[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 59 (Tuesday, April 15, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                      HONORING JENNIFER JOY WILSON

 Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Jennifer Joy 
Wilson. For the past decade, Ms. Wilson has served first as the head of 
the National Stone Association, and then after the merger of two 
similar groups, as the president and CEO of the National Stone, Sand & 
Gravel Association, NSSGA. Based in Alexandria, VA, NSSGA is the 
world's largest mining association by product volume. Its member 
companies represent more than 90 percent of the crushed stone and 70 
percent of the sand and gravel produced annually in the United States 
and approximately 118,000 working men and women in the aggregates 
industry. During 2006, a total of about 2.95 billion metric tons of 
crushed stone, sand and gravel, valued at $21 billion, were produced 
and sold in the United States.
  This year Ms. Wilson has been given the distinguished honor of being 
selected as AggMan of the Year by Aggregates Manager magazine, one of 
the construction aggregates industry's leading trade publications.
  During her tenure, the NSSGA led an effort to improve employee safety 
in the aggregate industry by developing new safety procedures, called 
Part 46, for the U.S. Mine Safety & Health Administration, MSHA. The 
joint industry-labor effort produced a proposal ``that would apply 
better to our industry and provide managers and workers with effective 
means to prevent accidents and fatalities.'' By all accounts, Part 46 
has shown remarkable success in reducing employee injuries.
  On February 11, 2003, an alliance between NSSGA and MSHA was 
announced. Signed at the NSSGA's Centennial Convention in Orlando, FL, 
the agreement calls for the two bodies to work closely together on the 
promotion of safe working conditions, the development of effective 
miner training programs, and the expansion of the mine safety and 
health outreach and communication. ``For the first time ever, MSHA and 
an industry association have jointly agreed to adopt safety and health 
performance goals with objective measures,'' then MSHA Administrator 
Dave Lauriski said during that meeting. ``This alone is unprecedented . 
. . NSSGA is again showing its leadership.''
  On the environmental front, Ms. Wilson led the industry in investing 
in a study ``righting an assumption we just didn't believe was right.'' 
Through the efforts of the association and its members, it was 
determined that the aggregates industry is not a major emitter of PM-
10--a particular type of air pollutant. The final regulations reflected 
the investment by the industry in recognizing that aggregate operations 
are not a major source of coarse particulate matter.
  Considering almost half of all crushed stone, sand and gravel 
produced in the United States is used for building the Nation's 
transportation infrastructure, Ms. Wilson has led her members in 
establishing a strong grassroots presence connecting the industry's 
workforce with their elected officials while increasing their activity 
on Capitol Hill. Leveraging the association's resources, Ms. Wilson has 
also worked closely with industry coalitions to advocate for sound and 
sensible transportation policies.
  Ms. Wilson has also worked to raise awareness of the public, 
legislators, and of regulators at all levels to the immeasurably 
important role aggregates play in maintaining America's high quality of 
life. She calls this effort ``romancing the stone'' which includes her 
leadership in establishing The Rocks gallery at the Smithsonian's 
National Museum of Natural History and creating a permanent endowment 
to support the gallery, all totaling more than $3.1 million.
  Many people have been able to take credit for industry 
accomplishments, but selection as AggMan of the Year denotes something 
not everyone can lay claim to--respect of one's peers. For this reason 
I stand here today to take a moment and congratulate a woman who has 
done so much for America and the good people in the aggregates industry 
all the while earning their respect.

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