[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           STACIE WALLS STORY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West 
Virginia (Mr. Jenkins) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the war on coal touches 
every family in my home State of West Virginia. Whether you are a miner 
or not, you feel the consequences of this administration's regulations 
that are shutting down our coal mines.
  Closing a coal mine doesn't just affect a miner and his family. It 
affects everyone in the community, from the small town mom-and-pop 
stores who depend on customers, to our schools that depend on tax 
revenue. A decline in coal hurts us all.
  Stacie Walls contacted me. She is a wife of a coal miner and a mother 
in Boone County. She sees the consequences firsthand.
  Here is what she wrote me: ``My husband has been laid off four times 
since last April.
  ``Because of the war on coal, my county is closing my son's school 
due to not having the coal tax to help keep it opened.
  ``My son's education is now going to suffer because of the war on 
coal. I've watched many families leave the State because they must find 
work.
  ``There are more `for sale' signs up than there are kids riding their 
bikes.''
  This, Mr. Speaker, is Stacie. This is Stacie's family. These are the 
true faces of the war on coal.
  West Virginia's families deserve peace of mind. It is time for the 
EPA to get off the backs of West Virginians and let them do the work 
that powers our Nation and puts food on our tables.
  I am working every day in Congress for our coal families, for all 
families. I believe in the future of West Virginia coal.
  President Obama must stop his war on coal, and we must pass policies 
that create jobs to ensure a future for West Virginians in West 
Virginia.

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