[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUNSHINE MINE FIRE

 Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, 50 years ago, on May 2, 1972, 91 
miners lost their lives when a fire broke out in the Sunshine Mine. 
Along with my colleague, Senator Mike Crapo, I rise today to honor 
those men and commemorate the worst mining disaster our State has ever 
seen.
  The Silver Valley mining heritage dates back to the 1860s. Whole 
generations of Silver Valley residents have worked in mines, with sons 
following their fathers and uncles into the mining tradition. As its 
name indicates, this area in North Idaho's Shoshone County is 
especially abundant in silver. Throughout its history, this region has 
produced over 1.2 billion ounces of silver, making it one of the 
richest silver-producing areas in the world.
  Mining has always been a dangerous job. While safety conditions in 
the mines have improved over the decades, the hazards of mining can be 
reduced, but never completely eliminated.
  Just before noon on May 2, 1972, a fire broke out on the air intake 
side of the Sunshine Mine as 173 miners worked underground. As the fire 
burned, the intake of air led carbon monoxide to fill the No. 10 
mineshaft. Eighty men were safely evacuated from that shaft before the 
death of the No. 10 shaft hoistman. After that, only two more men were 
rescued.
  The cause of the fire is still unknown, and in its wake, the Sunshine 
Mine shut down for 7 months before production resumed. It ceased 
operation in 2001, having produced over 360 million ounces of silver.
  The 91 men who died during this horrific incident left behind 77 
widows and 200 children, many of whom still reside in Kellogg and the 
surrounding area. The Sunshine Miners Memorial, which stands near where 
the mine was located, lists the name of each of the men killed along 
with a poem by former Governor Phil Batt commemorating the incident. 
Ken Lonn, a former Sunshine miner, sculpted the monument.
  The Sunshine Mine fire looms large in the region's memory, and every 
year on May 2, the people of the Silver Valley gather at this memorial 
to remember the tragedy. This year, Idaho Governor Brad Little has 
declared May 2 as Miners Memorial Day.
  We commemorate the tragic and untimely loss of these 91 men and the 
disaster's decades-long impact on the Silver Valley community. We 
commend the memorial committee for their efforts to preserve their 
legacy through maintenance of the memorial and by organizing the Miners 
Memorial Day ceremony. We hope all Idahoans will remember the events 
from May 2, 1972, and the men who went underground that morning but did 
not return.

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