Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006

MINE IMPROVEMENT AND NEW EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 07, 2006)

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the MINER Act.

Mr. Speaker, I am the proud representative of 21 coal producing counties and 15,000 Kentucky miners stretching along the Appalachian coal seam in eastern Kentucky. These are good paying jobs in challenging economic areas, generational jobs passed down through families and neighbors for years, requiring training, education and, most importantly, hard work. Anyone who has been in these mines a mile underground, as some of us have, knows that underground mining also comes with a great amount of risk.

My constituents have and are willing to take those risks in order to provide for their families. By also to provide the Nation the coal that we need to keep our homes warm and economic engines running. These risks and the dangers of coal mining have been brought directly into the living room televisions of many Americans over last 6 months. In my district it has been much closer to home. The Holmes Mills tragedy in Harlan County, Kentucky, underscores the need for comprehensive mine safety legislation that provides critically needed protections for miners and strengthens the Federal Government's ability to enforce safety regulations now.

We have not had comprehensive mine safety reform in the country for decades. Technology has changed, communication equipment has changed, our laws have not changed. With that said and with our thoughts and prayers still with the families touched by these accidents, Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my coal State colleagues in support of this MINER Act.

First, I want to thank Chairman NORWOOD and Chairman MCKEON for working together with the majority leader to move mine safety legislation now, not later, not next year, not next month, not after some conference committee where the Senate sits on it for 6 months but now, and I thank them for that. We should not delay one more day putting into place requirements to further protect these brave miners going even as we speak into the dark of these mines.

This bill honors the brave men, 11 in Kentucky and in my district this year who have died in mine-related accidents. They are not forgotten. Mining has always been a dangerous occupation and make no mistake, this legislation will not make mining injury free, but it does go a long way toward that end. With this legislation we reaffirm our commitment to seeing miners have the proper training, rescue equipment, communications devices and plans in place should an accident occur.

I have met with industry leaders, met with the miners, and everyone agrees there is room for measured and achievable improvement. This bill strikes a reasonable compromise and seeks to put the best available technology in the hands of our mining men and women while encouraging development of new technologies.

The Senate wisely moved this legislation quickly and unopposed, and I hope we do the same here. I am particularly pleased the bill includes some of these provisions. One, it requires the use of wireless two-way communications and tracking systems within 3 years. It requires each mine's emergency response plan to continuously be reviewed, updated and recertified by MSHA every 6 months. It also gives MSHA the power to request an injunction, that is to say, shut down a mine in cases where the mine has refused to pay a final order or MSHA penalty.

It would require rescue teams to be close to mines and granted immunity. It would require each miner to have a minimum of 2 hours' supply of air and require storage of additional breathing devices along the escape routes from the mine.

These measures, Mr. Speaker, go straight to the trouble we have seen and should give comfort to our mining families. This legislation, Mr. Speaker, honors Kentucky's 17,000 hardworking coal miners, but all the others in the country as well who bravely go into the heart of the Earth to put bread on the table and to bring light into the lives of all Americans.

Our hats go off to these miners, and I urge that we pass this bill in their honor and in their memory.

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