Chairs Miller and Woolsey Statement on the West Virginia Mine Tragedy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, and U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), the chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, issued the following statement on yesterday’s tragic Upper Big Branch Mine Explosion in West Virginia.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and community who lost loved ones in yesterday’s mine tragedy and with those who still have loved ones trapped in the mine. We grieve the loss of the 25 brave men who descended into the mine yesterday only to perish in this tragic accident.
“Over the past few years, we have met too many family members who have suffered the tragic loss of loved ones in a mine disaster. On behalf of the committee, we promised them that we would do everything we could to learn the cause of these tragedies and to keep miners safe. Today, we extend this same promise to the families and community dealing with a devastating loss.
“Working with the Department of Labor and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, we intend to look into this tragedy and convene hearings at the appropriate time. However, the only job that matters right now is the job of reaching trapped miners while limiting, as much as possible, the risk to those brave rescuers.”
In February, the committee held a hearing on mine operators appealing mine safety citations at an alarming rate. For more information on the committee’s efforts on mine safety, click here.
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