Honoring Coal Miners and Rescue Crews in West Virginia

HONORING COAL MINERS AND RESCUE CREWS IN WEST VIRGINIA

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I wish to associate myself with the remarks of my distinguished senior senator, Mr. Byrd, and rise to ask my colleagues to take up and adopt our resolution honoring miners in West Virginia and throughout this country who work hard in dangerous situations to provide energy this Nation needs.

The attention of the world was focused on small towns in my State of West Virginia in the first two months of 2006. When 12 miners were found to have died in the Sago Mine in Upshur County in early January, the hopes and prayers of a global television audience were dashed along with those living the tragedy in the Sago Baptist Church.

Americans and our friends around the world tuned in again when miners became trapped by a belt fire in the Alma Mine in Logan County later in January. I was sitting with the families of the trapped miners when they heard the news we were all dreading. It was a profoundly sad and moving moment, one I will never forget, and an experience which I cannot do justice to here.

When tragedy struck again at two mines in Boone County it was almost more than any of us could bear. After these accidents, the Governor of my State of West Virginia, Joe Manchin, who has been a stalwart throughout these trying times, called for a temporary stand-down in West Virginia mines to reinforce and reinvigorate mine safety procedures. I was pleased to see that the Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, came into West Virginia in numbers to assist State officials, and later instituted a 1-hour safety refresher for all U.S. mines under its authority. In Pennsylvania, Governor Rendell emulated Governor Manchin in calling for renewed safety training for mines throughout the Commonwealth.

Mining, as we know, is an inherently dangerous profession, but it is a vital component in our Nation's economy. Without coal from Appalachia, the Illinois Basin, the Powder River Basin, and various other regions throughout the U.S., our economy shuts down. Coal provides more than half our electricity, and coal conversion technologies will soon allow America's most abundant mineral resource to provide transportation fuels and chemical feedstocks as well. If the United States of America is ever going to lessen its dependence on foreign sources of energy, you can be sure that the miners will lead the way. These are men and women who do a job most Americans understand little about, and until tragedy periodically reminds the Nation, most Americans probably do not even think about. Coal production is increasing across the country and around the world. Coal is on the rise, and safety has to be, too.

Mine safety has been very much in the thoughts of every West Virginian these first two months of 2006. In 2005, West Virginia lost miners also, as did Alabama, Ohio, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Mr. President, 2006 has already seen mine fatalities in Kentucky and Utah. As these tragedies show, and as MSHA's nationwide action and Governor Rendell's actions in Pennsylvania suggest, mine safety is a national issue and improving it must be a national priority.

http://thomas.loc.gov/