[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 5, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2097-S2099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WEST VIRGINIA COAL MINERS

  Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise to mark the tragic occasion of 
the worst U.S. mining disaster in 40 years. A year ago today, 29 brave 
and patriotic men went underground to mine the coal that powers our 
great Nation. They didn't come back. Our entire Nation grieved with 
their families for their tremendous loss. I rise to honor

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their courage, sacrifice, and the extraordinary strength of their 
families.
  I want to say a few words about the proud men and women today who go 
underground and go unrecognized and make sure that our great Nation can 
keep the lights on. When some people see a coal miner walk out from 
underground, they see some someone who is tired, wearing dust-covered 
overalls, steel boots, carrying a hard hat and a dinner bucket, and 
they make a few flawed assumptions about the amount of education they 
may or may not have or that they had nowhere else to turn, that was the 
only job available. I wish everyone to know that those assumptions are 
dead wrong.
  West Virginia coal miners are the backbone of this country, providing 
the power for the lights in this Chamber, the steel and the machinery 
that built our country, the greatest industrial power in the world, the 
military that keeps us safe and free, and the energy for homes and 
businesses all over the country. West Virginia miners understand 
geology, mathematics and physics, the way a seam runs through the Earth 
and how to safely extract its bounty to make our country stronger. 
Above all, West Virginia miners are the salt of the Earth--patriotic, 
God-fearing, family loving and family oriented, and proud of their hard 
work. In our State we have always done the heavy lifting. We are very 
proud of what we have contributed to this country time and again--in 
times of war, times of peace, in times of prosperity, and in times of 
need. At a time when our Nation's attention and misplaced pity will 
again focus on coal miners because of the first anniversary of the 
worst mining disaster in the last 40 years, we West Virginians want the 
world to know we are proud of our coal mining heritage and our future.
  As West Virginia's former Governor, now U.S. Senator, I want to tell 
Americans not only about our sacrifice but also our dedication to our 
shared future. The miners of West Virginia and their families are the 
heart and soul of West Virginia and an inspiration for me and my 
family. We should all draw strength from the courage they have shown 
us.
  Allow me to turn to the terrible day a year ago. In remembering the 
Upper Big Branch disaster, my thoughts turn first to the families of 
the 29 miners who went to work that day on April 5, 2010, and didn't 
come home. In the days following the violent explosion, which remains 
under investigation today, I spent all day and every day for 5 days 
waiting to find out with the families if their loved ones were alive or 
dead. Those families and I stayed together at midnight and dawn, 
through moments of hope and despair, on pins and needles in the early 
days and in shared grief when the full scope of the devastation hit us 
as the rescuers didn't find any more survivors. We prayed together 
before and after each briefing. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance. We 
held each other and cried together. Restaurant owners donated food. Our 
own WVU coach Bob Huggins visited. And one young man, Nick Helms, whom 
I remember so well, whose father was killed in the Sago mining disaster 
in 2006, came down personally and offered his moral support from his 
firsthand experiences.

  In those days the unbreakable bonds of family became clear. One 
family alone lost three good men. I first told Charles and Linda Davis, 
the parents of Timmy and the grandparents of Cory and Josh. I told 
Tommy--and Tommy was another brother who had worked in the mine and 
just came off the shift. Tommy was the father of Cory. I also told 
Patty--large families--and Patty is the daughter of Linda and Charles, 
and she was Josh's mother. So in the mine we had Timmy, the uncle, and 
we had Josh and Cory. All three men had been found, but they perished. 
The first question I got from Tommy after I told his parents was: Were 
they all together?
  I said: Yes, they were.
  Tommy replied: I knew my brother Timmy would be taking care of the 
boys.
  That was not my State's first mining disaster or mine. When I was a 
young man, my only family went through the tragedy of the Farmington 
No. 9 explosion in 1968. Seventy-eight miners were killed that day. It 
left a searing impression on me. Of course, we didn't know right away 
how bad it would get. Everyone camped out at the company store. We were 
all waiting for any word before the authorities finally came and told 
us all that the decision had been made to seal the mine which 
essentially meant entombing all of them. In that disaster I lost my 
uncle, my next-door neighbor, some of my high school classmates. One of 
my strongest lessons that has stayed with me to this day is that 
waiting families should be systematically updated on the progress of 
the rescue operation. I know firsthand that a minute seems like an 
hour, an hour seems like a day, and a day seems like eternity. With 
consistent updates, waiting becomes a little more bearable.
  During my term as Governor, in the three tragedies we went through--
Sago and Aracoma in 2006, and last year at Upper Big Branch--we briefed 
the families every 2 hours. It was a cycle. We received a briefing from 
our authorities, then we briefed the families, then we told the media. 
It was a cycle we continued until the fate of all miners was known.
  We have learned a lot in West Virginia. After disasters at Sago and 
Aracoma, we enacted more safety measures in my term as Governor than in 
the 30 years before. We have become a leader in safety, and what we are 
implementing is being used across all types of mining, all over the 
country and around the world. The bottom line is that in our State, we 
won't tolerate intimidation from any person or company that puts 
profits ahead of safety. I truly believe that the single most important 
element in any mining operation is the men and women who work there 
every day. Under my watch, we empowered those individual miners and 
their families to take more ownership and control over their own safety 
without fear of retribution, with a 24-hour anonymous hotline to report 
unsafe conditions. Since May of last year we have had 86 calls. We 
responded.
  At the end of the day, though, the families, the people of West 
Virginia and all Americans need to know how this tragedy happened and 
what we must do to prevent anything this terrible from ever happening 
again. We are still waiting for the results of the Federal and State 
investigations as well as an independent report from my special 
appointed investigator J. Davitt McAteer, a West Virginia native and 
assistant secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration under 
President Bill Clinton. We will look at the results of their 
investigation to determine what happened, make certain it doesn't 
happen again, and determine whether anyone, through intimidation or 
otherwise, put profits ahead of safety and that the people responsible 
are held accountable.
  In the meantime I am cosponsoring a piece of legislation with Senator 
Jay Rockefeller, the Robert C. Byrd Mine and Workplace Safety and 
Health Act of 2011. It is designed to improve compliance with existing 
mine and occupational safety and health laws, empowering workers to 
raise safety concerns, prevent future mine and other workplace 
tragedies, and establish the rights of the families of victims of 
workplace accidents. Last week I spoke again to Tommy Davis, the man 
who lost his brother, his nephew, and his son at the Upper Big Branch 
mine. When I asked him what he was doing these days, Tommy gave me a 
simple answer: Joe, I am back in the mines. Tommy is proud to be a 
miner. And while he and all of us have much to mourn today, we also 
have the chance to honor the memories of the 29 dedicated men who died 
a year ago and their colleagues who continue their work with respect 
and dignity.
  Finally, Gayle and I and all West Virginians pray for continued 
strength and courage for the families who lost loved ones on this sad 
day a year ago. May God bless each one of them. May God bless the great 
State of West Virginia, and may God continue to bless the United States 
of America.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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