that may contain explosive methane. The S-MINER bill would weaken 
current regulations requiring a mine operator to contact the Mine 
Safety and Health Administration within 15 minutes of a serious 
accident by creating a two-tiered notification system of 15 minutes or 
1 hour depending on the severity of the incident.''
  I question how in good conscience we can be considering legislation 
that, according to the very people who enforce the law, weakens current 
regulations.
  This bill is going to mandate the use of refuge chambers, examples of 
which were demonstrated on Capitol Hill. The National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, tested several of these units 
and found serious deficiencies.
  In a letter to the State of West Virginia, NIOSH expressed concerns 
stating, ``Since findings from our field testing raise issues about the 
performance of such refuge chambers, NIOSH believes it is imperative to 
inform you of our findings as soon as possible before deployment of 
refuge chambers.''
  Mr. Chairman, later today I will join my committee colleague, Mr. 
Wilson, in offering an amendment in the nature of a substitute. This is 
a Republican substitute that does not upend the mine safety progress 
currently under way.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the S-MINER Act.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 
seconds.
  The gentleman should have finished reading the rest of the letter 
where NIOSH says that these technical modifications can be addressed 
quickly. And, in fact, the preliminary feedback is that manufacturers 
have already made many of these, and they have already been 
implemented. Read the whole letter. I suggest that the gentleman on the 
other side of the aisle read the legislation, and when they want to 
introduce evidence, read the complete evidence.
  I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey).
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chairman, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of 
H.R. 2768, the S-MINER Act. The health and safety of miners is too 
important to ignore or to delay, and it is vitally important that we 
act now, not tomorrow, not in another year, to pass this critical 
legislation.
  I want to commend Chairman Miller for putting together comprehensive 
legislation that actually tackles the problems plaguing mining for 
many, many years.
  With this legislation, we can prevent the appalling loss of life that 
we have had in the past couple of years at Sago, at Darby, at Aracoma, 
and most recently at Crandall Canyon in Utah.
  Since the year 2006, about 80 miners have been killed at their 
workplaces. And that is in the 21st century. Don't forget, this is the 
21st century.
  Now it is true that working conditions for miners have improved over 
the years, and we have come a long ways since the turn of the last 
century when thousands of miners died every year. But miners, who 
provide a valuable service to this country at great danger to 
themselves, are still dying as a result of incidents that were 
preventable had everyone been following the law.
  And black lung, a disease we thought had pretty much been eradicated, 
is back with a vengeance. This is absolutely unacceptable.
  I have heard on numerous occasions that miners love their jobs. So 
our job for them is to keep them as healthy and safe as possible so 
they will return home every night to their families at the end of the 
working day and that they will return safe and healthy.
  The Subcommittee on Workforce Protection, which I chair, had a 
hearing on this legislation in July. And the S-MINER Act actually puts 
teeth in the MINER Act which Congress passed in 2006. Let me mention a 
few provisions which I think highlight why this legislation is so very 
important.
  For example, while we know that true wireless communications systems 
are not yet fully developed, technologies do exist that greatly improve 
communications between miners below ground with those on the surface. 
The MINER Act requires that wireless communications systems be 
installed, but not until the year 2009. Miners can't wait until 2009. 
And the S-MINER Act mandates that miners have communication 
capabilities now instead of having to go without until the most perfect 
system has been developed.
  One of the things that is so outrageous, as I said, in this day and 
age is that black lung is back, a disease everyone thought was 
eradicated. This legislation, the S-MINER Act, requires the use by each 
miner of a personal dust monitor so that exposure to coal dust can be 
cut in half. And because the committee recognizes it could be a burden 
for mine operators to provide this equipment to their employees, the 
manager's amendment authorizes $30 million for MSHA to pay for those 
devices.
  In addition, the Crandall Canyon disaster showed us once again that 
retreat mining is a perilous activity, and this legislation requires 
MSHA to closely review these plans.
  Another thing the families of miners told us was that miners were 
afraid to come forward to report safety and health violations. So this 
legislation provides for a miner ombudsman to be appointed to process 
complaints and assist whistleblowers with their cases.
  And finally, this legislation requires that physicians be created at 
MSHA to be in charge of communicating with families and the community 
while a rescue effort is going on.
  In developing this legislation, we have done our utmost to reach out 
across the aisle and to all interest groups, including industry, to 
come up with a bipartisan bill.
  While industry does not support this bill, and shame on them, many of 
their concerns are reflected in the current legislation and in Mr. 
Miller's manager's amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, this is the 21st century and we must have 21st century 
solutions to adequately protect miners in this country. Vote for the S-
MINER Act.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, we have some speakers on their way to the 
floor and I would like to reserve our time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare), a member of the committee.
  Mr. HARE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of this 
critical piece of legislation.

[[Page H48]]

  Mining remains one of the most dangerous occupations in the United 
States, and our laws have not kept up with the changes in the industry. 
As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, I participated 
in several hearings on this issue. At one in particular, I was touched 
by the little boy whose father had just been killed in the Crandall 
Canyon tragedy. It is for him and the countless other children who will 
grow up without a mom or a dad that I believe, as Members of Congress, 
we have the responsibility to do all we can to ensure that our miners 
are safe and come home to their families safely every night.
  The recent tragedies at Sago, Darby and Crandall Canyon mines have 
made it apparent that the MINER Act of 2006 has fallen short in some 
areas. The legislation we are considering today addresses these areas. 
I am particularly pleased that the bill grants MSHA the authority to 
shut down mines that have neglected to pay fines for safety violations. 
Additionally, the retreat mining and whistleblower protections are 
much-needed improvements in the bill.
  While the MINER Act of 2006 was a very good first step towards 
improving mine safety, it is clear that more work must be done. I 
believe today's bill will take us that one step further in making 
mining a little safer. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this 
important legislation.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman 
yield?
  Mr. HARE. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman for his 
support of this legislation, and more importantly, to thank him for all 
of his support on behalf of workers during our first session of 
Congress. I thank you for your attendance at the hearings and advocacy 
and questions on behalf of workers. I know of your very strong interest 
in miners, and I want to thank you for your advocacy on behalf of all 
workers.
  Mr. HARE. I thank the chairman for your comments and for your work. 
There is not a more stand-up Member in this Congress for the working 
men and women of this Nation.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall).
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished chairman of the 
Education and Labor Committee for yielding me this time, and commend 
him for his career, lifelong service of dedication to our working men 
and women of this country. Chairman George Miller has certainly shown 
over his career in this body that there is no person that will take a 
second seat to him as far as protecting the health, safety, and well-
being of our working men and women.
  Mr. Chairman, there are those who have argued on the other side that 
this measure, coming on the heels of major mine safety legislation in 
2006, is too much too soon. They argue that the Mine Safety and Health 
Administration is struggling to fix numerous problems and must be 
allowed to implement one bill before additional legislative mandates 
are hefted upon them.
  Now, that argument has a valid point. And yes, the industry is making 
strides to improve safety, especially in my home State of West 
Virginia.
  But an equally valid argument can be made that the Congress should 
not simply sit back and hope that MSHA follows through on needed 
improvements. To do so would be to neglect our duty to serve as a 
check, and we must not return to the hands-off mentality that allowed 
MSHA to slip into its recent dismal state of decline.
  This legislation seeks to return to MSHA the business of protecting 
our Nation's miners, plain and simple. This should be our overall goal. 
MSHA has strayed too far from its mission, and the MINER Act did not 
touch some challenges that most agree need to be addressed. This bill 
supports a course correction that now is taking place. It sets a high 
bar because its purpose is the highest: the protection of the lives of 
our coal miners. And in this regard, we can never be too vigilant when 
it comes to protecting the health and safety and well-being of our 
Nation's coal miners.
  Most coal companies in my State work hard to ensure improved 
workplace safety, and they are making significant investment, for which 
they deserve commendation. Likewise, most of the employees of MSHA, 
including those in my home State, are well-intentioned, dedicated and 
hardworking. These individuals put their lives on the line to save 
other lives, and they should be recognized for that.
  As well, my home State of West Virginia, above all others, has taken 
the challenge of improving mine conditions seriously. But none of this 
excuses the management of MSHA from doing its job, and it certainly 
does not excuse the Federal legislative branch from its responsibility 
to ensure that the senior Federal agency charged with the safety of our 
coal miners fulfills its statutory mission.
  First and foremost, MSHA is supposed to inspect mines to ensure that 
they are abiding by the law to operate as safely as possible. That is 
its most fundamental job, its reason for existence. But yet, we found 
that MSHA last year failed to complete more than 40 percent of its 
required quarterly inspections in my own congressional district alone. 
That fact speaks most compellingly for the need for this legislation.
  This bill would address that deadly lack of inspections at mines in 
southern West Virginia. It aims to provide for badly needed increases 
in the ranks of highly trained inspectors, including bringing 
experienced retirees back into service and directing limited resources 
into the field where they are needed most.
  So given these conditions, Mr. Chairman, again I commend Chairman 
Miller and urge passage of this legislation.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to yield at this time to the 
ranking member on the Resources Committee, the senior Republican from 
Alaska, Mr. Young, such time as he may consume.
  (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, here we go again; another nail in 
the coffin of energy independence. Another nail, in fact, adding to the 
unemployment rate.

                              {time}  1300

  If this bill was to become law, mines will be shut down. They will be 
shut down. And what bothers me the most is we had a bipartisan bill, 
actually it was passed in 2006, I believe, or 2007, that improved the 
1977 Mine Safety Health Act. It was supported by everybody, that side 
and this side, the administration. And we have not given the time, 
that's less than a year and a half, given the time for the operators of 
these mines to even reach that requirement that we said was the right 
thing to do.
  Now, it always amazes me. I don't think there's much coal mining in 
Vallejo or in the Bay Area or in Point Reyes. And I do respect the 
gentleman from West Virginia because he does have mining. And I've 
heard from his operators in that area that there's a very difficult 
thought process going forth with this bill. Can they operate? Because 
in this bill, they stop the ability for belt air, which, in fact, was 
put in for safety purposes, supported by the people who understand 
this, for diluting methane and dust levels, and this bill prohibits 
that. How is that improving the life of our miners? It is not.
  And more than that, I want to remind people. As bad as it may appear, 
as very much, you know, heart wrenching when there is a death in a 
mine, we still have the safest mining industry in the world. China lost 
6,000 people, that we know of last year in their coal mines; building 
one new coal fired plant a week.
  And here we are, with this bill, if it was to become law, again, 
adding another nail in our coffin for energy independence. Coal is a 
solution to this terrible dependence that we have on foreign oil.
  I was a little disappointed today when I saw the President ask the 
OPEC countries to produce more oil so we can lower the price.
  Our fault in this country is we're not producing oil on our lands, 
which we have, and we're not producing the coal, which we have an 
abundance of. And I believe, when saying this under the guise of 
helping the miner out, we are jeopardizing their jobs, jeopardizing

[[Page H49]]

the economy in this country, and driving us further into the depression 
which may occur.
  If that does happen, I want to compliment that side of the aisle, 
because you haven't addressed the issue of energy. And I'm a little bit 
disappointed. I watched all the Presidential debates. Not even on my 
side, let alone that side, has anybody talked about solving the energy 
problem in this country. We must address that issue because our economy 
is based on energy that can move product. Every ship is fossilly 
driven. Every train is fossilly driven. Every truck is fossilly driven. 
Every car, everything you eat and everything you consume is delivered 
to you by fossil fuels.
  Now, we can improve nuclear power to give us fixed power, and we can 
burn coal, and we can use solar, and we can use hydro. We can do all 
these things. But there's fixed power. And we, as a Nation, and this 
Congress have not got to the point where we understand if we don't do 
something, we keep sending the dollars abroad, there's a great 
possibility that this whole economy we have will implode.
  I'm saying, wake up, Mr. and Mrs. America. Start asking your Members 
of Congress, let's do something about energy. You can't conserve 
yourself into a prosperity position. You've got to have new energy, new 
production. Yes, drilling. Offshore in California, shame on you. 
Offshore in Florida, shame on Florida. Offshore in Alaska, shame on 
Alaska. We must start developing our fossil fuels in the Rocky 
Mountains. We must start at the Roan Plateau, which you took off the 
table. The Roan Plateau, have that developed. We have to start doing 
what is necessary to make sure we're no longer dependent on those 
foreign countries that are not our friends.
  So I urge a ``no'' on this bill because it's another nail in the 
coffin that creates in this country more weaknesses and not the ability 
to provide for the future generations.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself 30 seconds.
  The gentleman from Alaska is quite correct. It's a pathetic sight to 
see the President of the United States begging the Saudi prince to 
release more oil 8 years after that President has been in office; 
several energy bills passed by the Republican Congress, and the 
President is left going hat in hand begging the Saudi prince for more 
oil. It just shows the opportunity cost of this administration, of that 
Republican Congress and the pathetic energy policy that we were left 
with.
  The new energy bill, however, reverses that trend. I'm very proud to 
be part of it.
  Mr. McKEON. I yield the gentleman 30 seconds to respond.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. My good friend from California, he is my good 
friend, you have to recognize that we have not done anything. When you 
were in the majority you did nothing. You in fact had President Clinton 
veto opening of new oil discoveries in Alaska.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. That's 10 years ago.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Ten years ago. Again, everybody tells me we can 
do it at a later date. And what we're doing is nothing. I ask each one 
of you in this room that's sitting here today, I'm asking you, are we 
going to sit until this whole country comes to a collapse because we're 
not addressing the energy policy? The energy bill we passed here has 
produced no energy at all.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Bishop).
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support 
of H.R. 2768, the S-MINER Act.
  Over the past year the Education and Labor Committee, of which I am a 
member, has held several hearings on the topic of mine safety. During 
those hearings, witness after witness asked that the Federal Government 
take stronger actions to protect the health and safety of miners. 
Hearing their call to action, we are here today to pass landmark 
legislation that will save the lives of countless miners.
  H.R. 2768 builds upon the MINER Act to boost prevention efforts, 
improve emergency response and reduce health risks. The MINER Act, 
which passed during the last session of Congress in response to the 
Sago mining disaster, made important steps in protecting miners, but 
implementation has been slow, and more needs to be done. Sadly, since 
H.R. 2768 was introduced, miners have been seriously injured or killed 
while on the job. That is why it is crucial for this Congress to act 
now and pass this legislation.
  This Congress has been entrusted with the responsibility to make sure 
that all workers are protected at their workplace. We take that 
responsibility seriously. And I am proud to support this bill which 
will take the necessary steps in safeguarding the health and safety of 
America's miners.
  I want to thank and commend Chairman Miller for introducing this 
legislation and moving it so quickly to the floor. And I urge my 
colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 2768.
  Mr. McKEON. I am happy to yield to the gentlelady from West Virginia 
(Mrs. Capito) such time as she may consume.
  Mrs. CAPITO. I'd like to thank the ranking member for his 
recognition.
  Over the past several years, this country has witnessed a series of 
tragic mining disasters, starting with the 12 miners killed on January 
3, 2006 at the Sago Mine in my district. I know the families, I know 
the communities, and this is a wound that will never heal. This tragedy 
was followed by more deaths in accidents around the country, and each 
of these disasters has identified and highlighted deficiencies in the 
protection afforded miners.
  In response to Sago and the other mine disasters, Congress enacted 
the MINER Act. We did it in a bipartisan way. It was a very proud day 
for me, as a West Virginian, to stand with my fellow West Virginians, 
several Governors, the President of the United States. Members of my 
own community, from the Sago community, came to the signing to sign the 
MINER Act. I'm proud of that effort, and I'm proud of the efforts that 
the companies have moved forward to improve the safety since the 
enactment of the MINER Act. It has substantially tightened regulations 
and enforcement procedures, and the mining industry has made 
significant changes in operations and equipment to comply with the 
strengthened requirements.
  A number of Federal agencies and several State agencies, West 
Virginia has been very aggressive in this regard, has pushed reforms to 
better respond to incidents that occur and how we can improve the 
chances of miners to survive a serious accident. Today more self-
contained self-rescuers are being stored underground than in the past, 
and that is a good positive first step.
  With the success of the original MINER Act in mind, I do hold some 
reservations that additional legislation could complicate the safety 
improvements currently under way, and I am not alone in my concern. I 
encourage my colleagues to keep this in mind if this legislation moves 
forward.
  Unfortunately, the events of Sago serve as a reminder that we must 
always strive to make America's mines as safe as they can possibly be.
  This bill is flawed in many ways. The junior Senator from West 
Virginia has publicly expressed his concern, and I have concern that 
this bill will hold up some of the progress as it has moved forward.
  But at the end of the day, for me, this is about those Sago miners, 
and their tragedies stay with me. My hope is that we can continue the 
good work that has moved forward as a result of the MINER Act. It is 
crucial that Congress continue to highlight mine safety so that the 
tragedies we've seen in West Virginia and across the Nation are not 
repeated.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. May I inquire of the Chair how much 
time each side has remaining.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman has 13 minutes, and 15\1/2\ on the other 
side.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Holt), a member of the committee.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, there's no question that mining has been a 
dangerous job. And today coal mining is rated among the most dangerous 
occupations in America. It does not have to be that way.
  As a scientist, I've paid some attention to mine safety technology, 
but I also feel strongly about the concerns of those working in mines 
because I was born and raised in West Virginia, where my father, many 
years ago, as a member of the House of Delegates, and later

[[Page H50]]

in the Senate, was known as one of the best friends the miner ever had.
  As an original cosponsor of the S-MINER Act, I want to thank Chairman 
Miller and our staff for recognizing the importance of getting 
communications technology, currently existing, and that being 
developed, into the mines as quickly as possible.
  This bill improves the work of the previous Congress by requiring 
that enhanced communications and miner tracking systems be installed 
immediately upon enactment.
  I remain troubled that the Mine Safety and Health Administration and 
mine operators have delayed getting promising technology into the 
mines. It is really heartrending to share in the terror and tragedy of 
miners stranded without communication.
  A year ago, NIOSH reached an agreement with the U.S. Army 
Communications and Electronics Research Center at Fort Monmouth in New 
Jersey to test and develop the KUTTA communications system because 
communications on the battlefield and in noisy environments subject to 
disruptions have lessons for communications in the mines.
  Mr. Chairman, MSHA has not acted with the urgency needed to prevent 
future miner fatalities. Today Congress is acting.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation because, in the wake 
of the Sago and Darby and Crandall Canyon mine tragedies, we should not 
have to face more families who have faced these tragedies, and we 
should do everything we can to prevent such tragedies in the future.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth), a member of the committee.
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the S-
MINER Act because it will quite simply and without doubt save the lives 
of innocent Americans. It could have saved the life of my fellow 
Kentuckian, Jimmy Lee, whose widow Melissa I met this past year. She 
courageously came to us for help because, though it was too late to 
save her Jimmy, we still had the chance to prevent more loving spouses 
from becoming courageous widows.
  Yesterday, Melissa and 27 other Kentuckians sent me a letter. Each 
has lost a father, son or husband in a preventable mine disaster, and 
each urges the implementation of this legislation.
  I found it very interesting to listen to my colleague from across the 
aisle, the gentleman from Alaska. And he used the term on a number of 
occasions, a nail in the coffin: And this is what we're talking about.
  In my case, today, I'm talking about a letter from 28 Kentuckians who 
had to put their relatives, their loved ones in coffins and bury them 
because this government has not done what it can and should do to 
protect them.
  In any event, the White House threatens a veto, not so much because 
it disagrees, but because the Department of Labor still hasn't 
implemented the last law. Congress is here to act when bureaucracies 
drag their feet. And here the consequences of the administration 
stonewalling are disastrous.
  This is one of those choices we face in this era. We face the 
decision between money and lives. And as I said during the hearing when 
we looked into the Darby disaster and Sago and Crandall Canyon, we need 
to have a country and a government that value the lives of the miners 
as much as what they bring out of the ground. That's what this 
legislation is all about. That's what we stand here to do. And that's 
why I congratulate the chairman for his courageous act and his passion 
for this cause.
  So with that, I urge my colleagues and the President to join me in 
supporting the Supplemental Mining Improvement and New Emergency 
Response Act. And I urge them to begin saving lives today.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself 30 seconds.
  I want to thank the gentleman. I've had an opportunity to read the 
letter from his constituents, and I want to thank him for entering it 
into the Record. It's on behalf of those families and the families of 
the other mining tragedies who have also written to us that we made a 
pledge in our committee, as the gentleman knows, that this committee 
was going to be very diligent about pursuing mine safety.

                              {time}  1315

  It had been ignored for too long. The families had been closed out of 
the process. They were not allowed to testify. They were not allowed to 
go to the investigations. They were not allowed to attend the hearings, 
and this legislation changes much of that.
  And you're quite correct and I want to thank him and his constituents 
for the support of this legislation.


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN. Members are reminded to refrain from wearing 
communicative badges while under recognition.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson). He's the senior ranking 
member on the subcommittee.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I thank Congressman 
McKeon very much for the introduction. I appreciate his leadership on 
the committee.
  I speak in opposition to the bill and in favor of mine safety, as 
fully explained by the Statement of Administration Policy dated January 
15, 2008, from the Office of Management and Budget.
  In 2006, the President signed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency 
Response, MINER, Act, the most significant mine safety legislation in 
nearly 30 years. The administration has worked with miners, mine 
owners, miners' representatives, and other stakeholders in the mining 
industry to meet the safety improvement goals set forth in the original 
MINER Act, including issuing regulations to strengthen emergency mine 
evacuation practices, improve the strength requirements for seals, and 
increase civil penalties. In addition, on December 26, 2007, the 
President signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act, which mandates 
additional rulemaking on belt air and refuge chambers on rigorous 
timetables.
  H.R. 2768, the Supplemental Mine Improvement New Emergency Response 
Act, the S-MINER bill, would place in jeopardy meaningful achievements 
and efforts currently under way as a result of these measures. In 
particular, several of the regulatory mandates in the S-MINER bill 
would weaken several existing regulations and overturn regulatory 
processes that were required by the MINER Act and are ongoing.
  These changes would provide no opportunity for stakeholder 
participation in the regulatory process and would impose burdensome and 
unrealistic time requirements. The S-MINER bill would also 
fundamentally change the investigation of mining accidents and 
jeopardize the ability to hold mine operators accountable for 
violations of mine safety regulations.
  For these reasons, the administration strongly opposes House passage 
of the bill. If H.R. 2768 were presented to the President in its 
current form, the President's senior advisers would recommend he veto 
the bill.
  The S-MINER bill requires new regulations on the strength of mine 
seals, even though a new emergency temporary standard on mine seals was 
issued in May 2007 and a final regulation will be issued in February 
2008. To reopen this process would cause confusion within the industry 
and put on hold improvements already being made to underground mine 
seals.
  The S-MINER bill would weaken current regulations requiring a mine 
operator to contact the Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, 
within 15 minutes of a serious accident by creating a new two-tiered 
notification system of 15 minutes or 1 hour, depending on the severity 
of the incident.
  Of particular concern is a provision requiring the MSHA to adopt the 
recommended exposure limits issued by the National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health as permissible exposure limits, PELs. 
This provision overturns a Federal court decision that requires 
agencies like the MSHA to perform a risk assessment prior to issuing a 
PEL. This provision would mandate the adoption of potentially hundreds 
of PELs without any input from stakeholders and without determination 
of whether the PEL is economically and technologically feasible.
  The S-MINER bill would allow a stakeholder to challenge a PEL only 
after its issuance. This process undermines the rigor of the normal 
rulemaking process and places the burden

[[Page H51]]

of proof of technological and economic feasibility on stakeholders 
instead of the Department of Labor.
  The S-MINER bill would potentially quadruple the number of 
investigations into multi-injury or multifatality accidents by adding a 
requirement for another investigation by an independent investigative 
team and by giving the Chemical Safety Board, as well as the Office of 
the Inspector General within the Department of Labor, the right to 
investigate mine accidents. These provisions undermine the government's 
ability to hold accountable mine operators who violate mine safety and 
health regulations since multiple investigations potentially using 
different methodologies and reaching different conclusions could 
prejudice the government's ability to prosecute civil or criminal 
investigations of mine safety and health standards that contributed to 
or exacerbated an accident.
  Current law gives MSHA the sole authority to investigate mine 
accidents, and when MSHA investigators uncover possible criminal 
violations, they identify the necessary enforcement action to take 
against a mine operator and make an appropriate referral to the 
Department of Justice.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to 
the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Loebsack).
  Mr. LOEBSACK. Mr. Chairman, in recent years we have seen several mine 
tragedies that cost the lives of hardworking individuals. Our first 
thought should always be the safety of mine workers. We must ensure 
there are adequate regulations in place to provide the safest working 
environments possible.
  Iowa is a proud home to many limestone producers. While they share 
our goal of protecting mine workers, we must also recognize the 
differences between limestone mining and coal mining. These local 
producers are concerned that some provisions in this bill may harm 
small businesses. These businesses provide jobs in our local 
communities and are critical to Iowa's continued economic development.
  I want to thank the chairman for his work on this bill and for his 
willingness to continue a dialogue on this issue. As this bill 
continues to move through the legislative process, I hope we can reach 
a compromise supported by workers, industry, Congress, and the 
administration.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to 
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews), a member of the committee.
  (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding.
  In the spring of 2007 at the Crandall Canyon Mine, retreat mining 
began, and when they started the retreat mining on the north side of 
the mountain, there were indications that there could be trouble. There 
were literally noises, sounds, that say there could be trouble. So they 
stopped.
  In June of 2007, the company conducting that mining went to the mine 
safety regulators, the Federal Government, and said we want to now do 
on the south side of the mountain what we stopped doing on the north 
side of the mountain. In just over a week, 9 days as I recall, the 
Federal regulators said go ahead and do it. How much care could they 
have taken in that analysis in that short period of time? Tragically, 
in August of 2007, nine people lost their lives.
  Here's what this bill would change. It would say that the next time a 
mining company submits a retreat mining plan, they've got to have a 
computer model of what might happen when they start. They've got to 
send people from the mine safety agency to the mine to watch that it's 
being done the right way, and they've got to look at every possible 
technology that could be used to protect and save people's lives.
  Tonight, nine families have an empty chair at the dinner table 
because of the tragedy that occurred at Crandall Canyon. I can't assure 
any of those people that we would avoid a future tragedy, but we have 
to try, and this bill is an intelligent, good-faith effort in that 
regard. It deserves the vote of every Democrat and every Republican. It 
deserves to become law.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to 
the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy, 
as I appreciate his leadership.
  I voted against the last mining reform on the floor of the House, 
even though it represented some progress, because, frankly, it didn't 
go far enough and it didn't do it quickly enough. The treatment of our 
miners compared to what is going on in other developed countries who 
take mine safety seriously is a national disgrace. I am pleased to see 
a comprehensive piece moving forward. This is going to help reverse 
that course.
  I heard some say that this administration would veto the legislation. 
I would consider a veto of mining legislation by this administration a 
badge of honor, an administration that has put the wrong people in 
charge, has been not zealous in dealing with the problems that have 
come forward, that have taken tragedies to at least seemingly get their 
attention.
  I hope that each Member of the House spends a little time looking at 
this legislation comparing it to what's going on in the rest of the 
world. I'm confident that they will then support the legislation, and 
if by some reason the administration chooses to override it, I'm 
confident that people of good conscience can override it to give the 
miners the safety they deserve.
  Mr. McKEON. May I ask about the remaining time?
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon) has 10\1/2\ 
minutes remaining. The gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) 
has 4\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I'm the only speaker. We were 
looking for a gentlewoman to do a colloquy, but she's not here. If she 
shows up, I would do the colloquy with her, but I wouldn't take 
additional time. So you can go ahead and use your time.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Today we've heard a great deal about how to keep miners safe. It 
should go without saying that mine safety is the proposition to which 
we're all committed. However, we're not here today debating whether to 
protect miners. Instead, we're here considering a bill that would 
actually derail the most comprehensive mine safety overhaul in decades.
  All of us are for mine safety. You know, during this campaign, I have 
been listening to some of the candidates running, and I think the 
feeling amongst many people is that Washington is broken and that we 
don't seem to attack things that are really important.
  Well, in 2006, we passed a miner safety bill, the first one in 30 
years. That was passed with the support of 381 Members to 37 Members 
here in the House and unanimously in the Senate.
  Now here we are less than 2 years later talking about another bill 
that's going to, after a 30-year hiatus, we pass a bill, we're doing 
what we can to implement that bill. By the time regulations are 
written, by the time people are trained on enforcing those regulations, 
by the time the mine owners put those regulations into effect, it takes 
some time, and then here we're stepping on that bill with a new 
approach to change some things.
  And we heard from Mr. Wilson the President's response and why he says 
we should give the time to fully implement the bill that was just 
passed less than 2 years ago. It makes sense. We live in a large 
country, and to try to disseminate this information and get it all into 
effect takes some time, and we're just saying that's why people think 
Washington's broke. We're stepping on something that we haven't even 
implemented yet.
  And I don't question any motives because I think the motives are 
good. We should be out to protect miners. It's just which way will 
protect them best: implementing the bill that was already passed 
overwhelmingly or trying to pass a bill that will step on some of those 
concerns.
  This law was only given 1\1/2\ years to take hold, as mentioned. It's 
already having an impact on our Nation's mines. Stringent safety 
standards are being put in place and they're being enforced. A recent 
article in a mining industry publication explored the impact on the 
mines as seen from the eyes of a miner.
  He says, ``As you can imagine, the regulatory environment for safety 
has

[[Page H52]]

evolved a lot in the last few months, and we're seeing as much as a 50 
percent increase in underground mine inspections on an annualized 
basis.'' That's the words of a miner to an analyst.

                              {time}  1330

  With all the progress that has been made, it seems to me that the 
last thing we should be considering is the disruption of that momentum, 
yet that's exactly what will happen if the S-MINER Act becomes law. 
This bill discards the expert studies already under way, replacing the 
wisdom and recommendations of professionals with arbitrary mandates 
from Washington.
  Although the bill purports to protect miners, in reality it threatens 
the jobs we rely on. That's another thing that I'm learning, that 
people are very interested in the economy and jobs, and here we have an 
effort that probably will cut jobs. With $1 billion in unfunded 
mandates in the underlying bill, the majority's attempt to mask these 
burdensome costs by extending the implementation timeline is a weak 
attempt to divert attention from the toll that will be taken on the 
mining community.
  Mr. Chairman, as a strong supporter of mine safety, I want to be 
clear that there is a better way to protect the interests of the 
Nation's miners. We can stand for strong safety protections without 
diverting attention and resources from the work already under way. 
Later today, Representatives Wilson and Kline will offer an amendment 
to do exactly that. The Wilson/Kline amendment incorporates a strong 
drug testing requirement that will protect miners from the dangers of 
illegal substance abuse in the already dangerous mining environment.
  I am pleased to see our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
joining us in our concern about the danger and devastation of drug use 
among miners. I am saddened, however, by the appearance of cynicism in 
the last-minute addition of this issue to the manager's package. I hope 
they will join us in supporting a real solution in the form of drug 
testing, something that our colleague, Charlie Norwood, who passed away 
last year, had been working on for years before, rather than a mere 
study that provides more political cover than genuine safety 
protections.
  Despite the best intentions of its sponsors, this bill will do much 
more harm than good. It will layer new rules and requirements on top of 
the critical mine safety reforms already in place. With this bill, we 
are abandoning the bipartisan reforms of the 2006 MINER Act and 
abandoning all the progress that has been made.
  Members on both sides of the aisle have expressed concern that this 
legislation is premature. A group of seven respected Democrats 
representing districts with a history of underground and surface mining 
wrote to the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee to urge us 
to proceed with caution. From them I quote: ``We believe that before 
moving forward on new mine safety legislation, it would be prudent for 
the committee to wait for the conclusion of the studies called for in 
the MINER Act and the implementation of all the major requirements of 
the MINER Act.'' They were right. The academic experts are right. The 
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is right. The National 
Mining Association is right. Each of these stakeholders understands 
that the S-MINER Act is the wrong bill at the wrong time.
  As a strong supporter of mine safety, I have no choice but to oppose 
this bill. I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to 
how much time is remaining.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman has 4\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as 
she may consume to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick).
  Ms. KILPATRICK. First, let me congratulate you for a fine piece of 
legislation for the safety of our coal miners and others who need to 
make sure that our people working in the mines across this country are 
safe and that they have a working atmosphere that is safe for them and 
for their families. I congratulate you on that act.
  In Michigan, in my district specifically, we have salt mines; no 
explosions, they aren't dangerous, and this act also covers our salt 
mines. I live under some of the salt mines. I live over the salt mines, 
I might add. They are a hundred years old. We've never had a collapse. 
They don't have the same requirements. They provide critical 
infrastructure needs that we have in our community, and have been very, 
very good business partners in our community for over 100 years. I 
worry that, with this legislation, they may be penalized and have to 
come under some of the limits, air limits, the larger fines, and the 
impact of those. So, I am asking, can you assure us that our salt mines 
in Michigan and my constituents, that this S-MINER will not be unfairly 
applied to them?
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. If the gentlewoman would yield.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. I will yield.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I want to thank you for your support 
of this legislation. I would note that the manager's amendment will 
slow down the required schedule of underground mines to convert to the 
new more fire-resistant conveyer belts. These belts will help prevent 
deaths in all kinds of underground mines. And the amendment will ensure 
that mine operators have a chance to use up the perfectly good belts 
that they have in their inventory.
  Also, the S-MINER Act will not adopt new safety standards for 
underground non-coal mines, except for the conveyor belt, and in this 
case, the mines which regularly emit methane gas, new rules for 
explosion-proof seals. It certainly does not treat these mines like 
coal mines.
  The current air quality standards for underground salt mines are 
based on 1973 rules established by a private organization and 
incorporated by reference into the MSHA regulations. It is hard to even 
locate a copy of these old standards. It is the intent of S-MINER to 
adopt air standards that are justified by the unbiased scientific 
evidence as preventing health risks to miners and are feasible for the 
mines to achieve. If mine operators object to the new mine health 
limits based upon concerns of technological or economic feasibility, 
the bill requires them to fully analyze these concerns before adopting 
new standards. By speeding up the rulemaking process, we want to 
accelerate MSHA to address real hazards, but do not intend to adopt 
unsupported standards that do not create significant benefits or are 
not feasible for compliance.
  The S-MINER Act does increase minimum and maximum penalties for 
violation of requirements that specifically protect the health and 
safety in underground metal and non-metal mines. However, it leaves in 
place the requirements in the law that small mines get a break, that a 
mine operator's history is a factor in assessment, and that the degree 
of negligence and seriousness of the hazard is to be considered.
  Also, I want to note that our colleague, Congressman Ellsworth, has 
an amendment which would eliminate the requirement from the bill that 
concerns many of your constituents with respect to escrowing proposed 
penalties before contest.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to thank Chairman 
George Miller and his colleagues on the House Education & Labor 
Committee for their work on H.R. 2768: Supplemental Mine Improvement 
and New Emergency Response Act of 2007 or S-MINER. The efforts of the 
Committee further address the dangers associated with mining, 
particularly the threats to coal miners we have seen all too 
frequently, most recently with the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster in 
2007.
  While I supported the MINER Act in 2006 and believe that Congress has 
a responsibility to continue to strengthen mine health and safety 
regulations, I am not able to support H.R. 2768 because of the 
unintended consequences it may have on mining operations outside of the 
coal industry.
  While I acknowledge the Education and Labor Committee's efforts to 
engage industry in this debate, I feel the concerns of the surface 
mining industry are not adequately addressed in this legislation. As 
such, S-MINER may unnecessarily harm many small mining operations with 
new burdensome compliance requirements.
  In South Dakota, aggregate mining operations create good paying jobs 
and provide products essential to the construction industry.

[[Page H53]]

They are an important part of numerous local economies in the state. 
Therefore, I cannot discount the concerns of aggregate mining 
operations over the process by which ``permissible exposure limits'' 
(PELs) will be adopted under S-MINER. With the cost of road 
construction and maintenance skyrocketing, South Dakota and other 
states are often forced to make tough decisions. If aggregate miners 
are required to adopt additional regulations under S-MINER, we may see 
the cost of this construction component rise even higher.
  I believe it is imperative that we continue to closely monitor the 
progress of MINER implementation, and I will continue to look for ways 
to support regulation reform that protect the health and safety of mine 
workers.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chairman, I submit the following articles 
supporting H.R. 2768 from Lexington, Kentucky and Salt Lake City, Utah.

             [From Lexington Herald-Leader, Dec. 10, 2007]

        Unaddressed Risks: Additional Mine-Safety Measure Needed

       Congress and President Bush nearly broke their arms patting 
     themselves on the back last year when a new mine-safety act 
     became law.
       The measure had the coal industry's blessings and was about 
     all that could get through the Republican-controlled 
     Congress, even in a year when 47 miners were killed in 
     accidents, including underground explosions in Kentucky and 
     West Virginia.
       The MINER Act was a decent start. But it was also riddled 
     with weaknesses, including no provisions that directly 
     addressed the conditions leading to the deaths of 12 men at 
     the Sago, W.Va., mine.
       There were no requirements that mines have rescue chambers 
     or that miners' emergency breathing devices be subject to 
     random checks to be sure they work.
       Now it's time to do better.
       The Supplementary Mine Improvement and New Emergency 
     Response Act, known as S-MINER, is awaiting action by the 
     House.
       In addition to filling the previously listed gaps, the 
     measure includes a range of health and safety improvements 
     that have long been needed, including new limits on:
       Retreat mining, in which coal pillars supporting the mine's 
     roof are removed and which led to the deaths of six miners 
     and three rescuers at the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah this 
     year.
       The use of coal conveyor-belt tunnels to ventilate mines, a 
     practice that carries flames and poison gases to where miners 
     are working when a fire occurs on a conveyor belt and that 
     contributed to the deaths of two miners at the Aracoma mine 
     in West Virginia last year.
       Also, at long last, the measure requires more advanced 
     technology for measuring dust levels in mines to prevent 
     black lung, the smothering disease that is making a 
     resurgence among American miners.
       And, in a major advance for mine safety, the bill provides 
     for independent panels to investigate mine accidents causing 
     multiple deaths, injuries or entrapments.
       Under the current law, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health 
     Administration is responsible for investigating itself, an 
     obvious conflict of interest.
       The coal industry argues that it would be unfair to impose 
     new safety requirements while it's still struggling to put 
     last year's law into place. But that's a lame excuse when the 
     proposed changes are so obviously needed.
       Of course, no law will keep miners safe until Congress and 
     a new president rebuild MSHA.
       An inspector general recently found that while underground 
     mining increased 9 percent from 2002 to 2006, the number of 
     federal mining inspectors had decreased by 18 percent, from 
     605 to 496.
       As a result, MSHA failed to conduct required inspections 
     last year at 107 of the nation's 731 underground coal mines.
                                  ____


           [From the Lexington Herald-Leader, Jan. 16, 2008]

   Toughen Mine Safety: Bill Adds Scrutiny to Accident Investigations

       President Bush says he would veto a strong mine-safety law 
     because it would interfere with a weak mine-safety law and 
     confuse the coal industry.
       Bush's logic will produce more widows and orphans in the 
     coal fields.
       Kentucky's House delegation--the Republicans and the 
     Democrats--should support S-MINER, the Supplementary Mine 
     Improvement and New Emergency Response Act.
       The MINER Act, enacted in 2006, was the best that could be 
     gotten from a Republican- controlled Congress. Now with the 
     Democrats in charge it's time to fix the weaknesses in that 
     law.
       The bill awaiting House action directly addresses the 
     causes of mine fatalities at Darby in Kentucky, Sago and 
     Aracoma in West Virginia and Crandall Canyon in Utah.
       Of all the objections to S-MINER raised by Bush, the 
     silliest is his claim that independent investigations would 
     dilute accountability for mine accidents. Just the opposite 
     is true.
       In Kentucky, we've seen firsthand the folly of requiring 
     the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration to investigate 
     itself.
       After the Darby explosion in Harlan County, in which five 
     miners died, MSHA appeared to be more interested in covering 
     its backside than uncovering all the facts.
       An MSHA inspector had spent three days in the mine during 
     the week before the explosion. But MSHA refused to let 
     Kentucky investigators or anyone outside MSHA question him.
       Such conduct puts miners at risk and damages the public's 
     confidence in government.
       The bill before the House would provide for independent 
     panels to investigate mine accidents that cause multiple 
     deaths, injuries or entrapments.
       Congress should approve it and Bush should sign it.
                                  ____


              [From the Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 15, 2007]

       Mine Safety: Congress Considers Overhaul of Rules and Regs

       It's a simple, noble, attainable goal, one Utah's 
     underground miners can live with. ``We want to do everything 
     we can to ensure that miners are able to return home safely 
     at the end of their shifts.''
       That from U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman 
     of the House Education and Labor Committee and sponsor of the 
     Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act 
     of 2007.
       The bill was drafted in response to another deadly year in 
     U.S. deep mines--25 coal miners and 28 other miners have died 
     to date. It enhances and hastens many of the safety 
     provisions contained in the Miner Act of 2006 and provides 
     for additional rules and regulations in an industry where 
     safety is sometimes sacrificed in the quest for profit.
       There's a lot to like about Miller's bill, which is co-
     sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and was inspired 
     in part by the tragic accidents at Utah's Crandall Canyon 
     coal mine in Emery County, where six miners and three rescue 
     workers were killed in mine collapses in August.
       The legislation would establish the Office of Miner 
     Ombudsman, which would receive and track anonymous complaints 
     from miners who are aware of dangerous mining conditions or 
     safety violations, but are afraid to speak up for fear of 
     losing their jobs. It would give the federal Mine Safety and 
     Health Administration absolute authority to supervise and 
     direct rescue and recovery efforts after mine accidents, 
     negating the need for voluntary cooperation of mine owners.
       And it would provide for more oversight of retreat mining--
     a dangerous mining method in which coal is scavenged from 
     mine support walls--in mines more than 1,500 feet 
     underground, which are common in the West.
       The committee forwarded the bill to the full House in a 26-
     18 vote that fell along partisan lines, with Republicans, 
     including Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, siding with the mine 
     industry and MSHA in opposition.
       Bishop, who argued that the Miner Act of 2006 is not yet 
     fully-implemented and probes of the Crandall Canyon tragedies 
     are still under way, says the bill is premature and takes 
     ``everything to an extreme.'' But it's obvious that immediate 
     and extreme measures are needed, because miners are still 
     dying by the dozens. Congress should approve this bill.

  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Chairman, workers in this country should be able to go 
to work each day secure in the knowledge that all measures are being 
taken to ensure their safety. The tragedies at Sago, Aracoma, and Darby 
demonstrated that this was not the case in the mining industry.
  That is why Republicans and Democrats came together during the last 
Congress in a bipartisan manner to enact the first significant mine 
safety reform legislation in generations. I believe that the 
requirements and studies in the MINER Act are making great strides in 
putting in place regulations and standards and in developing technology 
to protect mine workers.
  Today, we are considering the Supplemental Mine Improvement and New 
Emergency Response Act (S-MINER). I believe that this legislation is 
flawed in many ways and could, in fact, undermine many of the needed 
reforms put in place by the MINER Act.
  In my own State of Wisconsin, aggregate (stone, sand, and gravel) 
mining is a dominant industry. The safety hazards and appropriate 
safety procedures and equipment for this industry vary greatly from 
that of coal mining. In many instances, the condition of a stone, sand, 
or gravel operation is more similar to that of an earth-moving 
construction site than that of an underground coal mine.
  However, the S-MINER Act takes a ``one size fits all'' approach and 
fails to take into account these differences. Many of the regulations 
and penalties mandated in the S-MINER Act will fail to improve safety 
in aggregate mines, while putting an undue financial burden on the 
industry.
  It is important that Congress continues strict oversight of Mine 
Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and related agencies as the 
MINER Act is fully implemented. As the recent Crandall Canyon disaster 
demonstrates, these reforms are vitally needed in the industry. 
However, today I am voting against the S-MINER Act because the bill is 
premature and overbroad.
  Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to compliment Chairman 
Miller. He has been a tireless advocate for America's mine workers and 
has worked hard to improve mine safety. I appreciate working with the 
Chairman to include language in H.R. 2768 that will allow for the 
appropriate use of belt-air in mines.

[[Page H54]]

  This legislation is very near to my heart and is something that I 
have been working on in the aftermath of the disaster at Crandall 
Canyon Mine which is in my district.
  On August 6, six miners were trapped when rocks and debris exploded 
off the walls of the tunnels where they were working, more than 
eighteen hundred feet underground. During the rescue attempt that 
followed, further disaster struck when underground activity caused a 
burst of rubble to explode off the cavern wall, killing three rescuers.
  One of the most difficult aspects of the Crandall Canyon mine 
collapse was not knowing where the trapped miners were when the cave-in 
occurred. It made for an excruciating ordeal for the families, the mine 
owner and the mine rescuers. The lack of communications left the 
rescuers with the frustrating scenario of trying to drill blindly 
through hundreds of feet of rock with the hope of reaching survivors.
  While mines generally have reliable communications systems in place, 
most mines have properties that make implementation of current 
technology difficult. For example, the open air pathway required for 
radio signals and WiFi do not exist and less than ten percent of the 
radio spectrum used above ground can be used underground. Because of 
the challenges of the mine environment and the limited nature of the 
market, much needed technology has not yet been developed or is not 
commercially available.
  H.R. 2768 contains a provision that accelerates the deployment of 
current mine communications technology in mines, which is very 
important. I would also like to add that the House recently passed 
legislation that I wrote, H.R. 3877, the Mine Communications Technology 
Innovation Act.
  That bill, if enacted, would accelerate the development of 
innovative, next generation mine tracking and communications 
technology. Communications issues are critical and must be addressed as 
soon as possible in order to better protect our miners.
  I thank you Mr. Chairman for your leadership on mine safety issues.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr Chairman, today I will vote in favor of H.R. 2768, 
the Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act. This 
comprehensive legislation addresses the many short-comings of the MINER 
Act of 2006, which Congress passed in the wake of several fatal coal 
mining accidents.
  I voted against the 2006 legislation because it did not go far enough 
to prevent these tragic, avoidable accidents, instead focusing 
exclusively on emergency response and rescue. It is a national disgrace 
that S-MINER is the first legislation in over 30 years that addresses 
preventing mining accidents and illness. We have witnessed far too many 
needless disasters and I am proud to support this comprehensive 
legislation which will not only further improve emergency response, but 
also reduce health risks to workers and enhance prevention efforts.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the 
purpose of amendment under the 5-minute rule and shall be considered 
read.
  The text of the committee amendment is as follows:

                               H.R. 2768

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the 
     ``Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response 
     Act of 2007'' or the ``S-MINER Act''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions; references.
Sec. 4. Supplementing emergency response plans.
Sec. 5. Supplementing enforcement authority.
Sec. 6. Supplementing rescue, recovery, and incident investigation 
              authority.
Sec. 7. Respirable dust standards.
Sec. 8. Other health requirements.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) while the MINER Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-236) was an 
     essential first step in addressing the many health and safety 
     hazards that miners still face, supplemental action is 
     necessary and feasible to better protect miners in coal and 
     other mines;
       (2) essential standards to protect miner health established 
     by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 are out of 
     date after 40 years, posing a significant threat to miner 
     health; and
       (3) the Secretary of Labor has failed in recent years to 
     adequately fulfill the Secretary's obligations under the 
     Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et 
     seq.), additional Congressional intervention is needed.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS; REFERENCES.

       (a) Definitions.--As used in this Act--
       (1) the term ``Secretary'' refers to the Secretary of 
     Labor; and
       (2) any other term used in this Act that is defined in 
     section 3 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
     (30 U.S.C. 802) shall have the meaning given the term in such 
     section.
       (b) References.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, 
     whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in 
     terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other 
     provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
     section or other provision of the Federal Mine Safety and 
     Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).

     SEC. 4. SUPPLEMENTING EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS.

       (a) Post Accident Communications.--Section 316(b)(2)(F)(ii) 
     (30 U.S.C. 876(b)(2)(F)(ii)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``Not later than'' and inserting the 
     following:

       ``(II) Not later than''; and

       (2) by inserting after the clause designation the 
     following:

       ``(I) Not later than 120 days after the enactment of the S-
     MINER Act, a plan shall, to be in approved status, provide 
     for a post accident communication system between underground 
     and surface personnel, and for an electronic tracking system 
     permitting surface personnel to determine the location of any 
     persons trapped underground, that utilizes a system at least 
     as effective as a `leaky feeder' or wireless mesh type 
     communication and tracking system currently in use in the 
     industry. These systems shall be enhanced physically, 
     electronically, or redundantly, to improve their 
     survivability in the event of a mine disaster. In addition, 
     to be in approved status, an emergency response plan must be 
     revised promptly to incorporate new technology which the 
     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
     certifies can be added to the existing system to improve its 
     ability to facilitate post-accident communication with or 
     tracking of miners. No miner shall be disciplined based on 
     information obtained from an electronic communications and 
     tracking system.''.

       (b) Underground Refuges.--Section 316(b)(2)(E) (30 U.S.C. 
     876(b)(2)(E)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(vi) Not later than June 15, 2008, the Secretary shall 
     issue interim final regulations, consistent with the design 
     criteria recommended by National Institute for Occupational 
     Safety and Health in its report pursuant to section 13(b)(1) 
     of the MINER Act, and subject to the requirements of the next 
     sentence, requiring each emergency response plan to provide 
     for the installation of portable rescue chambers meeting 
     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health design 
     criteria, or refuge shelters carved out of the mine workings 
     and sealed with bulkheads meeting National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health design criteria, or other 
     refuge designs recommended by National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health that provide miners with 
     equivalent or better protection, in the working areas of 
     underground coal mines within 60 days following plan 
     approval. In addition, a plan shall provide for the 
     maintenance of a mobile emergency shelter within 500 feet of 
     the nearest working face in each working section of an 
     underground coal mine.''.
       (c) Improvements to Seals, Ventilation Controls, and Rock 
     Dusting To Limit the Damage From Explosions.--
       (1) Repeal.--The MINER Act (30 U.S.C. 801 note) is amended 
     by striking section 10 (concerning sealing of abandoned 
     areas).
       (2) Seals.--Section 303(z) (30 U.S.C. 863(z)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(4)(A) The Secretary shall inspect all seals under 
     construction after the date of enactment of the S-MINER Act, 
     during at least part of their construction, to ensure the 
     mine operator is complying with the approved seal plan, and 
     shall develop an inspection protocol for this purpose.
       ``(B) Not later than 3 months of the date of enactment of 
     the S-MINER Act, the Secretary shall issue final rules 
     regarding approval, design, construction, inspection, 
     maintenance and monitoring of underground coal mine seals 
     which shall meet the requirements of this paragraph. Except 
     as otherwise provided by this paragraph, these regulations 
     shall implement the most recent recommendations of the 
     National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health 
     concerning seal design, construction, inspection, maintenance 
     and monitoring. The regulations shall also provide that all 
     seals in a mine shall be monitored if they are not designed 
     or installed to withstand a constant total pressure of 240 
     pounds per square inch, using a static structural analysis. 
     Monitoring of seals shall be done by continuous monitoring 
     devices within one year of the date of enactment of this Act, 
     and prior thereto by qualified personnel at such intervals as 
     the Secretary determines are adequate to ensure safety. The 
     Secretary shall require mine operators to utilize a tamper-
     resistant method to retain records of all such monitoring and 
     ensure they are available for examination and verification by 
     the agency. Monitoring of seals shall be done both by--
       ``(i) sampling through at least 1 seal in each bank of 
     seals; and
       ``(ii) for new seals, unless infeasible due to property 
     rights, sampling through a sufficient number of boreholes 
     from the surface to the sealed areas underground to 
     effectively determine the gas concentrations within the area.
       ``(C) In addition, the regulations shall provide that--
       ``(i) seal sampling pipes shall be composed of materials 
     that minimize the risk of transmitting

[[Page H55]]

     any electrical charge, and no conductive materials may be 
     used to line boreholes within three feet of the surface;
       ``(ii) an action plan for sealing and repair be established 
     that will, among any other requirements, include specific 
     actions the mine operator will take to protect miners during 
     the critical time period immediately after sealing or repair 
     takes place, and which shall be reviewed by personnel from 
     the Mine Safety and Health Administration who have the 
     required expertise prior to approval; and
       ``(iii) methane pressures behind any seal required to be 
     monitored shall be maintained in such a manner as ensure that 
     normal pressure variations that can be reasonably anticipated 
     in the area of the seal do not bring the methane-air mixture 
     into an appropriate safety range surrounding the known 
     explosive range of such mixtures.''.
       (3) Ventilation controls.--Section 303(c) (30 U.S.C. 863) 
     is amended by inserting at the end the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(4) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
     the S-MINER Act, the Secretary shall publish interim final 
     regulations to enhance the survivability of underground mine 
     ventilation controls. The Secretary shall require that 
     stoppings be constructed using solid concrete blocks laid wet 
     and sealed with an appropriate bonding agent on at least the 
     side subjected to the velocity of the intake air coursing 
     through the entry, except that in the case of stoppings 
     constructed during barrier reduction and pillar removal 
     operations, such stoppings may be constructed using hollow 
     block and an appropriate bonding agent.''.
       (4) Rock dusting.--Section 304(d) (30 U.S.C. 864) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following: ``Not later than 
     June 15, 2009, the National Institute for Occupational Safety 
     and Health shall issue recommendations as to whether changes 
     to these requirements are necessary to ensure an equivalent 
     level of protection in light of any changes to the size and 
     composition of coal dust since these requirements were 
     established, and the Secretary of Labor shall take 
     appropriate action, including the issuance of an emergency 
     temporary standard if warranted, to respond to these 
     recommendations.''.
       (d) Limiting Conveyor Belt Risks.--
       (1) Flame resistant conveyor belts.--Section 311(h) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following: ``Not later than 
     January 31, 2008, the Secretary shall publish interim final 
     regulations to ensure that all conveyor belts in use in 
     underground coal mines are replaced no later than December 
     31, 2012, with belts that can meet the flame resistance 
     requirements recommended by the National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health, and which limit smoke and 
     toxic emissions. Any conveyor belt installed in a coal mine 
     after the date of enactment of the S-MINER Act shall meet 
     such requirements.''.
       (2) Belt air.--Section 303(y) (30 U.S.C. 863) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Not later than June 20, 2008, the Secretary shall 
     revise the regulations prescribed pursuant to this section to 
     require, in any coal mine, regardless of the date on which it 
     was opened, that belt haulage entries not be used to 
     ventilate active working places. The Secretary may agree to a 
     modification of this requirement, pursuant to the procedures 
     of section 101(c), if and only if--
       ``(A) the mine operator establishes to the satisfaction of 
     the Secretary that significant safety constraints require 
     such usage; and
       ``(B) the mine operator agrees to comply with criteria 
     established by the Secretary which shall, at a minimum, 
     include the conditions recommended by the Technical Study 
     Panel established under section 514.
       ``(4) Plans that have been approved by the Secretary prior 
     to the date of enactment of the S-MINER Act that permit the 
     use of belt-air to ventilate active working places in a mine 
     are permitted to remain in use to complete current mining up 
     until the date of issuance of the regulation required 
     pursuant to paragraph (3).''.
       (e) Pre-Shift Review of Mine Conditions.--Section 303(d) 
     (30 U.S.C. 863(d)) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
     the S-MINER Act, all mine operators shall be required to 
     implement a communication program at each of such operators' 
     facilities to ensure that each person entering the operation 
     is made aware at the start of that person's shift of the 
     current conditions of the mine in general and of that 
     person's specific worksite in particular. In an effort to 
     facilitate these communications, all agents of the operator 
     who are responsible for ensuring the safe and healthful 
     working conditions at the mine, including mine foremen, 
     assistant mine foremen, and mine examiners, shall, upon 
     exiting the mine or workplace, communicate with those 
     replacing them on duty to verbally update them on the 
     conditions they observed during their shift, including any 
     conditions that are abnormal or hazardous. Prior to entering 
     the mine or other workplace the on-coming agent of the 
     operator shall meet with all members of the crew they are 
     responsible for and inform them of the general conditions at 
     the operation and in their specific work area. This process 
     shall be completed prior to the start of each shift at the 
     operation and recorded in a book designated for that purpose 
     and available for inspection by all interested parties. In 
     the event the operation is idle prior to the start of any 
     shift the agent of the operator shall meet with the 
     individual or individuals who were responsible for examining 
     the mine to obtain the necessary information.''.
       (f) Atmospheric Monitoring Systems.--Section 317 (30 U.S.C. 
     877) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(u) Not later than May 1, 2008, an operator of an 
     underground mine shall install atmospheric monitoring systems 
     in all underground areas where miners normally work and 
     travel that provide real-time information regarding carbon 
     monoxide levels, and that can, to the maximum extent 
     possible, withstand explosions and fires.''.
       (g) Methane Monitors.--Section 303(h) (30 U.S.C. 863(h)) is 
     amended by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3), and 
     inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) Each miner who is working alone for part of a shift 
     shall be equipped with a multi-gas detector that measures 
     current levels of methane, oxygen, and carbon monoxide.''.
       (h) Lightning Study by National Academy of Sciences.--Not 
     later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
     the National Academy of Sciences shall submit to the 
     Secretary and to Congress recommendations on--
       (1) actions that need to be taken to strengthen existing 
     requirements in law or regulations to ensure that miners are 
     protected, to the fullest extent permitted, from the risks of 
     lightning strikes near a mine;
       (2) recommendations for adopting any existing technology to 
     the mining environment to minimize any such risks; and
       (3) research needed for improved technology.
       (i) Roof and Rib Support, Barrier Reduction and Pillar 
     Extraction, Special Attention to Deep Mining.--
       (1) Amendments to existing law.--Section 302 is amended--
       (A) by amending the section heading to read ``roof and rib 
     support, barrier reduction and pillar extraction, special 
     attention to deep mining'';
       (B) in subsection (a), by inserting after the second 
     sentence the following: ``The Secretary shall by regulation 
     ensure the appropriate use of roof screen in belt entries, 
     travelroads, and designated intake and return escapeways in 
     accordance with the requirements of subsection (g).''; and
       (C) by inserting at the end the following:
       ``(g) Where screening is required, at least forty percent 
     of the width of the exposed roof shall be screened. Screening 
     to meet the requirements of this section must have a load 
     bearing capacity at least equivalent to a load of 2.5 tones 
     between bolts on a 4 foot pattern.
       ``(h)(1) An operator shall be required to have a current 
     and approved barrier reduction or pillar extraction plan, or 
     both, before performing such activities. The Secretary shall 
     only approve a barrier reduction or pillar extraction plan if 
     it provides adequate protection and minimizes the risks for 
     miners engaged in the activity, reflecting appropriate 
     engineering analysis, computer simulations, and consultations 
     with technical experts in the agency, in the National 
     Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and in the 
     Bureau of Land Management for any mines leasing Federal coal 
     resources, and only if the plan complies with any specific 
     requirements that may be adopted by the Secretary for barrier 
     reduction or pillar extraction activities including 
     requirements related to the depth of the mine, geology of the 
     mine, mine height and methods, and emergency response 
     capabilities.
       ``(2) A copy of a proposed barrier reduction or pillar 
     extraction plan, or both, shall be provided to the authorized 
     representative of miners at least 10 days prior to submission 
     to the Secretary for approval. The authorized representative 
     of miners may provide comments to the Secretary who shall 
     respond thereto.
       ``(3) The Secretary shall establish a special internal 
     review process for operator plans to protect miners from the 
     risks addressed by this section when working at depths of 
     more than 1500 feet and in other mines with a history of 
     mountain bumps.
       ``(i) Not later than 1 week before the commencement of any 
     barrier reduction or pillar extraction operations, the mine 
     operator shall notify the appropriate representative of the 
     Secretary of his intention to begin or resume barrier 
     reduction or pillar extraction. The Secretary shall document 
     such notification in writing, and shall, before barrier 
     reduction or pillar extraction operations begin, take action 
     to ensure that every person who will be participating in such 
     operations is trained in the operator's barrier reduction 
     and/or and pillar extraction plan. The Secretary shall 
     observe the barrier reduction or pillar extraction operations 
     for a sufficient period of time to ensure that the mine 
     operator is fully complying with the barrier reduction or 
     pillar extraction plan. The Secretary may preclude the 
     commencement of such operations or halt such operations at 
     any time the safety of miners comes into question.''.
       (2) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the National Academy of Sciences 
     shall, in consultation with the National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health, submit to the Secretary and 
     to Congress recommendations for--
       (A) actions that need to be taken to strengthen existing 
     requirements in law or regulations to ensure that miners are 
     protected, to the fullest extent permitted, from ground 
     control hazards, including the special hazards associated 
     with barrier reduction and pillar extraction;
       (B) adopting any existing technology to the mining 
     environment to improve miner protections during barrier 
     reduction and pillar extraction, and on research needed for 
     improved technology to improve miner protections during such 
     operations;
       (C) adopting any existing technology to the mining 
     environment to improve miner protections during mining at 
     depths below 1000 feet, and on research needed for improved 
     technology to improve miner protections during such 
     operations; and
       (D) adopting any existing technology to the mining 
     environment to improve miner protections during secondary 
     mining of coal resources, and on research needed for improved 
     technology

[[Page H56]]

     to improve miner protections during such operations.
       (j) SCSR Inspection Program.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall--
       (A) establish a program to randomly remove and have tested 
     by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
     field samples of each model of self-rescue device used in an 
     underground coal mine in order to ensure that the self-rescue 
     devices in coal mine inventories are working in accordance 
     with the approval criteria for such devices;
       (B) require a manufacturer of a self-rescue device and the 
     mine operator who owns a device to contact the Secretary 
     immediately upon notification of any potential problem with 
     any such device, and provide a copy of such notice to the 
     representative of miners at the affected operation; and
       (C) notify immediately all operators of underground coal 
     mines if the Secretary detects or is advised of any problems 
     with the self-rescue devices.
       (2) Determination.--For the purposes of paragraph (1)(A), 
     the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
     shall determine the number of field samples of each device to 
     be removed for testing, and the mines from which the samples 
     are to be drawn to ensure a random sample is obtained, and 
     shall provide mine operators with self-rescue devices to 
     replace any removed for random testing. Should this testing 
     reveal a potential problem with a device that requires 
     additional testing, the Secretary shall remove such 
     additional samples from such mines as may be requested by the 
     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and it 
     shall be the obligation of mine operators to provide self-
     rescue devices to promptly replace any removed as a result of 
     such additional testing.
       (k) Application to Underground Metal and Nonmetal Mines.--
     Title II is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     section:

     ``SEC. 207. APPLICATION TO UNDERGROUND METAL AND NONMETAL 
                   MINES.

       ``(a) Conveyor Belts.--The regulations to be issued 
     pursuant to section 311(h) concerning conveyor belts shall 
     also provide that all conveyor belts in use in underground 
     metal and nonmetal mines are to be replaced, on the same 
     schedule, with belts that can meet the flame resistance 
     requirements recommended by the National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health, and which limit smoke and 
     toxic emissions. Any conveyor belt installed in an 
     underground metal or nonmetal mine after the date of 
     enactment of the S-MINER Act shall meet such requirements.
       ``(b) Seals.--The regulations to be issued pursuant to 
     section 303(z)(2) concerning the approval, design, 
     construction, inspection, maintenance and monitoring of 
     underground coal mine seals shall make the same rules 
     applicable to seals in underground metal and nonmetal mines 
     which have been classified by the Secretary as a category I, 
     III, or V mine pursuant to section 57.22003 of title 30, Code 
     of Federal Regulations, because they naturally emit defined 
     quantities of methane.
       ``(c) Advisory Committee.--Promptly after the date of 
     enactment of the S-MINER Act The Secretary shall establish an 
     advisory committee to provide recommendations as to the need 
     to revise the regulations applicable to underground metal and 
     nonmetal mines to ensure that miners in such mines are as 
     protected in emergency situations as will be underground coal 
     miners following the full implementation of the MINER Act, 
     the provisions of the S-MINER Act, and related actions by the 
     Secretary. The advisory committee shall be established 
     pursuant to the Advisory Committee Act, and shall provide 
     recommendations to the Secretary and to Congress not later 
     than 21 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
     including recommendations as to any action by Congress that 
     could facilitate the goal of providing equivalent protections 
     to miners in underground metal and nonmetal mines.''.
       (l) Approval Center Priorities.--The Secretary shall 
     expedite the process for approving any--
       (1) self-rescue device that permits the replenishment of 
     oxygen without requiring the device user to remove the 
     device; and
       (2) underground communication device that provides for 
     communication between underground and surface personnel via a 
     wireless two-way medium.
       (m) Technology and Mine Emergency Health and Safety 
     Research Priorities.--In implementing its research activities 
     in the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment of 
     this Act, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
     Health shall give due consideration to new technologies, and 
     existing technologies that could be adapted for use in 
     underground coal or other mines, that could facilitate the 
     survival of miners in a mining emergency. Such technologies 
     include--
       (1) self-contained self-rescue devices capable of 
     delivering enhanced performance;
       (2) improved battery capacity and common connection 
     specifications to enable emergency communication devices for 
     miners to be run from the same portable power source as a 
     headlamp, continuous dust monitor, or other device carried by 
     a miner;
       (3) improved technology for assisting mine rescue teams, 
     including devices to enhance vision during rescue or recovery 
     operations;
       (4) improved technology, and improved protocols for the use 
     of existing technologies, to enable conditions underground to 
     be assessed promptly and continuously in emergencies, so as 
     to facilitate the determination by appropriate officials of 
     the instructions to provide both to miners trapped 
     underground and to mine rescue teams and others engaged in 
     rescue efforts;
       (5) improvements to underground mine ventilation controls 
     separating mine entries to be more resistant to mine fires 
     and explosions, particularly in those entries used for miner 
     escapeways;
       (6) mine-wide monitoring systems and strategies that can 
     monitor mine gases, oxygen, air flows, and air quantities at 
     strategic locations throughout the mine that would be 
     functional during normal mining operations and following mine 
     fires, explosions, roof falls, and mine bursts, including 
     systems utilizing monitoring sensors that transfer data to 
     the mine surface and the installation of tubing to draw mine 
     gas samples that are distributed throughout the mine and can 
     quickly deliver samples to the mine surface; and
       (7) protective strategies for the placement of equipment, 
     cables, and devices that are to be utilized during mine 
     emergencies such as communication systems, oxygen supplies, 
     and mine atmosphere monitoring systems, to protect them from 
     mine fires, roof falls, explosions, and other damage.

     SEC. 5. SUPPLEMENTING ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.

       (a) Authority of Inspectors.--Section 103(a) (30 U.S.C. 
     813(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``No 
     person shall limit or otherwise prevent the Secretary from 
     entry on a coal or other mine, or interfere with the 
     Secretary's inspection activities, investigative activities, 
     or rescue or recovery activities.''.
       (b) Transition to a New Generation of Inspectors.--Section 
     505 (30 U.S.C. 954) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``The Secretary'' the first place it 
     appears and inserting ``(a) The Secretary''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) Within 270 days of the enactment of the S-MINER Act, 
     the Secretary shall establish a Master Inspector program to 
     ensure that the most experienced and skilled employees in the 
     Nation have the incentive, in terms of responsibilities and 
     pay, to serve as mine safety and health inspectors in this 
     Nation's mines.
       ``(c) In order to ensure that the Secretary has adequate 
     time to provide that a sufficient number of qualified and 
     properly trained inspectors of the Mine Safety and Health 
     Administration are in place before any inspectors employed as 
     of the date of enactment of the S-MINER Act retire, any 
     ceilings on the number of personnel that may be employed by 
     the Administration with respect to mine inspectors are 
     abolished for the 5-year period beginning on the date of 
     enactment of such Act.
       ``(d) In the event that, notwithstanding the actions taken 
     by the Secretary to hire and train qualified inspectors, the 
     Secretary is temporarily unable, at any time during the 5-
     year period beginning on the date of enactment of the S-MINER 
     Act, to employ the number of inspectors required to staff all 
     district offices devoted to coal mines at the offices' 
     highest historical levels without transferring personnel from 
     supervisory or plan review activities or diminishing current 
     inspection resources devoted to other types of mines, the 
     Administration is authorized to hire retired inspectors on a 
     contractual basis to conduct mine inspections, and the 
     retirement benefits of such retired inspectors shall not be 
     reduced as a result of such temporary contractual employment.
       ``(e) During the 5-year period beginning on the date of 
     enactment of the S-MINER Act, the Secretary shall issue a 
     special report to the appropriate committees of Congress each 
     year, or at such more frequent intervals as the Secretary or 
     any such committee may consider appropriate, providing 
     information about the actions being taken under this section, 
     the size and training of the inspector workforce at the Mine 
     Safety and Health Administration, the level of enforcement 
     activities, and the number of requests by individual 
     operators of mines for compliance assistance.''.
       (c) Office of Miner Ombudsman.--Title V is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 516. OFFICE OF MINER OMBUDSMAN.

       ``(a) Establishment of Miner Ombudsman.--There shall be 
     established, within the Office of the Inspector General of 
     the Department of Labor, the position of Miner Ombudsman. The 
     President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
     shall appoint an individual with expertise in mine safety and 
     health to serve as the Miner Ombudsman. The Ombudsman shall 
     have authority to hire such personnel as are required to 
     administer his duties in accordance with applicable law, 
     provided they meet any general requirements for employment 
     within the Office of the Inspector General.
       ``(b) Duties.--The Miner Ombudsman shall--
       ``(1) recommend to the Secretary appropriate practices to 
     ensure the confidentiality of the identity of miners, and the 
     families or personal representatives of the miners, who 
     contact mine operators, authorized representatives of the 
     miners, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the 
     Department of Labor, or others with information about mine 
     accidents, incidents, injuries, illnesses, possible 
     violations of mandatory health or safety standard violations 
     or plans or other mine safety and health concerns;
       ``(2) establish a toll-free telephone number and 
     appropriate Internet website to permit individuals to 
     confidentially report mine accidents, incidents, injuries, 
     illnesses, possible violations of mandatory health or safety 
     standard violations or plans or other mine safety and health 
     concerns, and provide plastic wallet cards, refrigerator 
     magnets, or similar devices to all mine operators, which mine 
     operators shall distribute to all current and new miners, 
     with contact information for such confidential reports, and 
     also provide supplies of these devices to miner communities;
       ``(3) collect and forward information concerning accidents, 
     incidents, injuries, illnesses, possible violations of 
     mandatory health or safety standard violations or plans or 
     other mine safety and health concerns to the appropriate 
     officials of the Mine Safety and Health Administration for 
     investigation, or to appropriate officials within the Office 
     of Inspector General for

[[Page H57]]

     investigation or audit, or both, while establishing practices 
     to protect the confidentiality of the identify of those who 
     provide such information to the Ombudsman; and
       ``(4) monitor the Secretary of Labor's efforts to promptly 
     act upon complaints filed by miners under section 105(c) of 
     the Act or pursuant to other programs administered by the 
     Department to protect whistleblowers, and report to Congress 
     any recommendations that would enhance such rights or 
     protections.
       ``(c) Authority.--All complaints of operator violations of 
     any section of this Act or regulations prescribed under this 
     Act that are reported to the Secretary shall be forwarded to 
     the Ombudsman for logging and appropriate action, except that 
     this requirement shall be implemented in such a way as to 
     avoid interference in any way with the ability of the 
     Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health to take prompt 
     actions that may be required in such situations. This shall 
     include complaints submitted in writing, via any phone 
     system, or orally, along with all relevant information 
     available regarding the complainant. All such information 
     shall be retained in a confidential manner pursuant to the 
     Privacy Act of 1974. The Ombudsman shall use such information 
     to monitor the actions taken to ensure that miners' 
     complaints are addressed in a timely manner and in compliance 
     with the appropriate statutes and regulations. The Ombudsman 
     shall refer to appropriate personnel within the Office of the 
     Inspector General for further review any case which he 
     determines was not handled in such fashion.
       ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are hereby 
     authorized to be appropriated to the Ombudsman such sums as 
     may be required for the implementation of his duties out of 
     the sums otherwise made available to the Mine Safety and 
     Health Administration for its activities.''.
       (d) Pattern of Violations.--
       (1) Prompt identification of pattern.--Not later than 3 
     months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     shall revise the regulations issued by the Secretary under 
     section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 
     1977 (30 U.S.C. 814(e)) as in effect on the day before such 
     date of enactment, so that the regulations provide that--
       (A) when a potential pattern of violations is identified by 
     any inspector or district manager of the Mine Safety and 
     Health Administration, the operator of the coal or other mine 
     and the authorized representative of miners for the mine 
     shall be notified by the inspector or district manager not 
     later than 10 days after such identification; and
       (B) after receiving the notification described in 
     subparagraph (A), the appropriate official of the Mine Safety 
     and Health Administration shall promptly review any such 
     potential pattern of violations and, not later than 45 days 
     after receiving such notification, make a final decision as 
     to whether a citation for a violation of section 104(e) of 
     such Act should be issued in light of the gravity of the 
     violations and the operator's conduct in connection 
     therewith.
       (2) Identification of pattern.--Section 104(e)(1) (30 
     U.S.C. 814(e)(1)) is amended by inserting after the first 
     sentence the following: ``In determining whether a pattern of 
     violations exists, the Secretary shall give due consideration 
     to all relevant information, such as the gravity of the 
     violations, operator negligence, history of violations, the 
     number of inspection shifts the Secretary or her agents have 
     spent at the operation, and the frequency of violations per 
     number of inspection days spent at the operation.''.
       (3) Termination of pattern.--Section 104(e)(3) (30 U.S.C. 
     814(e)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
     ``In addition, if an operator subject to paragraphs (1) and 
     (2) demonstrates objective evidence that they are correcting 
     the problems that gave rise to the pattern of violations, and 
     the violation frequency rate for such operator declines 
     significantly for a period of 180 days, the withdrawal order 
     provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) shall no longer 
     apply.''.
       (4) Fine for a pattern of violations.--Section 110 (30 
     U.S.C. 820) is amended--
       (A) by redesignating subsections (i) through (l) as 
     subsections (j) through (m), respectively; and
       (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the following:
       ``(i)(1) If the Secretary determines that a pattern of 
     violations under section 104(e) exists, the Secretary shall 
     assess a penalty, in addition to any other penalty authorized 
     in this Act for a violation of such section, of not less than 
     $50,000 nor more than $250,000. All operators of the mine, 
     including any corporate owners, shall be jointly and 
     severally liable for such penalty. The amount of the 
     assessment under this paragraph shall be designed to ensure a 
     change in the future conduct of the operators and corporate 
     owners of such mine with respect to mine safety and health, 
     given the overall resources of such operators. 
     Notwithstanding subsection (k) or section 113, a penalty 
     assessed by the Secretary under this paragraph may not be 
     reduced by the Commission.
       ``(2) In addition to the authority to withdraw miners from 
     an area of a coal or other mine pursuant to section 104(e), 
     the Secretary shall withdraw all miners from the entire mine 
     when any pattern of violations has been determined to exist 
     until such time as the Secretary certifies that all 
     identified violations have been corrected and the operator 
     has agreed to abide by a written plan approved by the Mine 
     Safety and Health Administration to ensure that such a 
     pattern of conduct will not recur.''.
       (e) Notification of Abatement.--Section 104(b) (30 U.S.C. 
     814(b)) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
     subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;
       (2) by striking ``If,'' and inserting:
       ``(2) If,''; and
       (3) by inserting after the subsection designation the 
     following:
       ``(1) An operator issued a citation pursuant to subsection 
     (a) shall notify the Secretary that the operator has abated 
     the violation involved. If such operator fails to provide 
     such a notice to the Secretary within the abatement time as 
     provided for in the citation, the Secretary shall issue an 
     order that requires the operator (or the agent of the 
     operator) to immediately cause all persons, except those 
     persons referred to in subsection (c), to be withdrawn from, 
     and to be prohibited from entering, such area as the 
     Secretary determines until an authorized representative of 
     the Secretary determines that such violation has been abated. 
     Notwithstanding any operator notice, no violation shall be 
     determined to be abated until an authorized representative of 
     the Secretary visits the site and determines such violation 
     has been fully abated.''.
       (f) Failure To Timely Pay Penalty Assessments.--Section 
     105(a) (30 U.S.C. 815(a)) is amended by striking the third 
     sentence and inserting the following: ``The operator shall, 
     not later than 30 days from the receipt of the notification 
     of a citation issued by the Secretary, notify the Secretary 
     that the operator intends to contest the citation or proposed 
     assessment of a penalty, and the operator shall place in 
     escrow with the Secretary the amount of the proposed 
     assessment. The Secretary shall place any escrow submitted by 
     a mine operator for this purpose into an interest bearing 
     account and shall release the funds to the operator, 
     including interest accrued, upon the payment of any final 
     assessment determination. If notification and proof of escrow 
     is not provided to the Secretary, the citation and the 
     proposed assessment of penalty shall be deemed a final order 
     of the Commission and not subject to review by any court or 
     agency. In the event that a mine operator refuses to comply 
     with a final order of the Commission to pay civil monetary 
     penalties and statutory interest, the Secretary shall have 
     the authority to issue an order requiring the mine operator 
     to cease production under such final orders of the Commission 
     have been paid in full.''
       (g) Maximum and Minimum Penalties.--Section 110(a)(1) (30 
     U.S.C. 820(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``more than $50,000 
     for each such violation.'' and inserting ``less than $500 or 
     more than $100,000 for each such violation, except that, in 
     the case of a violation of a mandatory health or safety 
     standard that could significantly and substantially 
     contribute to the cause and effect of a coal or other mine 
     health or safety hazard, the penalty shall not be less than 
     $1,000 or more than $150,000, for each such violation.''.
       (h) Factors in Assessing Penalties.--The Federal Mine 
     Safety and Health Act of 1977 is amended--
       (1) in section 105(b)(1)(B)--
       (A) by striking: ``the size of the business of the operator 
     charged'' and inserting ``the combined size of the business 
     of the operator and any controlling entity'';
       (B) by striking ``the effect on the operator's ability to 
     continue in business,''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following: ``In settling 
     cases, the Secretary shall utilize the same point system as 
     that utilized to propose penalties, so as to ensure 
     consistency in operator penalty assessments.''; and
       (2) in section 110(j) (as redesignated by subsection 
     (a)(4))--
       (A) by striking: ``the size of the business of the operator 
     charged'' and inserting ``the combined size of the business 
     of the operator and any controlling entity'';
       (B) by striking ``the effect on the operator's ability to 
     continue in business,''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following: ``In any review 
     requested by a mine operator, or in settling cases, the 
     Commission shall utilize the same point system as that 
     developed by the Secretary for proposed assessments so as to 
     ensure consistency in operator penalty assessments.''.
       (i) Civil Penalty for Interference or Discrimination.--
     Section 110 (30 U.S.C. 820) is further amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(n) Civil Penalty for Interference or Discrimination.--
     Any operator who is found to be in violation of section 
     105(c), or in violation of section 103(a) (as amended by this 
     Act) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than 
     $10,000 nor more than $100,000 for each occurrence of such 
     violation.''.
       (j) Withdrawal Order.--Section 107(a) (30 U.S.C. 817(a)) is 
     amended by inserting after the first sentence the following: 
     ``In addition, in the event of any violation of section 315 
     or section 316, or regulations issued pursuant to such 
     sections, such representative shall determine the extent of 
     the area of such mine throughout which the danger exists and 
     issue an order requiring the operator of such mine to cause 
     all persons, except those referred to in section 104(c), to 
     be withdrawn from, and to be prohibited from entering, such 
     area until an authorized representative of the Secretary 
     determines that the violations have been abated.''.
       (k) Clarifications of Intent in the 1977 Act.--The Federal 
     Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 is amended--
       (1) in section 3(d) (30 U.S.C. 802)--
       (A) by inserting ``mineral'' before ``owner'';
       (B) by inserting ``mineral'' before ``lessee'';
       (C) by striking ``or any independent'' and inserting ``and 
     any independent''; and
       (D) by inserting before the semicolon the following: ``, 
     and no operator may, by contract or other agreement, limit 
     any liability under this Act through transfer of any 
     responsibilities to another person'';
       (2) in section 103 (30 U.S.C. 813)--
       (A) in subsection (b)--
       (i) by striking the first sentence and inserting the 
     following: ``For the purpose of enabling the Secretary to 
     perform the functions under this Act, the Secretary may, 
     after notice, hold public

[[Page H58]]

     hearings and sign and issue subpoenas for the attendance and 
     testimony of witnesses and the production of information, 
     including but not limited to relevant data, papers, books, 
     documents and items of physical evidence, and administer 
     oaths, whether or not in connection with a public hearing.''; 
     and
       (ii) in the last sentence by striking ``documents'' and 
     inserting ``information, including data, papers, books, 
     documents, and items of physical evidence''; and
       (B) in subsection (h), in the first sentence, by striking 
     ``information'' and inserting ``data, papers, books, 
     documents, and items of physical evidence'';
       (3) in section 104 (30 U.S.C. 814)--
       (A) in subsections (d)(1), (e)(1), (e)(2), (e)(3), and 
     (e)(4), as amended by this Act, by inserting ``or any 
     provision of this Act'' after ``standard'' or ``standards'' 
     each place either such term appears; and
       (B) in subsection (d)(1), as amended by this Act, by 
     striking ``while the conditions created by such violation do 
     not cause imminent danger,'';
       (4) in section 105 (30 U.S.C. 815)--
       (A) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by striking 
     ``, within a reasonable time after the termination of such 
     inspection or investigation,'';
       (B) in subsection (c)--
       (i) in paragraph (1)--

       (I) by inserting ``or an injury or illness in a coal or 
     other mine or that may be associated with mine employment,'' 
     after ``of an alleged danger or safety or health violation in 
     a coal or other mine,''; and
       (II) by inserting at the end the following: ``No miner 
     shall be required to work under conditions he has reasonable 
     grounds to believe to be abnormally and immediately dangerous 
     to himself beyond the normal hazards inherent in the 
     operation which could reasonably be expected to cause death 
     of serious physical harm before such condition or practice 
     can be abated.''; and

       (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting after the fifth 
     sentence the following: ``No investigation or hearing 
     authorized by this paragraph may be stayed to await 
     resolution of a related grievance proceeding''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) Attorneys representing the Secretary are authorized 
     to contact any miner or non-managerial employee of a mine 
     operator for the purposes of carrying out the Secretary's 
     functions under this Act and no attorney representing the 
     Secretary shall be disbarred or disciplined by any State bar 
     or State court for making such contacts. No attorney 
     representing a mine operator in a matter under this Act may 
     concurrently represent individual miners in the same 
     matter.''; and
       (5) in section 110 (30 U.S.C. 820)--
       (A) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``under'' and 
     inserting ``of subsections (a) through (h) of''; and
       (B) in subsection (c)--
       (i) by striking ``Whenever a corporate operator'' and 
     inserting ``Whenever a mine operator'';
       (ii) by striking ``safety standard'' and inserting ``safety 
     standard or requirement of this Act'';
       (iii) by inserting ``partner, owner,'' after ``director,''; 
     and
       (iv) by striking ``such corporation'' and inserting ``such 
     mine operator''.
       (l) Federal Licensing.--The Secretary shall promptly 
     establish an advisory committee to provide recommendations as 
     to whether the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
     should provide for Federal licensing of mines, mine 
     operators, mine controllers, or various mine personnel in 
     order to ensure that those engaged in mining activities are 
     not frequent violators of safety and health requirements, and 
     establish a national registry in connection therewith. The 
     advisory committee shall be established pursuant to the 
     Advisory Committee Act, and shall conduct a review of 
     existing State licensing requirements and registries, assess 
     their effectiveness, and shall provide its recommendations to 
     Congress not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
     of this Act.

     SEC. 6. SUPPLEMENTING RESCUE, RECOVERY, AND INCIDENT 
                   INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY.

       (a) Emergency Call Center.--Not later than 30 days after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
     establish, within the Mine Safety and Health Administration, 
     a central communications emergency call center for all coal 
     or other mine operations that shall be staffed and operated 
     24 hours per day, 7 days per week, by 1 or more employees of 
     the Mine Safety and Health Administration. All calls placed 
     to the emergency call center shall be answered by an 
     individual with adequate experience and training to handle 
     emergency mine situations. A single national phone number 
     shall be provided for this purpose and the Secretary shall 
     ensure that all miners and mine operators are issued 
     laminated cards with emergency call center information.
       (b) Contact Information.--The Secretary shall provide the 
     emergency call center with a contact list, updated not less 
     often than quarterly, that contains--
       (1) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
     numbers, for the members of each mine rescue team responsible 
     for each coal or other mine;
       (2) the phone numbers for the local emergency and rescue 
     services unit that is located nearest to each mine;
       (3) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
     number, for the operator of each mine;
       (4) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
     numbers, for the national and district officials of the Mine 
     Safety and Health Administration;
       (5) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
     numbers, for the State officials in each State who should be 
     contacted in the event of a mine emergency in such State; and
       (6) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
     number, for the authorized representative of the miners at 
     each mine.

     Each mine operator shall ensure that the Secretary is 
     provided with completely current information required to be 
     maintained by the Secretary pursuant to paragraphs (1), (3), 
     and (6). The Secretary shall give due consideration to the 
     information collected by the joint government-industry Mine 
     Emergency Operations database.
       (c) Mine Locations; Repository of Mining Maps.--
       (1) Mine locations.--The Secretary shall establish, 
     maintain, and keep current, on the Department of Labor's 
     website, a detailed map or set of maps showing the exact 
     geographic location of each operating or abandoned mine in 
     the United States, as determined by a global positioning 
     system. Such map or maps shall--
       (A) be presented, through links within the website, in such 
     a way as to make the location of a mine instantly available 
     to the emergency personnel responding to the mine;
       (B) be available to members of the public;
       (C) allow a user to find the geographic location of a 
     particular mine, or the geographic locations of all mines of 
     a particular type in a county, congressional district, State, 
     or other commonly used geographic region; and
       (D) provide the geographic location of any mining waste 
     impoundments with links to associated emergency contact 
     information and available emergency response plans.
       (2) Repository of mining maps.--The Secretary shall 
     establish a national repository for preserving a digital 
     archive of mining maps to be accessible directly and without 
     delay from the Department's web site. The mining maps shall 
     include copies of all historic maps that can be obtained, as 
     well as copies of currently approved mining maps, which the 
     Secretary shall arrange to copy and preserve in digital form. 
     The Secretary may coordinate the operation of such repository 
     with the Secretary of the Interior provided the other 
     requirements of this paragraph are observed. In addition, the 
     Secretary shall include in this repository copies of the most 
     currently available mine emergency response plan, roof plans, 
     ventilation plans, and such other plans required for any type 
     of mine, following any required approval, so that they may be 
     immediately accessed in an emergency, in a manner consistent 
     with the requirements of section 312(b) of the Act.
       (d) Required Notification of Emergencies and Serious 
     Incidents.--Section 103(j) (30 U.S.C. 813(j)) is amended--
       (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ``or reportable 
     event'' after ``accident'';
       (2) in the second sentence--
       (A) by inserting ``of accidents'' after ``the 
     notification''; and
       (B) by inserting ``, or in the case of a reportable event 
     that is not required to be reported as an accident, within 1 
     hour of the time at which the operator realizes that the 
     event has occurred'' before the period; and
       (3) by inserting at the end the following: ``For the 
     purposes of this subsection, a reportable event shall 
     include--
       ``(1) a fire not required to be reported more promptly;
       ``(2) a sudden change in mine atmospheric conditions in a 
     sealed area;
       ``(3) a coal or rock outburst that causes the withdrawal of 
     miners; or
       ``(4) any other event, as determined in regulations 
     promulgated by the Secretary, that needs to be reported 
     within 1 hour in order for the Secretary to determine if the 
     working conditions in the mine are safe.''.
       (e) Enhancing the Capabilities of Mine Rescue Teams.--
       (1) Amendment to fmsha.--Section 115(e)(2)(B) (30 U.S.C. 
     825(e)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(v) The provision of uniform credentials to mine rescue 
     team members, support personnel, or vehicles for immediate 
     access to any mine site.
       ``(vi) The plans required at each mine to ensure 
     coordination with local emergency response personnel and to 
     ensure that such personnel receive adequate training to offer 
     necessary assistance to mine rescue teams in the event such 
     assistance is requested. Such local emergency response 
     personnel shall not perform the duties of any mine rescue 
     team.
       ``(vii) Requirements to ensure that operators are prepared 
     to facilitate the work of mine rescue teams during an 
     emergency by--
       ``(I) storing necessary equipment not brought on site by 
     mine rescue teams in locations readily accessible to mine 
     rescue teams;
       ``(II) providing mine rescue teams with a parking and 
     staging area adequate for their needs;
       ``(III) identifying a space appropriate for coordinating 
     emergency communications with the mine rescue team; and
       ``(IV) identifying and maintaining separate spaces for 
     family members, community members, and press to assemble 
     during an emergency so as to facilitate communications with 
     these groups while ensuring the efforts of the mine rescue 
     teams are not hindered.''.
       (2) Research.--Section 22(h)(5)(A) of the Occupational 
     Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 671(h)(5)(A)) is 
     amended by adding before the period at the end thereof: 
     ``including advanced drilling technologies, and any special 
     technologies required for safety or rescue in mining more 
     than 1,500 feet in depth''.
       (f) Title I of the Act is amended by adding at the end 
     thereof a new section:

     ``SEC. 117. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN.

       ``Not later than 6 months of the enactment of the S-MINER 
     Act, the Secretary shall establish

[[Page H59]]

     and disseminate guidelines for rescue operations that will: 
     (1) establish clear lines of authority within the agency for 
     such operations; (2) establish clear lines of demarcation so 
     private sector and State responders can properly implement 
     their responsibilities; (3) be appropriate for rescue in 
     various types of conditions reasonably likely to be 
     encountered in the United States, including such factors as 
     the depth of the mining, ground stability, ground slope, 
     remoteness from major roads, surface ownership and access 
     problems, and the availability of necessary communications 
     linkages. The Secretary shall consult with States, rescue 
     teams and other responders in developing such guidelines, and 
     shall update them from time to time based upon experience.''.
       (g) Authority of Secretary During Rescue Operations.--
     Section 103 (30 U.S.C. 813) is further amended--
       (1) in subsection (j), by adding at the end thereof:

     ``If the representative of the Secretary supervises and 
     directs the rescue and recovery activities in such mine, the 
     operator shall comply with the requests of the authorized 
     representative of the Secretary to facilitate rescue and 
     recovery activities including the provision of all equipment, 
     personnel, and other resources required to perform such 
     activities in accordance with the schedule and requirements 
     established by the representative of the Secretary for this 
     purpose, and failure of the operator to comply in this regard 
     shall be considered an egregious violation of this Act.''; 
     and
       (2) in subsection (k), by striking ``, when present,''.
       (h) Rescue Communications.--
       (1) Repeal.--The MINER Act (30 U.S.C. 801 note) is amended 
     by striking section 7, redesignating sections 8 and 9 as 
     sections 7 and 8, and sections 11 through 14 as sections 9 
     through 12, respectively.
       (2) Amendment to fmsha.--Title I of the Act is further 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 118. FAMILY LIAISONS REQUIREMENT.

       ``The Secretary shall--
       ``(1) designate a full-time permanent employee of the Mine 
     Safety and Health Administration to serve as a Family 
     Liaison, who shall, at least in instances where multiple 
     miners are trapped, severely injured or killed, act as the 
     primary communication with the families of the miners 
     concerning all aspects of the rescue operations, including 
     the location or condition of miners, and assist the families 
     in getting answers to their questions, and otherwise serve as 
     a liaison to the families, and provide for the temporary 
     reassignment of other personnel who may be required to assist 
     the Family Liaison in connection with a particular incident;
       ``(2) require the Mine Safety and Health Administration to 
     be as responsive as possible to requests from the families of 
     such miners for information relating to the mine accident, 
     and waive any fees required for the production of documents 
     pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3) in connection with a request 
     from a family member, or authorized representative of miners, 
     for documents relating to a mine fatality, notwithstanding 
     any conditions for fee waivers law that may otherwise be 
     imposed by law; and
       ``(3) designate a highly qualified representative of the 
     Secretary with experience in public communications to be 
     present at mine accident sites where rescues are in progress 
     during the entire duration of such rescues, to serve as the 
     primary communicator with the press and the public concerning 
     all aspects of the rescue operations, including the location 
     or condition of miners.''.
       (3) Conforming amendments.--The Act is amended--
       (A) in section 103(f), by inserting before the period at 
     the end of the first sentence the following: ``, and to 
     participate in any accident investigation pursuant to the 
     requirements of this Act. Any family member of a miner 
     trapped or otherwise unable to execute a designation of a 
     miner representative on his or her own behalf may do so on 
     behalf of the miner for any and all purposes''; and
       (B) in section 316(b)(2)(E)(vi) (as added by this Act), by 
     adding at the end the following ``The plan shall also set 
     forth the operator's plans for assisting the Secretary in the 
     implementation of section 118.''.
       (i) Recovery.--Section 103 is amended by adding at the end 
     thereof--
       ``(l) Rescue efforts for trapped miners shall not cease as 
     long as there is any possibility that miners are alive, 
     unless such efforts pose a serious danger to rescue or other 
     workers, and the decision to cease a rescue shall be made by 
     the Secretary`s representative. Thereafter, efforts to 
     recover the remains of miners shall continue unless such 
     efforts pose a serious danger to recovery workers, and the 
     decision to cease such recovery efforts shall be made by the 
     Secretary's representative.''.
       (j) Accident and Incident Investigations.--Section 103(b) 
     (30 U.S.C. 813(b), as amended by section 5(k)(2) of this Act, 
     is further amended--
       (1) by striking ``For the purpose'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(3) For the purpose'';
       (2) by inserting after the subsection designation the 
     following:
       ``(1) For all accident and incident investigations under 
     this Act, the Secretary shall determine why the accident or 
     incident occurred; determine whether civil or criminal 
     requirements were violated and, if so, issue citations and 
     penalties, and make recommendations to avoid any recurrence. 
     The Secretary shall also determine whether the conduct or 
     lack thereof by Agency personnel contributed to the accident 
     or incident.
       ``(2)(A) For any accidents or incidents involving multiple 
     serious injuries or deaths, or multiple entrapments, there 
     shall also be an independent investigation to consider why 
     the accident or incident occurred, make recommendations to 
     avoid a recurrence, and determine whether the conduct or lack 
     thereof by agency personnel contributed to the accident or 
     incident.
       ``(B) Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
     the S-MINER Act, the Secretary shall initiate rulemaking 
     activity to establish rules on the procedures that will be 
     used to investigate accidents and incidents involving 
     multiple serious injuries or deaths, or multiple entrapments, 
     and shall directly contact and solicit the participation of
       ``(i) individuals identified by the Secretary as family 
     members of miners who perished in mining accidents of any 
     type during the preceding 10-year period;
       ``(ii) organizations representing miners;
       ``(iii) mine rescue teams;
       ``(iv) Federal, State, and local investigation and 
     prosecutorial authorities; and
       ``(v) others whom the Secretary determines may have 
     information relevant to this rulemaking.

     Such rulemaking shall be completed by October 1, 2008.
       ``(C) The rules for the investigation of accidents or 
     incidents involving multiple serious injuries or deaths, or 
     multiple entrapments, shall provide for the appointment and 
     operations of any such independent investigation team in 
     accordance with the requirements of this paragraph. An 
     independent investigation team shall be appointed by the 
     Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety 
     and Health as soon as possible after a qualifying accident or 
     incident. The members shall consist of:
       ``(i) a representative from the National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health who shall serve as the 
     Chairman;
       ``(ii) a representative of mine operators with familiarity 
     with the type of mining involved;
       ``(iii) a representative of mine workers with familiarity 
     with the type of mining involved, who shall be the workers' 
     certified bargaining representative at the mine or, if there 
     is no certified representative at the mine, then a workers' 
     representative jointly selected by organized labor 
     organizations:
       ``(iv) an academic with expertise in mining; and
       ``(v) a representative of the State in which the accident 
     or incident occurred to be selected by the Governor.
       ``(D) Such rules shall include procedures to ensure that 
     the Secretary will be able to cooperate fully with the 
     independent investigation team and will use the powers of the 
     Secretary under this section to help obtain information and 
     witnesses required by the independent investigation team, 
     procedures to ensure witnesses are not coerced and to avoid 
     conflicts of interest in witness representation, procedures 
     to ensure confidentiality if requested by any witness, and 
     procedures to enable the independent investigation team to 
     conduct such public hearings as it deems appropriate. Such 
     rules shall also require that upon completion of any accident 
     or incident investigation of accidents or incidents involving 
     multiple serious injuries or deaths, or multiple entrapments, 
     the independent investigation team shall--
       ``(i) issue findings as to the actions or inactions which 
     resulted in the accident or incident;
       ``(ii) make recommendations as to policy, regulatory, 
     enforcement or other changes, including statutory changes, 
     which in the judgment of the independent investigation team 
     would best prevent a recurrence of such actions or inactions 
     at other mines; and
       ``(iii) promptly make all such findings and recommendations 
     public (except findings and recommendations that must be 
     temporarily withheld in connection with a criminal referral), 
     including appropriate public hearings to inform the mining 
     community of their respective findings and recommendations.
       ``(E) As part of the Secretary's annual report to Congress 
     pursuant to section 511(a), the Secretary shall report on 
     implementation of recommendations issued by any independent 
     investigation teams in the preceding 5 years.''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the 
     authority of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation 
     Board to conduct an independent investigation of the accident 
     or incident or the events or factors resulting therein, nor 
     with the authority of the Office of the Inspector General to 
     conduct an investigation of the conduct of DOL personnel in 
     connection with an accident or incident or the events or 
     factors resulting therein, and the Secretary shall cooperate 
     in full with any such investigation. Such investigation shall 
     be in addition to any investigation authorized by section 
     103(b).''.

     SEC. 7. RESPIRABLE DUST STANDARDS.

       (a) Respirable Dust; Respirable Silica Dust.--Section 202 
     (30 U.S.C. 842) is amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 202. DUST STANDARD AND RESPIRATORY EQUIPMENT.

       ``(a)(1) Effective on the date of enactment of the S-MINER 
     Act, each coal mine operator shall continuously maintain the 
     concentration of respirable dust in the mine atmosphere 
     during each shift to which each miner in the active workings 
     of such mine is exposed at or below a time-weighted average 
     of 1.00 milligrams of respirable dust per cubic meter of air 
     averaged over 10 hours or its dose-equivalent for shorter or 
     longer period of time. For purposes of this paragraph, `a 
     dose-equivalent' means the amount of dust that a miner would 
     inhale during his work shift as if he were working for 10 
     hours, and the term `shift' means portal-to-portal for 
     underground coal mines and `bank to bank' for other coal 
     mines.
       ``(2) At regular intervals to be prescribed by the 
     Secretary and the Secretary of Health and

[[Page H60]]

     Human Services, the Secretary will take accurate samples of 
     the amount of respirable dust in the coal mine atmosphere to 
     which each miner in the active workings of such mine is 
     exposed in order to determine compliance with the 
     requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section. In 
     addition, the Secretary shall cause to be made such frequent 
     spot inspections as he deems appropriate of the active 
     workings of coal mines for the purpose of obtaining 
     compliance with the provisions of this title. All samples by 
     the Secretary shall be taken by a personal dust monitor that 
     measures, records and displays in real time the concentration 
     of respirable dust to which the miner wearing the device is 
     exposed, and shall include the sampling of areas, occupations 
     or persons. For the purposes of determining compliance with 
     the exposure limit for respirable dust, only a single sample 
     shall be required to determine non-compliance, and there 
     shall be no adjustment for measurement error in the measured 
     level of respirable dust.
       ``(3) At intervals established by the Secretary, each 
     operator of a coal mine shall take accurate samples of the 
     amount of respirable dust in the mine atmosphere to which 
     each miner in the active workings of such mine is exposed to 
     identify sources of exposure so that the operator can take 
     corrective action and assure that the exposure of each mine 
     is below the exposure limit. Under the provisions of this 
     Act, all such samples shall be taken by a personal dust 
     monitor that measures, records and displays the concentration 
     of respirable dust to which the miner wearing the device is 
     exposed, and may include samples of less than a full shift. 
     The results of such sampling shall be transmitted to the 
     Secretary in a manner established by him, and recorded by him 
     in a manner that will assure application of the provisions of 
     this section of the Act.
       ``(4) Each miner shall be equipped with a personal dust 
     monitor that measures, records and displays in real time the 
     concentration of respirable dust to which the miner wearing 
     the device is exposed. Each miner shall be permitted to 
     adjust his work activities whenever necessary to keep his 
     exposure to respirable coal dust, as measured, recorded and 
     displayed by such device, at all times at or below the 
     permitted concentration.
       ``(b) Effective on the date of enactment of the S-MINER 
     Act, each operator of a coal or other mine shall continuously 
     maintain the concentration of respirable silica dust in the 
     mine atmosphere during each shift to which each miner in the 
     active workings of such mine is exposed at or below a time-
     weighted average of 0.05 milligrams of respirable silica dust 
     per cubic meter of air averaged over ten hours or its dose-
     equivalent for shorter or longer period of time. For the 
     purposes of this paragraph, compliance shall be determined by 
     the sampling of areas, occupations or persons, only a single 
     sample shall be required to determine non-compliance, and 
     there shall be no adjustment for measurement error in the 
     measured level of respirable silica dust. For the purposes of 
     this paragraph, a `dose-equivalent' means the amount of dust 
     that a miner would inhale during his work shift as if he were 
     working for 10 hours, and the term `shift' means portal-to-
     portal for underground mines and `bank to bank' for other 
     mines.
       ``(c) Respiratory equipment approved by the Secretary and 
     the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall be made 
     available to all persons whenever exposed to concentrations 
     of respirable dust or silica in excess of the levels required 
     to be maintained under this section. Use of respirators shall 
     not be substituted for environmental control measures in the 
     active workings. Each operator shall maintain a supply of 
     respiratory equipment adequate to deal with occurrences of 
     concentrations of respirable dust and silica in the mine 
     atmosphere in excess of the levels required to be maintained 
     under this section.
       ``(d) Each operator shall report and certify to the 
     Secretary at such intervals as the Secretary may require as 
     to the conditions in the active workings of a coal mine, 
     including, the average number of working hours worked during 
     each shift, the quantity and velocity of air regularly 
     reaching the working faces, the method of mining, the amount 
     and pressure of the water, if any, reaching the working 
     faces, and the number, location, and type of sprays, if any, 
     used.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 205 (30 U.S.C. 845) is 
     repealed.
       (c) Assessment on Program Operations of Cumulative Impact 
     of External Requirements Added Since 1977.--The Secretary 
     shall request the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a 
     study of the impact on the mine safety and health 
     responsibilities of the Department of Labor of various 
     statutes, executive orders, and memoranda applicable to the 
     issuance of rulemaking and guidance and to enforcement. The 
     study shall include an assessment of the Equal Access to 
     Justice Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Small 
     Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, the Data 
     Quality Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Unfunded 
     Mandates Reform Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the 
     Congressional Review Act, Executive Order 12866, Executive 
     Order 13422, and memoranda from the Office of Management and 
     Budget on guidance, risk assessment and cost analysis. The 
     Secretary shall request that the National Academy of Sciences 
     consult widely with experts in administrative law and other 
     disciplines knowledgeable about such requirements, and to 
     quantify to the extent possible the costs to miners of the 
     aforementioned requirements. The Secretary shall further 
     request that recommendations be included in the report, and 
     that such report and recommendations be completed, and 
     forwarded to the Congress, no later than 21 months after the 
     date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 8. OTHER HEALTH REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) Air Contaminants.--Section 101 of (30 U.S.C. 811) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(f) Notwithstanding the other requirements of this 
     section, not later than 30 days of the enactment of the S-
     MINER Act, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
     Health shall forward to the Secretary its Recommended 
     Exposure Limits (RELs) for chemical and other hazards to 
     which miners may be exposed, along with the research data and 
     other necessary information. Within 30 days of receipt of 
     this information, the Secretary shall to adopt such 
     recommended exposure limits as the Permissible Exposure 
     Limits (PELs) for application in the mining industry. The 
     National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health shall 
     annually submit to the Secretary any additional or revised 
     recommended exposure limits for all chemicals and other 
     hazards to which miners may be exposed, and the Secretary 
     shall be obligated to adopt such exposure limits as PELs for 
     application in the mining industry within 30 days of receipt 
     of such information. Upon petition from miners or mine 
     operators providing credible evidence that feasibility may be 
     an issue for the industry as a whole, the Secretary may 
     review the feasibility of any PEL established pursuant to 
     this paragraph before placing it into effect and, following 
     public notice and comment, make necessary adjustments 
     thereto, provided that the adjusted standard is as protective 
     as is feasible, and that the PEL shall go into effect as 
     required by the other provisions of this paragraph if such 
     action is not completed within one year. Moreover, upon 
     petition from miners or mine operators providing credible 
     evidence that a REL issued by the National Institute of 
     Occupational Safety and Health lacks the specificity required 
     to serve as a PEL pursuant to this Act, the Secretary may 
     defer implementation of the requirements of this paragraph 
     and shall promptly request National Institute of Occupational 
     Safety and Health to recommend a sufficiently detailed REL, 
     at which time the provisions of this paragraph shall be 
     implemented. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the 
     ability of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and 
     Health to make such recommendations more frequently than 1 
     time per year, nor limit the Secretary from establishing 
     requirements for chemical and other substances or health 
     hazards in the mining industry that are more comprehensive 
     and protective than those established pursuant to this 
     subsection and in accordance with the other requirements of 
     this section.''.
       (b) Asbestos.--Section 101 (30 U.S.C. 811) is further 
     amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(g) The health standard for asbestos established by the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Administration that is set 
     forth in section 1910.1001 of title 29, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, or any subsequent revision of that regulation, 
     shall be adopted by the Secretary for application in the 
     mining industry not later than 30 days of the enactment of 
     the S-MINER Act. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the 
     Secretary from adopting regulations to address asbestos 
     hazards to miners not covered by the regulations of the 
     Occupational Safety and Health Administration.''.
       (c) Hazard Communication.--Section 101 (30 U.S.C. 811) is 
     further amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(h) Unless and until there is additional rulemaking 
     pursuant to the requirements of this section, the Secretary 
     shall apply the provisions of the interim final rule of 
     October 3, 2000, concerning hazard communication, in lieu of 
     the final rule of June 21, 2002, concerning hazard 
     communication.''.

  The CHAIRMAN. No amendment to the committee amendment is in order 
except those printed in House Report 110-508. Each amendment may be 
offered only in the order printed in the report; by a Member designated 
in the report; shall be considered read; shall be debatable for the 
time specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the 
proponent and an opponent of the amendment; shall not be subject to 
amendment; and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the 
question.


       Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. George Miller of California

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed 
in House Report 110-508.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. George Miller of California:
       Page 5, beginning on line 6, strike ``amended by adding at 
     the end the following:'' and insert ``amended--
       (1) in clause (iii)(I), by inserting before the semicolon 
     the following: ``and such requirement may not be satisfied by 
     placement of an order with any company for future delivery of 
     a portable refuge chamber or other means of providing such 
     emergency supplies of breathable air''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       Page 5, line 8, strike ``(vi)'' and insert ``(vii)''.
       Page 5, line 19, strike ``, or'' and insert a semicolon.
       Page 5, line 23, strike ``, or'' and insert ``; or''.
       Page 6, beginning on line 4, strike ``In addition'' and all 
     that follows through ``emergency shelter'' and insert ``The 
     regulations

[[Page H61]]

     shall further provide that in all cases a portable refuge 
     chamber shall be installed and maintained''.
       Strike section 4(d)(1) and insert the following:
       (1) Flame resistant conveyor belts.--Section 311(h) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following: ``Not later than 
     90 days after the date of enactment of the S-MINER Act, the 
     Secretary shall publish interim final rules to revise the 
     requirements for flame resistant conveyor belts to ensure 
     that they meet the most recent recommendations from the 
     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and to 
     ensure such belts are designed to limit smoke and toxic 
     emissions. A conveyor belt need not meet the requirements of 
     the preceding sentence if--
       ``(A) it was ordered, in a mine's inventory, or installed 
     prior to the date of enactment of the S-MINER Act, or it was 
     ordered after the date of enactment of the S-MINER Act and 
     the Secretary certifies that the mine operator was unable to 
     obtain a belt meeting the requirements of the preceding 
     sentence; or
       ``(B) in the case of any such belt that has been in use for 
     more than 5 years in any capacity in any mine, such belt has 
     received an annual inspection by a certified professional to 
     ensure that the belt is free from visible defects that could 
     cause failure or possible ignition.''.
       Page 19, strike lines 6 through 15 and insert the 
     following:
       ``(a) Conveyor Belts.--The requirements of section 311(h) 
     concerning conveyor belts in underground coal mines, 
     including the exceptions and limitations in connection 
     therewith, shall also apply to conveyor belts in underground 
     metal and nonmetal mines.''.
       Page 55, line 24, insert after the period the following: 
     ``There is authorized to be appropriated to Secretary 
     $30,000,000 to purchase personal dust monitors for the 
     purposes of the preceding sentence.''.
       At the end of the bill, insert the following:
       (d) Study on Miner Substance Abuse Issues That Pose Safety 
     Risks.--
       (1) Study.--The Secretary of Labor shall conduct a study 
     providing expert review and recommendations of policies 
     designed to deal with substance abuse by miners, including 
     the causes, nature, and extent of such abuse, its impact on 
     mine safety and health, best practices for treatment, 
     rehabilitation, and substance abuse testing policies, and the 
     adequacy of State laws and approaches. In conducting such 
     study, the Secretary shall solicit the views of and consult 
     with all interested parties, including miners, miners' 
     representatives, mine operators, appropriate State agencies, 
     and public health and substance abuse experts.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall report the 
     findings and recommendations of the study to the Committee on 
     Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the 
     Senate
       (3) Additional authority.--If, as a result of the study, 
     the Secretary determines it to be feasible and effective, the 
     Secretary shall be authorized to establish a program, in 
     consultation with the parties described in paragraph (1), 
     within the Mine Safety and Health Administration to provide 
     for substance abuse testing of miners as well as 
     rehabilitation and treatment of miners suffering from 
     substance abuse.

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 918, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. This amendment, Mr. Chairman and 
members of the committee, does four things. First, it will authorize 
$30 million for the Department of Labor to buy a new generation of 
personal dust monitors required by the builder and provide them to 
miners. These dust monitors greatly enhance the accuracy in measuring 
the concentration of coal dust in underground coal mines. Both miner 
and industry representatives have expressed support for this 
initiative. It will go a long way in helping us reverse the rise in 
black lung and save untold amounts of costs in dealing with such 
debilitating disease.
  Second, the amendment will increase the time permitted for the mining 
industry to install a new generation of fire-resistant conveyor belts, 
significantly cutting industry compliance costs with the underlying 
bill. This amendment takes into account the industry concerns about 
significant amounts of old-style conveyor belts already purchased and 
in reserve. Under this provision, miners can use up the reserved belts 
before purchasing new fire-resistant belts so long as after 5 years of 
use they pass a proper annual inspection.
  Third, the amendment would eliminate delays by some mine operators in 
providing supplies of breathable air in underground coal mines for 
miners who may become trapped as required under the MINER Act of 2006. 
We recently learned that some miner operators are putting refuge 
chambers on order, with a wait of several years in some cases, and MSHA 
has been treating these purchase orders as sufficient to comply with 
the MINER Act's breathable air requirement. In the meantime, miners are 
underground without the breathable air that this Congress intended them 
to have. At least 11 of the 12 miners of the Sago explosion, for 
example, did not die because of the explosion. They died because, after 
many hours of awaiting rescue, they ran out of air. So this provision 
closes an apparent loophole in the MINER Act and ensures that 
breathable air is readily available to miners underground today while 
operators await the delivery of refuge chambers. Such air supplies can 
be provided via air cylinders or through boreholes to the surface 
pursuant to MSHA instructions.
  Finally, this amendment deals with the potential safety problems 
posed by substance abuse in a direct and responsible fashion. Many of 
us have seen the recent reports about the rise of substance abuse 
problems in mines and mining communities. There is no doubt that the 
injuries, overwork and stress that miners experience can leave some of 
them vulnerable to abusing substances like painkillers. Now, none of 
the recent tragedies have been linked in any way to drug use, but we 
should be proactive in this area.
  The amendment directs the Secretary of Labor to study the problem in 
consultation with all parties and to impose the program if she 
determines it to be feasible.
  I urge my colleagues to pass the manager's amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, the S-MINER Act was first introduced nearly 
7 months ago. It was voted on in the Education Committee more than 2 
months ago. Yet in all this time this bill has been under 
consideration, the critical issue of drug testing was not inserted 
until the second try on the manager's amendment, submitted after 
yesterday's deadline. Forgive me if I am skeptical that we would have 
been given the same opportunity to revise our amendment at the last 
minute if we had sought to do so. Nevertheless, the amendment now 
before us replaces the previous version of the legislation, and it 
deserves our thorough review.
  I want to thank Chairman Miller for recognizing some of the flaws in 
the S-MINER Act and attempting to address them. The amendment includes 
some modest improvements, including an extension in the timeline for 
installation of the new generation of fire-resistant conveyor belts. At 
the same time, I am troubled by the proposal to limit the ability of 
mine operators to comply with breathable air requirements. With the 
ongoing backlog of the SCSRs, the breathing device required in mines, 
today we demand mine operators to, at a minimum, offer a purchase order 
to demonstrate their effort to comply with the requirement.
  By preventing mine operators from producing proof of SCSR purchases 
as evidence of compliance, this amendment could push mines across the 
country out of compliance, despite their proven effort to comply with 
the requirement in the only way possible. What would the penalty be for 
the Nation's mines being deemed noncompliant? Would these mines be shut 
down, leaving miners without work? What possible rationale could there 
be for threatening mine workers' jobs as they struggle with today's 
economic pressures just because there aren't companies that have the 
ability to produce these required instruments?
  Similarly, but perhaps even more troubling, the amendment imposes the 
same backwards logic on the new requirement for possible refuge 
chambers. On the one hand, it mandates that mines have these refuge 
chambers in order to operate. On the other hand, it makes clear that 
mines which purchase the chambers but through no fault of their own 
must wait for them to be manufactured, will be unable to operate 
without this very specific and widely unavailable product.
  The majority knows that portable refuge chambers will have a 
production backlog of years. They also know that

[[Page H62]]

in being so specific as to mandate portable refuge chambers with no 
alternative, this provision guarantees that mines will be shut down 
while waiting for the product to be manufactured. I don't know if that 
is the goal, to shut down mines, but that will be the net result.
  On the issue of drug testing, while I question the last-minute 
addition of this proposal, I appreciate the belated acknowledgment that 
drug abuse in the mining community is a significant problem that 
demands action. Unfortunately, this amendment offers little in the way 
of action. Instead of immediately implementing a drug testing program, 
this amendment calls for a study. We don't need a study to tell us 
whether drug abuse is a problem in the mines. All you need to do is 
pick up the front page of The Washington Post Sunday edition and read 
about it.
  At this time I would like to submit this article, written by Nick 
Miroff, into the Record. You will see the pervasiveness of this 
problem.

               [From the Washington Post, Jan. 13, 2008]

                            A Dark Addiction

                            (By Nick Miroff)

       Tazewell County, VA.--The crowd is gathering early in the 
     dirt parking lot outside the Clinch Valley Treatment Center, 
     the only methadone clinic within 80 miles. Third in line, 
     Jeff Trapp smokes Winstons in his pickup, watching the cars 
     turn off the highway and settle behind him, tires crunching 
     on cold gravel, headlights glaring. It is 2:45 a.m., and 
     Trapp has been awake for two hours. The clinic does not start 
     dosing until 5.
       Like Trapp, many of the patients who filled the lot one 
     recent morning have jobs at far-off mines that start at 6 or 
     7. They sleep upright in their vehicles, slumped against the 
     steering wheel, dressed for work in steel-toed black boots 
     and coveralls lined with orange reflective strips. Dark rings 
     circle their eyes where the previous day's coal dust didn't 
     wash off.
       ``Everybody you see here works,'' says Trapp, his smoke-
     cured voice a low rumble. A $14 plug-in heater from ``Wally'' 
     (Wal-Mart) whirs on the dash. ``Ain't no spongers. No 
     loafers,'' he says.
       Work in the mines hasn't been as good as it is now in a 
     generation. With per-ton prices doubling in the past six 
     years, Virginia unearthed about $1.6 billion worth of coal in 
     2006, much of it to feed the growing energy demands of the 
     Washington region.
       Wages are up, bosses are hiring and rookie miners can start 
     at $18 an hour--a small fortune in a region where, as Trapp 
     says, ``if you ain't working in the mines or in the prisons, 
     you don't make money.''
       But it is a boom clouded by drugs. Nearly a decade after 
     OxyContin slammed into southwestern Virginia and much of 
     Appalachia, the abuse of prescription painkillers in the 
     region is worse than ever, police and public health officials 
     say.
       Publicized efforts to crack down on drug dealers and 
     manufacturers through tougher street-level enforcement and 
     tighter prescription regulations have failed to curb the 
     crisis, and the result is a quiet catastrophe unfolding 
     largely out of sight, in private bedrooms and isolated 
     trailers far from the drug war's urban front lines.
       A record 248 people died of overdoses in Virginia's western 
     region in 2006, more than those who died from homicides, 
     house fires and alcohol-related car accidents combined. That 
     was an 18 percent increase from 2005 and a 270 percent 
     increase from a decade ago, state medical examiner records 
     show.
       The problem is most acute in Virginia's poorest rural 
     areas, and it is not limited to miners. In 2006, accidental 
     pain pill overdoses killed more people in Tazewell County 
     (pop. 44,000) than in Fairfax County (pop. 1.1 million). In 
     Wise County, where Trapp lives and the per capita income is 
     $14,000 a year, the fatal overdose rate for pain pills was 13 
     times those of Loudoun and Fairfax counties.
       ``The abuse and misuse of painkillers is the worst I have 
     seen it in the 16 years I have worked narcotics in this 
     area,'' said Lt. Richard Stallard of the Big Stone Gap police 
     department. He is director of the Southwest Virginia Drug 
     Task Force, which operates in Dickinson, Lee, Scott and Wise 
     counties. His officers made 442 arrests through the first 
     nine months of last year, an 86 percent increase from the 
     same period in 2006.
       In what is perhaps the most troubling sign of the problem's 
     intractability, the single deadliest drug in the region in 
     2006 was the same one being legally distributed to addicts 
     through treatment clinics such as the one Trapp visits: 
     methadone.
       A large black market has emerged for the drug, which is 
     supposed to treat addiction or chronic pain with less risk 
     than OxyContin and other oxycodone-based opioids. But 
     methadone was linked to 78 deaths in western Virginia in 
     2006, and experts say that whatever ground was gained against 
     the illegal use of OxyContin is being lost, engulfed in a 
     widening circle of abuse that extends to painkillers, 
     antidepressants and other prescription drugs.
       Round-the-clock security is posted at Clinch Valley 
     Treatment Center, a two-story cement building along Route 19 
     that was once a hamburger restaurant. It serves almost 1,000 
     patients, drawing them from steep-sided mountain ``hollers'' 
     and tiny coal towns such as Dante, Dungannon, Honaker and 
     other places where the winter sun casts long shadows but 
     little light.
       Every morning before sunup, Trapp drives 120 miles--from 
     his home in Coeburn to the clinic and back--stopping once for 
     coffee and gas at the Double Kwik in Lebanon. He has been 
     going for two years, trading this dependency for the $600-a-
     day oxycodone habit that made his nose bleed and his wife 
     cry. He is 54, with a pale moustache, a four-pack-a-day 
     wheeze and the drained, sallow expression of someone who has 
     not slept in a long time.
       When the clinic doors open at 5, the crowd streams into the 
     warm hallway, squinting in the indoor light. Trapp hands over 
     $12.50 at a payment window, then lines up at another window 
     for his dose: 80 milligrams of liquid methadone, mixed with 
     juice in a little white cup. He must gulp it down quickly and 
     get back on the road. His boss expects him at 6:30.
       ``This methadone makes you feel like a human being again,'' 
     Trapp says.
       With disability rates as high as 37 percent in coal-mining 
     areas such as Buchanan County, the region has many people 
     with long-term pain management needs. As is the case with 
     lots of aging miners, Trapp's addiction to pills began in a 
     doctor's office, not a back-alley drug deal.
       ``Busted-up'' from 30 years working as a heavy-equipment 
     operator and mechanic on the massive excavators used for 
     strip mining and mountaintop removal, Trapp needed multiple 
     surgeries to fix seven ruptured and herniated discs. Doctors 
     wanted to implant a magnesium rod to stabilize his spine, but 
     Trapp refused.
       ``I've known too many people who've done it, and they can't 
     tie their shoes,'' he said.
       So Trapp loaded up on painkillers, first Percocet and later 
     OxyContin. When the prescribed dose no longer did the job, 
     Trapp took more. Then more. He began ``doctor shopping,'' 
     driving to Roanoke and Richmond to find physicians who would 
     give him prescriptions.
       When the pharmacies couldn't provide enough pills, Trapp 
     found dealers who would. Friends were melting oxycodone 
     tablets and injecting themselves--``bangin' OCs''--but Trapp 
     was too squeamish to mess with needles. He crushed the 
     tablets and snorted them like cocaine off his kitchen table. 
     He didn't feel high, just ``good.'' The relief was instant.
       ``I got hooked on those bad boys real bad,'' he says.
       But when Trapp didn't have pills, the withdrawal symptoms 
     left him ``sick as a dog'' and bedridden. ``Every muscle in 
     your body craves it,'' he says. ``You can't sleep, can't eat. 
     It's like the flu, but 10 times worse.''
       In two years, Trapp put $60,000 of his retirement savings, 
     maybe more, up his nose. His daughter begged him to get help, 
     as did his wife, Sue, who works as a shift manager at a 
     Hardee's and as a guard at Red Onion State Prison, the 
     supermax facility where sniper Lee Boyd Malvo is being held.
       Trapp was ``wormed over'' after three days into involuntary 
     withdrawal when his wife took him to a clinic to get help in 
     2005. He couldn't walk, and he couldn't hold up his head. He 
     began taking methadone that week.
       Foreman Gary Boyd steers through the tunnels of Pioneer 
     Coal No. 1 in a low-rise electric cart, sloshing across 
     channels of cold, muddy water. His nickname, Stork, is 
     stenciled on his scuffed plastic helmet, and a slug of 
     dipping tobacco bulges in his lower lip.
       ``The good Lord put me on this Earth to be a coal miner,'' 
     he says, ``and I can't think of nothing I'd rather do.'' He 
     ducks slightly when the ceiling height drops to 40 inches.
       A bearish man with a soot-streaked beard, Boyd stands well 
     over 6 feet tall outside the mine. But underground, in a 3\1/
     2\-foot ``low coal'' operation such as this one in the 
     mountains near Vansant, VA, Boyd mostly works on his hands 
     and knees, crawling like an infant. He and the other men 
     spend the entire shift, sometimes 12 hours or more, without 
     ever standing up.
       Compared with the large, corporate-owned mines that use the 
     latest technology and enforce tighter safety codes, Pioneer 
     No. 1, the company's only mine, is a mom-and-pop affair, run 
     by a single operator and a 10-man crew. It extends 
     horizontally into the mountain through a maze-like network of 
     wide, low tunnels, and a red plastic sign along the access 
     road outside reads ``AMBULANCE ENTRANCE.''
       With narrower profit margins, small-scale outfits such as 
     Pioneer, often known as ``dog holes,'' typically pay less and 
     don't offer benefits such as health insurance. But for miners 
     who have been fired from corporate mines for drug violations 
     or other infractions, smaller mines, which must still meet 
     state safety standards, are a good fallback.
       The ``face,'' where Boyd's crew was working that day, was a 
     half-mile into the mountain. A massive grinding machine 
     called a continuous miner chewed at the coal seam with a 
     spinning, snaggle-toothed steel cylinder. Water seeped from 
     its mouth and trickled from its sides to cool the metal teeth 
     and keep the dust down. The greasy, jet-black rock came off 
     in chunks onto a conveyor belt.
       As the machine worked, the tunnel walls cracked and groaned 
     under the shifting pressure of the mountain. Crew members 
     scrambled to stabilize the roof with wooden posts, wedging 
     them into place with hammers.

[[Page H63]]

       ``You're as safe as you would be in your mommy's arms--if 
     you watch what you're doing,'' Boyd said. He checked a hand-
     held meter every few minutes to measure carbon dioxide, which 
     is poisonous, and methane, which can explode. Flecks of coal 
     dust swirled in the yellow beams of the miners' headlamps.
       Drug use by miners who snort or shoot up underground has 
     been a growing cause for concern among state regulators, and 
     a law approved last year in the General Assembly imposed 
     stringent drug-testing policies. All newly hired miners must 
     be screened, and random testing requirements have increased. 
     Those who fail risk losing their miner's license.
       The impact of the new policies was immediate. ``I can't 
     find nobody to work,'' said Noah Vandyke, 60, a lifelong 
     miner who runs Pioneer Coal. ``The younger generation, you 
     can't hardly find one that will pass a drug test.''
       Since the new testing policy went into effect in July, 
     Vandyke has lost eight crew members who were fired because of 
     drugs or quit, possibly to avoid having their miner's license 
     revoked for a ``dirty'' urine sample.
       ``Every family in the area has been affected by drug 
     abuse,'' Vandyke said, ``and it ain't just coal miners.'' In 
     recent years, two of his sisters have died because of drugs, 
     and two brothers, both injured miners, are deep in the grip 
     of addiction.
       Unlike some operators, Vandyke is known as a boss who will 
     not turn a man away for trying to get help at the methadone 
     clinic. One of those is his on-again, off-again ``scoop 
     man,'' Jeff Vandyke, who shuttles coal inside the mine in a 
     huge, spoon-shaped electric cart. The two men are not 
     directly related--Vandyke is a common name in the area--but 
     their lives have been intertwined since the elder miner gave 
     the younger his first job underground 15 years ago.
       Like Noah, Jeff Vandyke, 34, grew up in Buchanan County 
     near the town of Grundy. With his horizons blocked by the 
     mountainsides, he found a new world underground. ``There's 
     nothing like coal mining,'' he said. ``You know that nobody 
     else will ever go where you're going. Just the people in that 
     mine, that day.''
       The mines led Jeff Vandyke to another love: drugs. He got 
     his first prescription for OxyContin after a rock fall 
     accident that left him with broken ribs, shoulder damage and 
     spinal injuries. Disabled and addicted, he thought he could 
     get away from drugs by leaving, so he moved with his brother 
     to Arizona and got a job as a trucker. Soon they were buying 
     pills along the Mexican border, 1,000 at a time, he said. 
     Methamphetamine kept them awake, and OxyContin kept them 
     high.
       By 2003, Jeff Vandyke was back home and drifting deeper 
     into addiction. He lived for more than a year in a broken-
     down trailer with the electricity, water and heat cut off. He 
     spent most of his days on a couch in the dark, stirring every 
     few hours to warm the air under his blankets with a propane 
     camping stove.
       The crippling pain and nausea of withdrawal pushed him to 
     get help. He drives to a Kentucky clinic for a two-week 
     supply of liquid methadone and says he has been clean for 
     three years. He and his girlfriend, Daisy Ratliff, live with 
     her two sons in a trailer with a thick coal seam visible on 
     the hillside in their back yard. She has brightened the black 
     lockbox where Vandyke stores his methadone with stickers of 
     hearts, stars and red letters that spell ``I LV U.''
       ``My truck's paid off,'' Vandyke says, his long, blond hair 
     tucked under a camouflage cap. ``I've got four bows, three 
     shotguns.'' He takes time off from the mines in the fall to 
     hunt deer, grouse and squirrel for winter meat.
       And yet, some of the damage from his drug years can't be 
     undone. Vandyke's father no longer speaks to him, and he and 
     his brother haven't said a word to each other in nearly two 
     years, ever since he said his brother shot at him with a .38 
     and tried to steal Ratliff's car.
       ``I'll probably never get off methadone because of the 
     shape I'm in,'' said Mick Wampler, a disabled coal miner who 
     lives in a small room at the end of a narrow hallway in his 
     sister's house.
       Wampler, 47, started working in the mines four days after 
     his 18th birthday. His mother needed the money after floods 
     wiped out the family's home in Haysi, VA. But he never had 
     the nerves for it, he said, and the sight of accidents sent 
     him over the edge. He watched one friend lose an arm to a 
     rock hauler and saw another electrocuted by a 900-volt mining 
     cable. Wampler began taking Valium just to go underground.
       ``A lot of people are scared on the job,'' he said. 
     ``They'll use alcohol, anything.'' After falling off a loader 
     and breaking his leg, Wampler got a prescription for 
     oxycodone. A diabetic, he had needles, and shooting up was 
     easy. Soon he was hooked on high-potency Fentanyl patches, 
     ripping them in two to wring out the drug, which he would 
     cook up with vinegar and inject through the veins in his 
     feet. ``It was as good as heroin,'' he said. He dabbled in 
     that, too.
       Years of negative publicity about OxyContin have made 
     doctors wary of it and other oxycodone-based drugs, local 
     health officials say, but records show that sales of the drug 
     have increased. In 2006, 746,901 grams of oxycodone were 
     distributed for retail sale in Virginia, nearly triple the 
     amount sold in 1999, according to the Virginia Department of 
     Health Professions. Although sales have slowed since 2001, 
     they increased 9 percent from 2005 to 2006.
       Police in the region say pain pills are entering Virginia 
     from other states, even Mexico, where they can be casually 
     bought along the border. They can also be ordered on the 
     Internet through shady online pharmacies. The familiar 
     schemes remain popular, too.
       We can't stop people from going doctor shopping,'' Tazewell 
     Sheriff H.S. Caudill said. ``We need a nationwide program to 
     check if John Doe has already been to another pharmacy.''
       Doctors, meanwhile, have been giving out more methadone 
     than ever. From 1999 to 2006, the amount of methadone 
     distributed for retail sale in Virginia jumped from 30,531 
     grams to 146,479. An underground market for illegally 
     diverted tablets and liquid doses is thriving.
       ``When we had problems with OxyContin being diverted, 
     doctors started prescribing methadone,'' said Martha Wunsch, 
     a researcher who has a grant from the National Institutes of 
     Health to study southwestern Virginia's drug deaths.
       Wunsch says that methadone in pill form, not the liquid 
     version legally distributed through addiction clinics, is to 
     blame for the bulk of fatal overdoses. In one study, she 
     found that more than half of all fatal overdose victims had 
     legitimate prescriptions for methadone tablets.
       On its own, methadone can't deliver a ``high'' like 
     oxycodone or other opiates, so users combine it with anti-
     anxiety drugs such as Xanax to intensify the effect, creating 
     a toxic, often fatal, cocktail. Prescription pills have 
     surpassed marijuana as the top drug of choice for new drug 
     users nationwide, according to the White House's Office of 
     National Drug Control Policy.
       ``There's not much to do around here,'' said Jeremy Lowe, 
     22, a miner who got hooked on Lortab (hydrocodone) after 
     breaking his hand in an accident a year ago. Now he is one of 
     the patients who wait in line at the methadone clinic every 
     morning.
       ``A lot of my friends who went off to universities ended up 
     coming back home and getting hooked,'' he said. ``It's like 
     it's fashionable to do drugs.''
       To many, the growing traffic at the Clinch Valley Treatment 
     Center has made it a shameful symbol of the region's drug 
     problem. Several Tazewell officials want to shut the center 
     down or force it to move, seeing its for-profit business 
     model and treatment mission as a conflict of interest. 
     According to the clinic's policy, patients can buy methadone 
     as long as they want; detoxification is voluntary.
       The clinic's counseling staff members say that many 
     patients need to be on some sort of drug to cope with severe, 
     long-term pain and that methadone has made them functional. 
     And for those who lack insurance or access to more 
     personalized care, it is often the only affordable option.
       ``We need to change the way people look at successful drug 
     addiction treatment,'' said the clinic's director, Sterlyn 
     Lineberry. ``Are we reducing harm to the individual? Is the 
     person working? Taking care of their family?''
       Wunsch, who used to run a methadone clinic in the region, 
     says the biggest problem is the lack of state and federal 
     support for more comprehensive treatment programs. And 
     powerful stigmas persist. ``A lot of people in southwest 
     Virginia believe this is a moral weakness, not a public 
     health problem,'' she said.
       Jeff Trapp knows people who have died from methadone but no 
     one who has gotten off it the hard way. He has tried to 
     decrease his dose, but the cravings come back every time. So 
     instead, he drives.
       Trapp sets his alarm for 12:30 a.m., waking after a few 
     hours of sleep, and gets dressed in a dark room. His boss 
     does not like that he goes to the clinic, and even less that 
     it has made him late to work, and has threatened to fire him.
       In the kitchen, Trapp makes coffee with the light low. 
     There is a plastic bin above the cabinets to catch the 
     rainwater where the roof leaks, and a picture of his wife at 
     her high school graduation hangs on the wall. He carries 
     another photo of her riding a motorcycle. She weighs 95 
     pounds, but she's a tough lady, he says.
       When Trapp starts the pickup down the driveway at 1 a.m., 
     the dogs stand on the doorstep and watch him go. Last year, 
     he put 60,000 miles on the pickup, a 1993 Chevy. The road 
     signs say his route is a designated scenic byway, the Trail 
     of the Lonesome Pine, but Trapp drives it in the dark, and 
     there is nothing to see.
       ``I don't want to be dependent on doing this every day,'' 
     Trapp says. He could get permission for a two-week take-home 
     supply of methadone, if he wanted it. He hasn't had a dirty 
     test yet. But does he trust himself? No.
       So instead, he drives.
       ``I don't want that temptation on me,'' he says. ``I'd 
     probably drink two bottles just to see how it felt.''
       He opens the window a crack to light another Winston, 
     watching the shoulder for deer. When a car passes him on the 
     left, Trapp recognizes the vehicle. He has seen it before, 
     parked outside the clinic.

  There seems to be no hesitation in this body about implementing 
mandatory drug testing for Major League Baseball. Yesterday, Members on 
both sides of the aisle spent more than 4 hours examining the question 
of drug abuse among baseball players. I don't

[[Page H64]]

know what the danger is there. I hate to see records broken by somebody 
because he's taken drugs, but the danger underground in mines of 
somebody using drugs is really a real live danger. One area on which 
everyone seemed to agree was on the need for mandatory drug testing for 
the ballplayers. Yet for our Nation's mine workers who risk their lives 
by entering the mines, we propose only a study.

                              {time}  1345

  We need to protect these miners now. That means testing and nothing 
less.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment includes some modest improvements. It 
makes other changes that are ill defined that create new unanswered 
questions, and it makes some changes that could actually worsen the 
bill. On the whole, this amendment, like the S-MINER Act itself, 
remains an unnecessary diversion from the bipartisan, widely supported 
mine safety reforms enacted in 2006 through the MINER Act. I oppose 
this amendment because I continue to oppose the underlying bill.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I would just say that, 
first of all, on the question, I'm sure we had both the same reaction 
when we read the story in The Washington Post that we had an 
opportunity in this legislation to address, the issue of substance 
abuse by those in the mining industry. You drafted your amendment and 
we drafted our amendment. Ours is, in fact, a study and then the 
implementation of the program.
  The gentleman from the other side of the aisle and his colleagues are 
always saying they don't want a solution made in Washington. They want 
to consult other parties. We thought we should consult the companies. 
We thought we should consult the States that have experience in this, 
the public health agencies that have some experience in this, and have 
the Secretary develop the best program and then enact that program with 
drug testing. That's what we thought we should do, and I think it makes 
the most sense. There are States that have extensive experience, and 
rather than just somehow creating a program sent from Washington, 
whether those programs have drug testing or not, didn't make any sense 
to us.
  With the rest of the criticisms of the amendment, I think it's sort 
of like maybe the ``Abbey Road'' album, where you guys play it 
backwards and it says ``Paul is dead'' or something. You're reading the 
amendments upside down or something because that's not what the 
amendments do. These are good amendments. They address some concerns 
that the industry has raised with us. And the fact of the matter is 
miners are entitled to have breathable air, to have 96 hours of air 
underground today. When the chambers come, they will come, but in the 
meantime they should not be unprotected given the history of the 
accidents that we have witnessed in this country and the problems that 
the miners have reaching those breathable supplies after the 
explosions.
  So I would encourage all of my colleagues to support this amendment, 
the manager's amendment, by voting for it.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded 
vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California will be 
postponed.


                 Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Boucher

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 printed 
in House Report 110-508.
  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Boucher:
       At the end of the bill, insert the following:
       (d) Grants for Rehabilitation.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Labor, in consultation 
     with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is 
     authorized to award grants to appropriate entities and 
     programs for the purpose of providing rehabilitation services 
     to current and former miners suffering from mental health 
     impairments, including drug addiction and substance abuse 
     issues, which may have been caused or exacerbated by their 
     work as miners. The Secretary shall ensure such funds are 
     directed to those regions of the country most in need of such 
     assistance.
       (2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary of Labor $10,000,000 to 
     carry out the grant program authorized by this subsection.

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 918, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Boucher) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  (Mr. BOUCHER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As the gentleman from California pointed out in his recent comments, 
there was a compelling article on the front page of The Washington Post 
on Sunday that details the level of drug dependency and drug addiction 
that takes place among coal miners who have, because of their work, 
become injured, received medications, and then that has led to drug 
dependency, oftentimes to drug addiction, and it is a major and a 
growing problem. And in the Central Appalachians, where much of our 
Nation's coal is mined, that problem is one of the largest affecting 
our communities.
  Among the major victims of the epidemic we are experiencing are, in 
fact, coal miners. But the problems in our communities are not limited 
just to coal miners. As the article published on Sunday indicated, the 
toll that this sometimes unseen epidemic is taking is worse now than 
ever before, and it is growing year by year. In 2006, a record 248 
people died from drug overdoses in the region that I have the privilege 
of representing. In that year, accidental pain pill overdoses killed 
more people in one of the coal mining counties in my congressional 
district that has a population of 44,000 than died from drug overdoses 
in Virginia's largest county, Fairfax County, that has a population of 
1.1 million. So obviously this problem is disproportionately affecting 
the coal-producing counties not only in Virginia, but it is happening 
throughout the Central Appalachian region where coal is mined.
  The devastation to families and communities in the district that I 
represent is graphic, and that devastation was so well portrayed in the 
article that the gentleman from California referenced that was 
published in The Washington Post on Sunday. And for those who have not 
read that article, let me commend it because it points out the severity 
that this problem is imposing on our rural areas. Methadone has now 
replaced OxyContin as the most abused and the deadliest drug, but the 
epidemic spans a wide range of pain medications.
  So the amendment that I'm putting forward really is the action that 
Mr. McKeon called for just a moment ago in his comments. It is an 
important step in addressing the mental health needs of the miners who 
suffer from work-related drug dependency. They are not the sole victims 
of the epidemic, but they are disproportionately affected by it.
  The amendment authorizes the expenditure of $10 million in grant 
awards in regions of the Nation most affected by prescription drug 
abuse among coal miners in order to provide drug counseling and drug 
rehabilitation services to them. And that article pointed out the 
severe lack of those very services that exist in the coal-producing 
regions of Virginia, and the authorities who are responsible for 
delivering those kinds of services talked about the inadequacy of 
resources with which they are currently having to contend. And we take 
with this amendment one small step in making sure that those resources 
are enhanced so they can do their jobs better.
  I urge adoption of the amendment as one important step in addressing 
an urgent need that we have in the coal mining communities of the 
Eastern United States.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H65]]

  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to 
the amendment, but I will not oppose its passage.
  The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the gentleman from California is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I really want to thank Congressman Boucher 
for his effort to address this problem of drug use among miners. I 
think it's very, very important. I would even go so far as to say if 
this bill doesn't show much progress, if you brought this up as a 
separate bill, I'd be happy to work with you on it.
  This amendment takes an important first step by acknowledging the 
problem and establishing opportunities for treatment. This amendment is 
a positive first step, but it does not go far enough.
  To complement the Boucher amendment, Republicans are proposing a 
strong framework for mandatory drug testing. We want to ensure that 
miners are tested and those who are under the influence are prevented 
from entering the mines and putting their own lives and the lives of 
their coworkers at risk.
  Drug abuse among miners is a serious problem, and according to recent 
media accounts, it is also a widespread problem. Already States are 
taking the lead on stringent testing initiatives to protect miners from 
the hazards that come from combining substance abuse and the dangerous 
work environment. The Federal Government needs to catch up on what is 
being done in the States.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Republican proposal to implement 
drug testing. At this time I also urge passage of the Boucher amendment 
as an acknowledgment of the problem and an important first step toward 
resolving it.
  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Chairman, at this time I am pleased to yield 30 
seconds to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller).
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in very strong support of his amendment. I think 
it's well thought out. It recognizes the problems that were described 
in the article and experienced among his constituents to provide the 
kinds of resources for what clearly, from the narrative in the story, 
is a very difficult problem, encountering numerous substances, of 
people who are caught in very difficult situations, many of whom are 
struggling to stay employed. And I think the kinds of services that the 
gentleman provides in his amendment are absolutely necessary, and I 
rise in strong support of the amendment.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I likewise support the amendment, and I 
thank the gentleman for presenting it.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Chairman, I want to say thank you to the gentleman from 
California for his kind remarks and for the strong support he has 
stated for this measure, and I want to thank the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller) and his outstanding staff for their 
leadership on the overall issue and also their strong support of this 
undertaking.
  It is critically important that we empower the individuals who are 
delivering services to miners who are affected by drug abuse, who are 
affected by drug addiction, so that they can become productive once 
again, remain in the mines working, and that their families can benefit 
from their productive existence. This amendment takes that important 
step, and I urge adoption of it.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. Pastor). The question is on the amendment 
offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chairman announced that the 
ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded 
vote.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia 
will be postponed.


                Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Ellsworth

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 
printed in House Report 110-508.
  Mr. ELLSWORTH. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 3 offered by Mr. Ellsworth:
       Page 32, beginning on line 9, strike ``amended by 
     striking'' and all that follows through ``The operator 
     shall,'' and insert ``amended--
       (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after the subsection designation; 
     and
       (2) by inserting at the end the following:
       ``(2)(A) The Secretary shall maintain a list of delinquent 
     operators who fail to timely pay final assessments. Any 
     operator placed on that list for the first time shall be 
     subject to the requirements of this paragraph only until such 
     time as the Secretary determines that the operator is no 
     longer in arrears. Any operator placed on that list for a 
     subsequent time shall remain on the list until such time as 
     the Secretary determines the operator is committed to timely 
     payment of final assessments. Any operator who believes he or 
     she has been placed or retained on the list in error may file 
     with the Commission a request for consideration of decision.
       ``(B) An operator on the list maintained pursuant to 
     paragraph (A) shall,''.
       Page 32, line 24, strike ``In the event'' and insert
       ``(C) In the event''.
       At the end of the bill, insert the following:

     SEC. 9. MINE SAFETY PROGRAM FUND.

       Title I is further amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 117. MINE SAFETY PROGRAM FUND.

       ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury 
     a separate account to be known as the `Mine Safety Program 
     Fund' (in this section referred to as the `Fund').
       ``(b) Transfers to the Fund.--There shall be deposited in 
     the Fund--
       ``(1) all penalties collected under section 110; and
       ``(2) any gifts, bequests, or donations to the Fund from 
     private entities or individuals, which the Secretary of the 
     Treasury is authorized to accept for deposit into the Fund, 
     except that the Secretary is not authorized to accept any 
     such gift, bequest, or donation that--
       ``(A) attaches conditions inconsistent with applicable laws 
     or regulations; or
       ``(B) is conditioned upon or would require the expenditure 
     of appropriated funds that are not available to the Secretary 
     of Labor.
       ``(c) Expenditures.--Amounts in the Fund shall be 
     available, as provided in appropriations Acts, only for 
     inspections and investigations conducted pursuant to section 
     103.''.
       Amend the table of contents in section 1(b) by adding at 
     the end the following:
Sec. 9. Mine safety program fund.

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 918, the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. ELLSWORTH. Mr. Chairman, my staff and I worked hard with Chairman 
Miller and his staff to address some important issues with this 
amendment.
  My amendment would strike from the bill a requirement that penalizes 
mine operators who have been assessed penalties and pay them in a 
timely fashion. In its place, the amendment provides the Secretary of 
Labor with a mechanism to hold accountable those businesses that have a 
history of delinquent fine payments, while ensuring that honest 
businesses can contest fines without paying them up front.
  As written, the underlying bill would require all mines to place the 
amount of an assessed fine into escrow if they choose to contest that 
fine. This is intended to ensure that mine operators cannot evade their 
responsibility to pay fines if they lose that appeal. While I support 
this important new collection tool, I do not think the bill takes into 
full account the financial burden that it could create for small 
businesses that do not have the means to leave funds in escrow while 
they contest a citation.
  In Indiana and across the country, there are numerous mine operations 
that don't have the operating budget to cover such large and unforeseen 
costs. The small quarry mines in the Midwest and the sand and gravel 
operations in the South might not have the overhead to freeze thousands 
of dollars while they appeal the citation. I would hate to see those 
mines forced to miss a payroll or lay off their hardworking employees 
because of this provision.
  My amendment addresses this concern by directing the Secretary to 
maintain a list of mine operators with a history of delinquent 
payments. Only

[[Page H66]]

those operators who are on this list would be required to prepay their 
fines into escrow. The amendment would also provide businesses with an 
opportunity to contest their placement on this delinquency list if they 
believe that placement list was a mistake.
  Ultimately, my amendment would relieve undue financial burden for all 
mines, but particularly the small mines that are acting in good faith 
to properly appeal and, when necessary, pay their fines.

                              {time}  1400

  This amendment also addresses an important issue affecting mine 
safety in recent years, the lack of comprehensive safety inspections in 
every mine. In November of 2007, the Department of Labor's Inspector 
General reported that 15 percent of mines were not fully inspected in 
fiscal year 2006, due mainly to lack of inspection resources. As we 
know, we can pass all the mine safety laws we want in this House, but 
if inspections of mines aren't being held, and they aren't held 
accountable to our standards, we haven't made any progress at all.
  As the Inspector General points out in his report, and I quote: 
``Incomplete or missed inspections place miners at risk because 
hazardous conditions in the mines may not be identified and corrected. 
In fiscal year 2006, approximately 7,500 miners were employed at 107 
mines which did not receive at least one required inspection.''
  In response to the failure outlined in that report, this amendment 
creates the Mine Safety Programs Fund to guarantee that all MSHA fines 
are reinvested in mine safety, which allows us to make sure every mine 
is living up to our standards and providing a safe working environment 
for working American miners. Last year, safety violations resulted in 
about $40 million of MSHA fines. If that money was reinvested in mine 
safety, it would have meant an estimated 20 percent increase in the 
inspection resources. We can pass all the mine safety laws we want, but 
if we don't give the Department of Labor resources to fund them, we 
haven't made progress for the American miners and what they expect of 
us.
  Again, I would like to thank Chairman Miller and his staff, as well 
as my staff, for working with us for what I think is an important 
amendment to this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to the 
amendment, but I will not oppose the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the gentleman from California 
is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, the Ellsworth amendment, as it has been 
explained, would modify the collection of fines to provide relief to 
those mine operators who pay their fines in a timely fashion. At the 
same time, it establishes a trust fund so that fines collected will be 
used for inspections and investigations. The amendment also creates a 
list of those mine operators who do not pay their fines, shining a 
spotlight to help promote payment in a timely fashion.
  Unlike the underlying bill, this amendment would not do anything to 
inhibit implementation of the bipartisan MINER Act of 2006. Because 
this amendment offers positive reforms without dismantling the mine 
safety improvements under way, I am pleased to support its passage.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ELLSWORTH. Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield 30 seconds to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller).
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I want to rise in 
strong support of the gentleman from Indiana's amendment and commend 
him for his very thoughtful work and his diligence on putting this 
amendment together to make sure that we in fact attack the problem at 
hand, which was those few irresponsible miners who refused to pay their 
fines and that have a history of not paying. Then, also the creative 
use of these fines to provide better enforcement, better safety for our 
mine workers. I rise in strong support and ask all of our colleagues to 
vote ``yes'' on the Ellsworth amendment.
  Mr. ELLSWORTH. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the chairman again 
and the ranking member for his understanding and patience on this 
matter.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chairman announced that the 
ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded 
vote.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Indiana will 
be postponed.


        Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Wilson of South Carolina

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 4 
printed in House Report 110-508.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment made 
in order under the rule.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 4 offered by Mr. Wilson of South Carolina:
       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the Sense of Congress that the Mine Safety and Health 
     Administration should continue the full and timely 
     implementation of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency 
     Response Act of 2006, P.L. No. 109-236, and that the 
     provisions of that law should be implemented by the 
     Administration as robustly, safely, and expeditiously as 
     possible.

     SEC. 2. SAFETY COMMITTEES.

       Title II of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 208. SAFETY COMMITTEES.

       ``Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
     this section, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
     pursuant to section 101(a) providing that a mine operator may 
     establish, assist, maintain, and participate in workplace 
     safety committees, on which committees miners shall 
     participate to address issues of mine safety and to deal with 
     the mine operator regarding emergency response, 
     communication, rescue, recovery, inspection and other terms 
     and conditions of employment relating to mine safety.''.

     SEC. 3. SUBSTANCE ABUSE TESTING.

       Title II of such Act is further amended by adding at the 
     end the following:

     ``SEC. 209. SUBSTANCE ABUSE TESTING.

       ``(a) Testing Program.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
     promulgate regulations pursuant to section 101(a) to require 
     the operator of each mine to institute a program to conduct 
     mandatory, random substance abuse testing of mine employees. 
     Such regulations shall be no less restrictive than 
     regulations issued by other Federal and State agencies which 
     impose mandatory substance abuse testing and shall provide 
     for--
       ``(1) mandatory substance abuse testing procedures;
       ``(2) a process for the random selection of those employees 
     to be tested;
       ``(3) the protection of individuals' rights and privacy;
       ``(4) the establishment of an Employee Assistance Program; 
     and
       ``(5) for purposes of subsection (b), a process for mine 
     operators to notify the Administration of the names of 
     individuals who test positive for substance abuse.
       ``(b) Registry.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this section, the Secretary shall promulgate 
     regulations creating a registry of those found to have tested 
     positive for substance abuse for the sole purpose of sharing, 
     on a confidential basis, with State authorities responsible 
     for issuance of licenses, certification, permits, or other 
     documents required to seek employment in the mining 
     industry.''.

     SEC. 4. IMPROVING MINE SAFETY.

       (a) Coordination With Bureau of Land Management.--The Mine 
     Safety and Health Administration shall regularly consult with 
     the Bureau of Land Management concerning the safety status of 
     mines in order for the Administration to maintain an 
     awareness of any safety concerns observed by Bureau of Land 
     Management personnel.
       (b) Study of Deep Mine Conditions by Technical Study 
     Panel.--
       (1) Establishment of technical study panel.--There is 
     established a Technical Study Panel (hereafter referred to as 
     ``the Panel'') which shall provide independent scientific and 
     engineering review and provide recommendations to the Mine 
     Safety and Health Administration to evaluate the risk 
     assessment procedures of deep mine conditions.
       (2) Membership.--
       (A) In general.--The Panel shall be composed of--
       (i) two individuals to be appointed by the Secretary of 
     Health and Human Services, in

[[Page H67]]

     consultation with the Director of the National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health and the Associate Director of 
     the Office of Mine Safety;
       (ii) two individuals to be appointed by the Secretary of 
     Labor, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary for Mine 
     Safety and Health;
       (iii) one individual appointed jointly by the majority 
     leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives; and
       (iv) one individual to be appointed jointly by the minority 
     leader of the Senate and House of Representatives.
       (B) Qualifications.--Four of the 6 individuals appointed to 
     the Panel under paragraph (A) shall possess a masters or 
     doctoral level degree in mining engineering or another 
     scientific field demonstrably related to the subject of the 
     report. No individual appointed to the Panel shall be an 
     employee of any coal or other mine, or of any labor 
     organization, or of any State or Federal agency primarily 
     responsible for regulating the mining industry.
       (3) Report.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
     which all members of the Panel are appointed under paragraph 
     (2), the Panel shall prepare and submit a report concerning 
     deep mine conditions to the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services, the Committee on Education and 
     Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
     Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
       (B) Response by the secretary.--Not later than 180 days 
     after the receipt of the report, the Secretary of Labor shall 
     provide a response to the report and submit such response to 
     the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 
     Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. Such response shall 
     contain a description of the actions, if any, that the 
     Secretary intends to take based upon the report, including 
     proposing regulatory changes, and the reasons for such 
     actions.
       (4) Compensation.--Members appointed to the Panel, while 
     carrying out the duties of the Panel, shall be entitled to 
     receive compensation, per diem in lieu of subsistence, and 
     travel expenses in the same manner and under the same 
     conditions as that prescribed under section 208(c) of the 
     Public Health Service Act.
       (c) Study of Retreat Mining and Pillaring.--
       (1) Study.--The National Institute for Occupational Safety 
     and Health shall conduct a study of the recovery of coal 
     pillars through retreat room and pillar mining practices in 
     underground coal mines at depths greater than 1,500 feet. The 
     study shall examine the safety implications of retreat room 
     and pillar mining practices, with emphasis on the impact of 
     full or partial pillar extraction mining. The study shall 
     consider, among other things--
       (A) seam thickness;
       (B) depth of cover;
       (C) strength of the mine roof, pillars, and floor;
       (D) the susceptibility of the mine to seismic activity; and
       (E) a sensitivity analysis on input parameters such as 
     strength of the coal, the size the pillar core, the strength 
     of roof and floor rock members, abutment pressure from caved 
     areas, and the horizontal stress; and
       (F) the procedures used to ensure miner safety during 
     retreat mining.
       (2) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the National Institute for 
     Occupational Safety and Health shall submit a report 
     containing the results of the study to the Secretary of Labor 
     and Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 
     Representatives, and the Committee on Health, Education, 
     Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
       (3) Report by the secretary of labor.--Not later than 180 
     days after receipt of the report required under paragraph 2, 
     the Secretary of Labor shall report to the Committee on 
     Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
     Senate what actions, if any, that the Secretary intends to 
     take based on the report.
       (d) Dissemination of Accident Information.--Section 103 of 
     the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 
     813) amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(l)(1) All information concerning the accident or 
     incident obtained by any person or organization participating 
     in an investigation under this section shall be transmitted 
     to the representative of the Administration coordinating the 
     rescue effort or subsequent accident investigation. Parties 
     to the investigation may relay to respective organizations 
     information necessary for purposes of prevention or remedial 
     action. No information concerning the accident or incident 
     may be released to any person not a party to the 
     investigation or representative of such party prior to the 
     release of such information by the Administration without the 
     prior consultation with and approval of the Administration.
       ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, parties to the 
     investigation include the mine owner, mine operator, 
     employees of that mine, first responders, mine rescue team 
     members, or others participating in the rescue and recovery 
     effort.''.

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 918, the gentleman 
from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) and a Member opposed each will control 
15 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of mine safety and in 
opposition to this bill.
  The Wilson/Kline amendment combines the key elements of the Wilson 
amendment offered in committee with the important safety teams 
amendment also considered during markup. There is much that we do not 
know about the tragedy of Crandall Canyon. It would be premature to 
legislate on many of these issues until the Crandall Canyon 
investigation is complete. Once the investigation is complete, we can 
determine if any further initiatives are necessary. It also should be 
noted that few, if any, of the provisions in the underlying legislation 
would have had any impact in preventing the accident in Utah this 
summer.
  Our amendment would require the Department of Labor to more regularly 
communicate with the Bureau of Land Management, BLM, regarding safety 
concerns. Given that personnel from the BLM inspect mines daily, the 
Mine Safety Health Administration, MSHA, should have the benefit of 
knowing what BLM is observing and what concerns the agency has 
regarding safety.
  Our amendment would also require two studies: one to address deep 
mine safety, and another to address pillar removal. Regarding deep 
mining, it is no secret that the mining industry is mining deeper 
underground. In order to assure that they have the most sophisticated 
science available to them, a study about the elements of deep mining 
should be undertaken. It is also important to recognize that deep 
mining and pillar removal are two separate issues, and our amendment 
was crafted accordingly to give each issue thorough consideration.
  Finally, there is great concern about how information during a mine 
rescue and recovery effort is communicated to the public. Our amendment 
would create a public relations protocol similar to that used by the 
National Transportation Safety Board. In this way, all parties to the 
rescue and recovery effort must clear any information through MSHA 
before releasing it to the public.
  This amendment takes the NTSB's well-regarded approach to 
communications. Before anyone associated with the rescue and recovery 
effort can make public comments, they must be approved by MSHA. In this 
way, we can ensure that the families have been fully briefed, that any 
information given to the media is factual, and that it does not 
interfere with the ongoing efforts of any future investigation.
  The S-MINER Act may address some of these issues, but ultimately the 
underlying bill is not narrowly crafted to focus on the Crandall Canyon 
tragedy. Instead, it provides for a complete rewrite of a successful 
law. In addition to these four specific policy opportunities that 
respond to the tragedy that occurred at the Crandall Canyon mine, our 
substitute builds on the MINER Act by actively engaging miners in 
safety teams and implementing substance abuse testing. It is important 
to note that the MINER Act was the most significant piece of mining 
legislation passed in 30 years, which was signed into law in 2006.
  The Wilson/Kline substitute ensures that the MINER Act is not 
derailed by excessive new regulations. The MINER Act has put in motion 
regulations, studies, and industry improvements that will be negatively 
impacted by H.R. 2768. I oppose the S-MINER Act and urge you to vote in 
favor of the Wilson/Kline substitute.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong 
opposition to this amendment.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from California is recognized for 
15 minutes.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. What this amendment would do would 
be to strike many of the very important provisions in the underlying 
bill that are there to protect the lives and the safety of those who 
mine coal in this country's coal mines. They would change the retreat 
mining where we just saw a disaster of a mine accident in Utah this 
last August. They would provide a provision of a study. Rather

[[Page H68]]

than changing the regulations by which that happened, they would 
provide a study. A study was not going to save those miners.
  They would also take out the provision that we have that miners 
should have 96 hours of air available to them in the mines until such 
time as we have the refuge chambers. They take that out. Those miners 
need that air today. The fact that a refuge chamber is on order, may 
not be delivered for six months, a year, a year and a half, does 
nothing for the miner who goes to work today and tomorrow, and that is 
why we did it. We did it so that we could provide that margin of safety 
for those individuals.
  We also look at conveyor belts, a major ignition point of fires in 
the mine, and if not properly installed, if not properly taken care of, 
can take the fire and the gases directly to where the miners are 
working. So they take that provision out.
  We say that MSHA cannot investigate itself. It cannot investigate 
itself. These must be independent investigations, because you have to 
look at whether or not MSHA properly did its job, properly enforced the 
requirements of the law, properly inspected the mines and all that that 
entails, and to have them redo that themselves is a disservice to the 
miners and to the families. It's the single most provided complaint to 
this committee by the families, that they just don't understand how the 
watch dog can investigate themselves when their family members died in 
these mines. They want somebody else to take a look at it. They want 
somebody else to see whether or not it was done properly or not, and 
that is out in this provision.
  It also limits the family participation. Why is it that the victims 
aren't able to testify and to participate and understand the design of 
the investigation? They are excluded from this process today. These are 
family members, these are victims of the disaster, these are taxpayers, 
and they're told, Just stand on the side, we'll tell you what happened. 
In many instances, they know more about what happens because when their 
spouses come home from work, they talk to them about what is wrong in 
the mines, what's dangerous, about their fear of going to work. So we 
provided an ombudsman so that that could happen. They should also be 
part of that investigation.
  We think it's very important that this amendment be defeated because 
it wipes out, it guts those provisions of the law that we envision in 
this legislation that are so important to those miners and to their 
families. We cannot do what we have done in the past and assume that we 
can just leave this to the Mine Safety Health Administration. They 
essentially did nothing for 8 years.
  Now, tragically, year after year those mining families are paying the 
price for that. That must come to an end. That is what this legislation 
does. This amendment destroys the ability of this legislation to 
provide that margin of safety to the miners and to their families, and 
I urge a ``no'' vote on the Wilson amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline), a ranking and 
valued member of the Education and Labor Committee.
  Mr. KLINE of Minnesota. I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.
  Mr. Chairman, like my colleague from South Carolina, I rise today in 
strong support of mine safety and in opposition to the base bill. 
Rather than supporting this flawed bill, I would ask Members to support 
the Wilson/Kline amendment. This amendment is a sensible alternative 
that will enhance mine safety without undoing the significant reforms 
already underway. During the numerous hearings we have held in the 
Education and Labor Committee on mining issues, one thing we have heard 
frequently from miners themselves and from their family members and 
from their representatives is that when it comes to mines and mine 
safety, it is the men and women who go into the mines every day that 
know best.
  I would like to focus my comments today, first, on one particular 
aspect of our amendment, and that is to engage miners in their own 
safety. Our amendment recognizes that miners themselves do know best 
and seeks to ensure that mine owners and operators are allowed to avail 
themselves of the knowledge, experience, and talents of their 
employees. To that end, this amendment would allow mine operators to 
incorporate meaningful employee involvement in safety committees, which 
include representatives of workers and mine operators, and work 
together to ensure that the safest workplace conditions are possible.
  Although cooperation between miners and mine operators seems obvious, 
if not imperative, it is, unfortunately, not always a reality. Under 
archaic provisions of Federal labor law, too often employer-employee 
safety committees that actually do something have been found to run 
afoul of Depression-era mandates.
  Mr. Chairman, we are no longer living in the 1930s, and neither 
should our laws. Nearly 2 years ago, we began to bring the mining 
industry into the 21st century by considering and enacting the MINER 
Act. Though it is not yet fully implemented, that law is already 
working. Today, my colleague Mr. Wilson and I are offering an amendment 
that builds on the MINER Act, rather than tearing it down.

                              {time}  1415

  A key element of our plan is to ensure that antiquated laws don't get 
in the way of mine worker safety. In fact, our amendment is based on 
the eminently sensible TEAM Act which was considered by this Congress 
some years ago and would have provided for safer workplaces for all 
employees, not just miners.
  I don't know that anyone can argue that safety committees in mines 
should not make full use of their workers' wisdom and experience. For 
that reason, I urge my colleagues to support the Wilson/Kline amendment 
as a commonsense, pro-miner alternative. Use of miner-involved safety 
committees is just one element of our substitute, but I believe it 
accurately captures our goal of enhancing safety while maintaining 
momentum of the MINER Act.
  I have been interested today to listen to the proponents of the bill 
and the opponents of our amendment talk about the importance of 
breathable air and getting these containers into the mines, but I don't 
understand if the chamber is not available, what is the mine supposed 
to do while we are waiting what is admittedly 6 months or 12 months for 
the chamber to arrive? The base bill is so prescriptive, it prevents 
any alternative to the prescribed chamber, and those chambers are 
simply not available. I really wish we had the answer to that question.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such 
time I may consume.
  Just in response to the question that was asked, the whole point is 
the chambers are not available. We are asking that they put 96 hours of 
air available in canisters until such time as the refuge chambers are 
available. Currently now, apparently if you order a chamber, you are 
considered to be in compliance. No new air has come into that mine. No 
new resources of air are available. Nothing is available to the miner, 
but you are in compliance with the law.
  We saw miners lose their lives because they simply ran out of air. 
They weren't killed in the explosion. They weren't killed in a slide. 
They weren't killed in a roof collapse. They ran out of air.
  So what we are saying is we appreciate that you have gone ahead and 
you have ordered the chambers because you have made the decision to put 
the chambers in. Until such time as they are there, we ought to provide 
that kind of margin of safety. One is not inconsistent with the other.
  Mr. KLINE of Minnesota. If the gentleman will yield for just a 
minute, I think that they are. I don't understand where that air is 
supposed to come from. The SCSRs are not available. Those are on back 
order. Refuge chambers are not available. They are on back order. What 
are these miners supposed to do?
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. These are air cylinders that are 
readily available. These are not the individual-sized packs that we 
deal with here in terms of inspections that didn't work in the Sago 
Mine. Canisters of air are readily available all throughout American 
society. We just say you should

[[Page H69]]

put some in the mines so people can use them.
  Then let me just say the question that is raised here, currently the 
law allows for employer and employee involvement in safety issues. 
Many, many organizations and businesses have these committees. But we 
want those committees to remain independent.
  This suggests that somehow the employer should select those employees 
to engage in those discussions. We think that the workers ought to be 
able to do that and do it independently so that, in fact, they can have 
a true discussion about the conditions and the safety of the mines and 
not be establishing unilateral committees to make those determinations.
  The fact of the matter is, where people have these employer-employee 
safety committees, very often the efficiency of the mines improves, the 
productivity of the mines improves and the safety improves, and we 
think that that is the model that ought to be continued.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon), the 
distinguished ranking member of the Education and Labor Committee.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise 
in strong support of the Wilson/Kline amendment to preserve bipartisan 
mine safety reforms.
  The S-MINER Act is based on a flawed premise. It begins by abandoning 
the widely supported mine safety reforms enacted in 2006. Rather than 
building on the progress that has been made, the S-MINER Act brings 
those bipartisan reforms to a screeching halt.
  Republicans have a better way. The Wilson/Kline amendment strikes the 
appropriate balance between strengthening mine safety and maintaining 
the widely supported reforms enacted less than 2 years ago.
  First and foremost, the substitute underscores the importance of the 
MINER Act reforms and restates our commitment to seeing them 
implemented fully and forcefully. Our substitute builds on those 
reforms rather than tearing them down.
  Among the most important steps taken in the Republican substitute is 
the effort to fully, more fully engage the miners in mine safety. 
During the Education and Labor Committee's consideration of this bill, 
Representative Kline offered an amendment that, like our substitute, 
would empower miners by directly involving them in the development of 
safety policies and procedures through the formation of safety teams. 
Currently, nonunionized miners may be prohibited from working with 
management to promote safety through teams.
  Mine safety is too important an issue to fall victim to the politics 
of unionization. Every miner should have the opportunity to work 
cooperatively with the mine operator to promote their own safety and 
the safety of those with them in the mines.
  To further protect miners, the Republican substitute calls for a 
strong program of drug testing. In fact, the Republican plan is the 
only proposal that offers drug testing. Representative Boucher is 
proposing drug rehabilitation, an important first step, but one that 
will be incomplete without testing. Indeed, Representative Boucher's 
own State of Virginia has taken a leadership role on requiring drug 
testing in the mines, something the Federal Government should require 
as well.
  Sadly, the proposal offered in the manager's package would do even 
less, calling for just a study of drug abuse among miners. No one here 
seems to object to drug testing for professional baseball players. An 
entire hearing was devoted to the topic of drug use in Major League 
Baseball just yesterday, yet not a single hearing has been held to 
explore the problem of drug abuse among miners. And when our friend, 
the late Representative Charlie Norwood, had the courage to call for 
drug testing in miners in years past, he was rebuked for daring to draw 
attention to this pervasive problem.
  I am pleased we are finally acknowledging this problem among miners, 
but I want to be clear; anything short of the Republican plan for drug 
testing fails to fully protect miners.
  Finally, our substitute recognizes some of the very specific issues 
brought to light with the tragic collapse of the Crandall Canyon Mine 
in August of 2007. To address those issues, it would improve 
communication between MSHA and the Bureau of Land Management, study the 
conditions the next generation of miners will face with deep mine 
conditions and retreat mining using pillar removal, and clarify how 
information is to be disseminated in the event of a tragedy.
  I urge my colleagues to preserve bipartisan mine safety reforms by 
supporting the Wilson/Kline amendment.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from West Virginia, Mr. Rahall.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished chairman for 
yielding, and I rise in opposition to this Republican substitute.
  Pure and simple, the substitute kills the bill. It guts all of the 
bill's health and safety protections that the committee has worked so 
long and hard on and upon which the committee has heard expert 
testimony and heard testimony from our Nation's coal miners. So the 
fact that this legislation has been developed as it has shows that the 
committee has utmost in its consideration the protection of the health, 
safety and well-being of our Nation's coal miners.
  This Republican substitute requires a one-size-fits-all mandatory 
drug testing program, for example, with a national blacklist of miners. 
It creates company dominated safety committees to stifle miners' 
voices; whereas, the committee bill, crafted as well as it has been, 
does allow for all sides to be represented in these safety committee 
deliberations. That is most important, because it is important that 
these committees have the involvement of coal miners that are on the 
job working, those who know the mines and the particular features of 
each mine, because, as we all know, not all coal mines are structured 
in the same fashion.
  It is worthy to note as well that all of those that work in our 
Nation's mines, the United Mine Workers of America, the AFL, the Food 
and Commercial Workers, all of our Nation's unions that are concerned 
with the health and safety of our coal miners, oppose this Republican 
substitute amendment.
  So, as I conclude, I say to my colleagues, just remember, this is an 
effort to gut the bill, pure and simple, and we all know that this bill 
still has a process through which it has to travel, including the other 
body. And if the administration cannot see in its wisdom and compassion 
to sign the bill, then certainly we have a basis upon which to proceed 
for further safety measures in the next Congress. I would urge 
rejection of this Republican substitute.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I urge the strongest consideration of 
the Wilson/Kline amendment. I would like to point out that it would 
provide for full implementation of the MINER Act of June 2006. 
Additionally, it has the provisions, as well explained by Congressman 
McKeon of California, the provisions and concerns of the late 
Congressman Charlie Norwood of Georgia, providing for drug testing are 
included.
  As I conclude today, I would like to read and summarize an op-ed 
which was in the Lexington Herald Leader, a McClatchy newspaper. This 
op-ed was printed on November 26, 2007: ``New mining bill premature.'' 
The author is Rick Honaker. Professor Honaker is the Mining 
Foundation's distinguished professor and chairman of the University of 
Kentucky Department of Mining Engineering.
  Professor Honaker says, ``Eliminating coal mine accidents is an 
achievable goal. In recent years we have seen a dramatic decline in 
fatalities at the Nation's 550 underground mines, though the tragic 
accident earlier this year at a mine in Utah underscores some of the 
serious problems we face.
  ``But Congress has gotten ahead of itself. However well-intentioned, 
it is considering new legislation before the industry has been able to 
implement and assess the effectiveness of a major mine safety law 
passed last year.
  ``It seems very strange, almost incomprehensible, that a move is 
afoot in

[[Page H70]]

Congress to impose an entirely new set of requirements on coal mine 
operators and mine inspectors, even before there has been an 
opportunity to comply with the far-reaching provisions of the MINER 
Act. It threatens to disrupt the all-important emergency rescue 
provisions of the law.
  ``That process will require more work from the coal community, not 
more laws from Congress. Rather than leap into an abyss with new 
legislation, let's give mine safety and health experts an opportunity 
to implement the existing law.''
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise to reiterate my strong opposition to this 
legislation. I believe that it does eliminate most of the very 
important provisions in the underlying bill and the manager's amendment 
to ensure that we increase the margins of safety for miners and for 
their families. We should not give up that opportunity to this 
substitute, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the Wilson/Kline 
amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chairman announced that the 
noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from South 
Carolina will be postponed.


                  Announcement by the Acting Chairman

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings 
will now resume on those amendments printed in House Report 110-508 on 
which further proceedings were postponed, in the following order: 
Amendment No. 1 by Mr. George Miller of California;
  Amendment No. 2 by Mr. Boucher of Virginia;
  Amendment No. 3 by Mr. Ellsworth of Indiana;
  Amendment No. 4 by Mr. Wilson of South Carolina.
  The first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. 
Remaining electronic votes will be conducted as 5-minute votes.


       Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. George Miller of California

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California 
(Mr. George Miller) on which further proceedings were postponed and on 
which the noes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 234, 
noes 183, not voting 18, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 5]

                               AYES--234

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E.B.
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Norton
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--183

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Moran (KS)
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--18

     Baca
     Baker
     Berkley
     Christensen
     Culberson
     Faleomavaega
     Forbes
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Honda
     Hunter
     Jefferson
     Lantos
     Meeks (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Paul
     Shimkus
     Tanner

                              {time}  1455

  Messrs. SOUDER, SENSENBRENNER, and CANTOR changed their vote from 
``aye'' to ``no.''
  Messrs. LIPINSKI and JONES of North Carolina changed their vote from 
``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                 Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Boucher

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Boucher) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.

[[Page H71]]

  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 364, 
noes 53, not voting 18, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 6]

                               AYES--364

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carter
     Castle
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Cole (OK)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Fallin
     Farr
     Fattah
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Fortenberry
     Frank (MA)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (NY)
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kucinich
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Norton
     Nunes
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pearce
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NOES--53

     Akin
     Barrett (SC)
     Bilbray
     Bonner
     Broun (GA)
     Burton (IN)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Chabot
     Coble
     Conaway
     Deal (GA)
     Duncan
     Everett
     Feeney
     Flake
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gingrey
     Hall (TX)
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Issa
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Lamborn
     Linder
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Marchant
     McHenry
     Miller (FL)
     Musgrave
     Pence
     Poe
     Price (GA)
     Radanovich
     Rohrabacher
     Royce
     Sali
     Sensenbrenner
     Shadegg
     Stearns
     Tancredo
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Weldon (FL)
     Westmoreland

                             NOT VOTING--18

     Baca
     Baker
     Berkley
     Christensen
     Culberson
     Faleomavaega
     Forbes
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Honda
     Hunter
     Jefferson
     Lantos
     Meeks (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Paul
     Shimkus
     Tanner


                  Announcement by the Acting Chairman

  The Acting CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised 2 minutes 
remain.

                              {time}  1502

  Mr. HALL of Texas and Mr. WELDON of Florida changed their vote from 
``aye'' to ``no.''
  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Ellsworth

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Indiana 
(Mr. Ellsworth) on which further proceedings were postponed and on 
which the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 416, 
noes 0, not voting 19, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 7]

                               AYES--416

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carter
     Castle
     Castor
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Christensen
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cohen
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Everett
     Fallin
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Flake
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hobson
     Hodes
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Jordan
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kucinich
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mack
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Mica
     Michaud
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha

[[Page H72]]


     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Neugebauer
     Norton
     Nunes
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sali
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tancredo
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Walz (MN)
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--19

     Baca
     Baker
     Berkley
     Culberson
     Faleomavaega
     Forbes
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Honda
     Hunter
     Jefferson
     Lantos
     Lewis (CA)
     Meeks (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Paul
     Reichert
     Shimkus
     Tanner


                  Announcement by the Acting Chairman

  The Acting CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised there are 
2 minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1508

  So the amendment was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


        Amendment No. 4 Offered by Mr. Wilson of South Carolina

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Wilson) on which further proceedings were postponed and 
on which the noes prevailed by voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The Acting CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 188, 
noes 229, not voting 18, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 8]

                               AYES--188

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan
     Keller
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--229

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Castor
     Chandler
     Christensen
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Norton
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--18

     Baca
     Baker
     Berkley
     Culberson
     Faleomavaega
     Forbes
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Honda
     Hunter
     Jefferson
     Lantos
     Meeks (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Paul
     Shimkus
     Souder
     Tanner


                  Announcement by the Acting Chairman

  The Acting CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised there are 
2 minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1516

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia and Mr. GILCHREST changed their vote from 
``aye'' to ``no.''
  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Stated for:
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 8, had I been present, I 
would have voted ``aye.''
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. The question is on the committee amendment in 
the nature of a substitute, as amended.
  The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, 
was agreed to.
  The Acting CHAIRMAN. Under the rule, the Committee rises.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Capuano) having assumed the chair, Mr. Pastor, Acting Chairman of the 
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that 
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2768) to 
establish improved mandatory standards to protect minders during 
emergencies, and

[[Page H73]]

for other purposes, pursuant to House Resolution 918, he reported the 
bill back to the House with an amendment adopted in the Committee of 
the Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is 
ordered.
  Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment 
reported from the Committee of the Whole? If not, the question is on 
the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.


                Motion to Recommit Offered by Mr. Souder

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
  Mr. SOUDER. I am.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Souder moves to recommit the bill, H.R. 2768, to the 
     Committee on Education and Labor with instructions to report 
     the bill back to the House promptly with the following 
     amendment:
       Page 22, after line 22, insert the following:
       (n) Substance Abuse Testing.--Title II is further amended 
     by adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 208. SUBSTANCE ABUSE TESTING.

       ``(a) Testing Program.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of the S-MINER Act, the Secretary shall 
     promulgate regulations pursuant to section 101(a) to require 
     the operator of each mine to institute a program to conduct 
     mandatory, random substance abuse testing of mine employees. 
     Such regulations shall be no less restrictive than 
     regulations issued by other Federal and State agencies which 
     impose mandatory substance abuse testing and shall provide 
     for--
       ``(1) mandatory substance abuse testing procedures;
       ``(2) a process for the random selection of those employees 
     to be tested;
       ``(3) the protection of individuals' rights and privacy;
       ``(4) the establishment of an Employee Assistance Program; 
     and
       ``(5) for purposes of subsection (b), a process for mine 
     operators to notify the Administration of the names of 
     individuals who test positive for substance abuse.
       ``(b) Registry.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of the S-MINER Act, the Secretary shall promulgate 
     regulations creating a registry of those found to have tested 
     positive for substance abuse for the sole purpose of sharing, 
     on a confidential basis, with State authorities responsible 
     for issuance of licenses, certification, permits, or other 
     documents required to seek employment in the mining 
     industry.''.

  Mr. SOUDER (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
to suspend with the reading.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Indiana?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Indiana is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, in our discussion about how to achieve 
safety in our Nation's mines, there's one issue that, until today, has 
been conspicuously absent: drug testing. Our late colleague from 
Georgia, Charlie Norwood, had the courage to introduce mine safety 
legislation with a drug testing requirement, only to be criticized for 
``blaming the victim.'' I would argue that drug testing prevents 
victims.
  Now, claims have been made that the Federal Government is not moving 
fast enough to implement safety changes, that the States are more 
nimble. In this instance, the other side may have a point. On the issue 
of drug testing, I believe the Federal Government ought to be following 
the States' lead.
  The Commonwealth of Virginia initiated a drug testing requirement in 
April 2006. Since then, there have been no mining fatalities in 
Virginia last year, and just in southwest Virginia they had 278 the 
previous year, more than they've had homicides, not in coal mining but 
in drug overdoses.
  The State of Kentucky passed a drug testing law last year, and coal 
mining deaths in that State are now at an all-time low. Some 433 miners 
were suspended for positive drug test results. It's just been possible 
that a disaster has been averted because of the new drug testing law.
  Yet inexplicably, the same Democrats who champion this misguided 
legislation because they want to move more quickly on some reforms are 
proposing that we stall action on drug testing until we can do a study. 
We don't need a study. The evidence is right here, a front page article 
in The Washington Post detailing what has happened in Virginia and the 
problems in mining. The devastating impact of drug abuse was brought 
into sharp focus in that story.
  Some may also claim in the response here that this would kill the 
bill. This obviously would not kill the bill. It would go back to 
committee. The committee would then pass an amendment, and it could be 
back on the floor later this week. It's not like we're busy. We're 
adjourning again in mid-afternoon. This could easily go back to 
committee and come back later this week.
  Drug and alcohol testing is a commonsense safety measure that 
protects both abusers of these substances and those around them. It has 
the noted benefits of reducing accidents, cutting sick leave, improving 
attendance, and increasing productivity.
  The testing program in this motion to recommit is based on the 
Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991, which I helped 
draft when I was a staffer in the Senate, which requires drug and 
alcohol testing of safety-sensitive transportation employees in 
aviation, trucking, railroads, mass transit, pipelines, and other 
transportation industries.
  Our Nation's laws do not allow the people driving the trucks filled 
with coal away from the mine to abuse drugs or alcohol. Why would we 
not ensure that the men driving heavy machinery in the mine are not 
impaired?
  If this body has spent valuable time investigating Major League 
Baseball and its drug testing policy, and I serve on that committee and 
I support Congressman Waxman's efforts to requiring testing of Major 
League Baseball players, why wouldn't we do that in mining?
  I helped draft the first legislation for drug testing in high school 
athletes. It's been upheld by the courts, and we've passed that 
numerous times in this House and the Senate. Why wouldn't we do it for 
mine safety if we do it for high school athletes?
  I worked on the Small Business Committee with then-Chairman Jim 
Talent, where we passed the Drug Workplace Act and heard testimony over 
and over from unions and management about how this can help people who 
have drug abuse to get addiction treatment. And I voted for the 
amendment that put more money in for addiction treatment, which is very 
important, but you have to have drug testing. It's part of getting 
people treated and to do prevention.
  This will be a very clear vote. We have plenty of studies. We have 
mountains of studies. We have evidence that when we do this in schools 
it keeps people from falling victim to drug abuse and from having 
accidents. When we do it in the workplace, when we do it in 
transportation, drug testing works.
  This is a clean vote. There aren't any excuses. We can bring this 
back to the floor yet this week. We can pass this, and this will be as 
clean a vote as you can get on this motion to recommit.
  I urge you to support drug testing, to support safety, to get people 
into treatment, to keep mine disasters from occurring, and I urge my 
colleagues to vote with me ``yes'' on the motion to recommit to ensure 
strong safety protections and mandatory drug testing.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to 
the motion to recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, over this weekend we 
were treated to a very sad and disturbing story in the Washington Post 
about drug use in the mining community in Virginia and other States, 
about miners who have been crushed by equipment in the mines, who have 
been crushed in roof falls in the mine, who had been run over by other 
equipment in the mine, whose bodies were wracked with pain, who got 
addicted to painkillers, to OxyContin, to other drugs such as that, 
prescription drugs, and then were struggling with their addiction.
  There was also the story of a miner who got up every night at 
midnight,

[[Page H74]]

fixed himself a quick meal, and drove 135 miles round trip before he 
went to work so he could get his methadone treatment at the clinic and 
get on his job, and do that with the knowledge of his employer, 
struggling with his addiction, struggling to stay employed.
  In this bill, we had the opportunity to address this situation. Rick 
Boucher, our colleague, addressed it by authorizing with almost 
unanimous support $10 million for treatment and to work with these 
miners, that the Secretary can use.
  We have suggested an amendment in the manager's amendment, which you 
voted for, which says that the Secretary will spend 6 months to work 
with the industry, to work with the miners, to work with the States. 
Virginia has a program. Kentucky has a program. West Virginia does not. 
Pennsylvania apparently does not. Indiana does not. Illinois does not. 
The Secretary will work with them to see how they're doing it, the best 
way to do it, and at the end of that 6 months, after those 
consultations, after her study, to impose a drug program with drug 
testing and treatment and rehabilitation.
  How is that different than what is being offered here by my 
colleagues on the other side? They impose drug testing, and then they 
impose a blacklist for those who test positive. You want to talk about 
baseball? You're being a hell of a lot harder on hardworking miners in 
this country than you are on the baseball stars because they use drugs, 
and they go to work every day and nobody says anything.
  But a miner who's been crushed on the job, who's trying to provide 
for their families, tests positive, we don't know if it's a false 
positive. They don't make allowances for false positives. He gets on 
the blacklist and he may never work again.
  Rick Boucher had a better idea. Our committee had a better idea. Have 
the Secretary work with the States and the companies and the mining 
industries and the miners and the unions and say how can we best do 
this because I'm going to do it. So what's the best way for us to do 
this.
  So many of you from both sides of the aisle during the consideration 
of this bill have said to me one thing over and over again: Will you 
work with the companies? Will you work with the companies? Now, along 
comes drug testing, nobody says work with the companies. Nobody says 
work with the unions. Nobody says work with the community health 
facilities. They just say test them and list them.
  What the hell kind of thing is that to do to hardworking people in 
one of the most dangerous industries? We've had spouses come to this 
committee and talk about the fear in their spouses at night when they 
come home from work and before they leave, the fear that these miners 
have of going into that workplace.
  In that article, one of the miners said he takes drugs and he used to 
drink because he's fighting, he hates the job. Some of them love the 
job in that article. They said, This is my life, mining. Digging coal 
is what I do best, but my legs have been crushed, my arm has been 
crushed.
  Let's give them testing. Let's give them treatment, and let's give 
them some understanding of the kind of industry that they're in. We 
benefit, we burn the coal, we run the economy, and these families live 
in fear.

                              {time}  1530

  This is a very good bill. This is a very good bill. We should not 
suggest for a moment that because there is no link between the 
tragedies of the mining accidents last year and the year before, that 
drugs were involved at all. We have a nutty owner in Utah, but we're 
not going to test him. We're not going to test that owner, who is 
running around giving all these false reasons to these poor victims and 
their families as to what happened.
  So yes, you can talk about baseball. But at the end of the day, those 
baseball players, just as they did last season and next season, they'll 
be playing. And they'll get a warning, and they'll get treatment. And 
they'll get a second warning, and they'll get treatment. These guys get 
a test and a list. It's unfair. It's outrageous. And you should not 
support it.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to recommit.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair 
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on 
the question of passage.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 197, 
noes 217, not voting 16, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 9]

                               AYES--197

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carney
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gilchrest
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Marshall
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--217

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd (FL)
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gillibrand
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes

[[Page H75]]


     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tancredo
     Tauscher
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--16

     Baca
     Baker
     Berkley
     Culberson
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Honda
     Hunter
     Jefferson
     Kingston
     Lantos
     Meeks (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Paul
     Shimkus
     Tanner

                              {time}  1548

  Mr. RANGEL and Mrs. LOWEY changed their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Mr. TAYLOR changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the motion to recommit was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 214, 
nays 199, not voting 17, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 10]

                               YEAS--214

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berman
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Graves
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Higgins
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--199

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachmann
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Lincoln
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Hall (TX)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Lampson
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Melancon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Pearce
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh (NY)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield (KY)
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman (VA)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--17

     Baca
     Baker
     Berkley
     Culberson
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Honda
     Hunter
     Jefferson
     Kingston
     Lantos
     Meeks (NY)
     Miller, Gary
     Olver
     Paul
     Shimkus
     Tanner


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. DeGette) (during the vote). Members are 
advised that there are 2 minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1556

  Mr. McCOTTER changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated against:
  Mr. GRAVES. Madam Speaker, on rollcall vote 10, the S-MINER Act, I 
voted ``yea'' when I intended to vote ``nay.'' I apologize for any 
confusion and ask that the Record reflect my true intention.

                          ____________________