House Grants Education and Labor Committee Deposition Authority Relating to Mine Health and Safety
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today granted the Education and Labor Committee the authority to compel witnesses to give depositions as part of the committee’s oversight into mine health and safety. “Last month, we watched as the tragic events unfolded at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. The memory of the 29 miners who lost their lives in that disaster must stand as a reminder of the work that remains to keep our nation’s miners safe,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the committee. “In the wake of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster and other tragedies, I am deeply concerned about how various coal mining conglomerates have encouraged or discouraged safe mining practices within their mines.”
The committee has standing authority to subpoena documentary evidence and to compel witnesses to appear at committee hearings. A deposition serves as an intermediate step between a full public hearing and an informal staff interview. It creates a formal record and allows the committee to explore issues in a more sustained manner than would be practical at a hearing.
While not unprecedented, the granting of deposition authority is rare. It has been granted to the committee once before, during the Crandall Canyon Mine investigation in the 110th Congress. That investigation led to a criminal referral to the Department of Justice, in large part because of evidence obtained in depositions.
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