Miller Statement on UMWA Upper Big Branch Report
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after the release of the United Mine Workers of America’s report on the April 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. Miller is coauthor of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act (H.R. 1579) and, as chairman, held the only congressional hearings into the tragedy that included the voices of the families and the miners of Upper Big Branch.
“Today, the third investigation has concluded that the deaths of 29 coal miners at Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine were completely preventable. The United Mine Workers report is consistent with other reports from the governor’s panel and MSHA’s preliminary findings, and highlights the devastating consequences of allowing some coal companies to operate beyond the margins of safety.
"The question for Congress is whether we will merely make pronouncements about the regrettable loss of life or will we finally act to fix the loopholes in the law that have been exposed since this tragedy. We owe it to memory of families of the Upper Big Branch mine and all other miners to act before another tragedy hits.”
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