With Vote On Mine Safety Bill Over, Miller Vows To Continue To Push For Protections For Miners

With Vote On Mine Safety Bill Over, Miller Vows To Continue To Push For Protections For Miners

After the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that reforms the nation's laws governing safety in coal mines, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) pledged today that he would continue to work to improve mine safety.

Since the tragedy at the Sago mine that killed 12 miners in January, Miller and Reps. Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Ben Chandler (D-KY) and other House Democrats have been pushing for Congress to pass new mine safety legislation. Miller said that the legislation approved in the House today was largely thanks to efforts from Rahall and Chandler and other mine safety advocates.

Miller said that today's bill was an improvement over current law, though he had sought three additional provisions that he believed would have strengthened the bill in crucial ways. He said today that he would continue to seek those and other improvements in mine safety. He said he would also continue to hold the Bush administration accountable when it fails to do everything in its power to keep miners safe. (In January, Miller issued a report that documents the Bush administration's failed record on enforcing mine safety laws).

"There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that miners can go home safe at the end of their shifts," said Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. "This has got to be the beginning of Congress' legislative efforts, not the end. The Bush administration has got to work keep miners safe, and the Congress has got to hold the administration accountable to ensure that it does its job."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ed31_democrats/RelJune8.html