[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11968-11969]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           MINE SAFETY--HONORING THE MINERS OF HARLAN COUNTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, this day of June 20, 2006, marks the 1-month 
anniversary of the mining disaster in Harlan County, Kentucky, where 
five miners were killed in another mine accident.
  I started thinking about the history of Harlan County and in paying 
tribute to these five brave Americans wanted to place in the Record the 
fact that these miners are from a region of our country that has been 
home to generations of coal miners with entire communities dependent on 
the mines.
  While the coal mines have gotten somewhat safer with deaths steadily 
declining as a result of stricter safety laws passed by the Congress of 
the United States, coal mining remains one of our Nation's most 
dangerous professions.
  This year has been a particularly deadly year. Our Nation held its 
breath before learning of the 12 deaths at the Sago Mine in West 
Virginia, and then we mourned with the families in Harlan County, 
Kentucky, after learning of the deaths of five miners killed at the 
Darby Mine in May.
  With the year just half over, we have already seen 33 coal mining 
deaths 6 months into this year.

                              {time}  2210

  The names of Harlan County's most recent fatalities, Roy Middleton, 
Amon ``Cotton'' Brock, Jimmy D. Lee, and George William Petra and Paris 
Thomas, Jr., will now be added to a memorial honoring the ultimate 
sacrifice made by 1,200 coal miners that were killed in Harlan County 
since 1912.
  Harlan County has been the site of mammoth labor organizing battles 
between the United Mine Workers strike and the region's coal mining 
companies. The bloody strikes of the 1930s and 1973 earned Harlan 
County the nickname ``Bloody Harlan.'' Coal miners from this region 
know all too well the dangers of this dirty and dangerous business.
  The five miners from the Darby mine in Harlan County have joined 
another 104,574 miners that perished in our Nation's coal mines since 
1900. To put this into perspective, this number would be about 
equivalent to one-third of the entire population of the largest city I 
represent, Toledo, Ohio. And keep in mind this number only accounts for 
the actual deaths, not the countless others that have been maimed in 
our Nation's dangerous mines.
  On this 1-month anniversary of these horrific deaths, Congress can 
point to recently passed legislation. But you know, Mr. Speaker, a 
couple hours' oxygen won't solve the problem either. This act certainly 
strengthens the mine safety requirements enforced by the Mine Safety 
and Health Administration, but what good does the law do for a grieving 
widow or an orphaned child?
  As our Nation struggles with another coal mining tragedy, I would 
like to place into the Record an old coal mining song, ``Come All You 
Coal Miners,'' sung by Sarah Gunning. Hopefully, some of the words in 
this song will remind us of those who have laid down their lives for us 
and the other 110,000 miners that go into the mines every day in this 
country facing death every single one of those days.
  Some of the words of the song read: ``They take your very lifeblood, 
and they take our children's lives. They

[[Page 11969]]

take fathers away from children and husbands away from wives. Oh, 
miner, won't you organize wherever you may be and make this a land of 
freedom for workers like you and me.''
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).
  Ms. WATERS. Thank you very much. I appreciate all of the work that 
you have done and the attention that you have given to the coal mining 
issue, and the fact that you have been trying to get this Congress to 
focus in real and concrete ways. What has happened over the past year 
is just indescribable, and I think avoidable.
  We need to do all that you have told us over the past months that we 
need to do to ensure safety in the mines, and I just appreciate the 
fact that you are here representing not only the people in your 
district in all the ways that you do, but that you have once again 
focused your time and your energy on this very important issue.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you very much, Ms. Waters. I could have no one that 
I admire more in terms of her love of community and her complete 
dedication to those who don't have enough voice in this Congress of the 
United States. To have that compliment from you means a great deal to 
me this evening. Thank you.

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