Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Worker Safety and Health
House GOP Block Effort to Restore Health and Safety Protections and Oversight at Nuclear Weapons Facilities
05.17.12 WASHINGTON - House Republicans rejected consideration of an amendment last night to the defense authorization bill to restore important health and safety protections for workers and residents who live near nuclear weapons facilities operated by the Department of Energy. The amendment, offered by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), would remove provisions of the Defense Authorization Act (HR 4310) that weaken a number of worker and public safet… Continue Reading
National Defense Authorization Act Threatens to Roll Back Safety Standards at Nuclear Sites
05.16.12 This week, the full House will debate two important amendments to last week’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) related to nuclear safety: one offered by Representatives Miller (CA), Visclosky (IN), and Sanchez (CA) to strike NDAA provisions that would erode safety standards and weaken oversight, and another offered by Rep. Smith (WA) that would strike provisions removing nuclear weapons from the Secretary of Energy’s jurisdiction. The Miller et al. amendment would protect the “adeq… Continue Reading
GAO Issues Report on Prevalence of Workplace Policies that May Discourage Injury and Illness Reporting
05.09.12 WASHINGTON - Workplace safety incentive programs and other policies in a majority of manufacturing worksites covering millions of workers have elements that may discourage the reporting of workplace related injuries and illnesses, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released today. GAO recommended that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issue new guidance to assist inspectors in identifying which safety incentives programs are eff… Continue Reading
New GAO Report: Burdensome OSHA Regulatory Process Costs Lives
04.19.12 WASHINGTON-Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Representative George Miller (D-CA), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) reacted to a new Government Accountability Office report on workplace safety, released at a HELP Committee hearing. The GAO compiled the report on burdensome rulemaking process the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) must use to regulate workplace safety, an… Continue Reading
Miller and Woolsey Statement on Two-Year Anniversary of the Upper Big Branch Mine Tragedy
04.05.12 WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and Rep. Lynn Woolsey, the senior Democrat on the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, issued the following statement today on the two-year anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 miners. Miller and Woolsey are coauthors of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act (H.R. 1579). As chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, Miller called the only cong… Continue Reading
Illegal Advanced Notice of Mine Inspections Still a Problem, Puts Lives in the Crosshairs, Rep. Miller says
03.29.12 WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today after the Mine Safety and Health Administration outlined recent incidents where mine operators and contractors provided unlawful advance notice of impending mine inspections in order to give enough time to cover up or fix hazardous conditions in mines before inspectors were able to arrive in the area where mining was being conducted. “Recent tro… Continue Reading
Congressional Action Needed to Prevent another Upper Big Branch Mine Tragedy, Experts tell House Panel
03.27.12 WASHINGTON - Nearly two years after the worst coal mine tragedy in four decades, witnesses told the House Education and the Workforce Committee today that Congress still needs to strengthen the law in order to keep miners safe on the job. In April 2010, a massive explosion ripped through the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, killing 29 miners. Since then, four investigations have concluded that the actions of owner of the mine, Massey Energy, caused the tragedy. “We recognize that the… Continue Reading
Crandall Canyon Criminal Charges Long Awaited, Congress’ Job to Protect Miners Remains Unfinished, says Rep. Miller
03.09.12 WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City announced two criminal misdemeanor charges against Genwal Resources, a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corporation, related to the Crandall Canyon Mine tragedy that killed six miners and three would-be rescuers in August 2007. Under the chairmanship of Miller, the Education and Labor Committee launched an investiga… Continue Reading
Miller Statement on MSHA Internal Report on the Upper Big Branch Mine Tragedy
03.06.12 WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today after the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) released a report looking into the agency’s actions leading up to the Upper Big Branch Mine tragedy in April 2010. “It is clear the entire system failed these 29 miners, from Congress’s failure to maintain adequate and experienced staffing at MSHA over the years, to the agency’s fai… Continue Reading
Miller Statement on Sentence of Ex-Mine Security Head of the Upper Big Branch Mine
03.01.12 WASHINGTON - Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement after the ex-mine security chief of Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine was sentenced to three years for lying to investigators about giving advanced notice for impending mine safety inspections and for ordering the destruction of evidence. “This conviction and sentence in West Virginia should send a strong message that those who break the law and put miners’… Continue Reading
Miller, Woolsey Statement on Upper Big Branch Report and Settlement
12.06.11 WASHINGTON - Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), leaders in mine safety in the U.S. House of Representatives, issued the following statements today after the release of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s accident investigation in the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 miners in April 2010. In conjunction with the MSHA report, a $209 million non-prosecution agreement was reached by the United States Attorney with Alpha Natural Resources, which acqui… Continue Reading
Miller: The 99%'s Lives Were Put in Danger While Massey and the 1% Walked Away with $195 Million
11.02.11 Below are the remarks of Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce, in a speech today on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding miner safety. Miller is coauthor of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act (H.R. 1579) and, as chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, held the only congressional hearings into the tragedy that included the voices of the families and the miners of Upper Big Branch. *** Mr. Speaker, … Continue Reading
Miller Statement on UMWA Upper Big Branch Report
10.25.11 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. “Tod… Continue Reading
GOP Proposal to Roll Back Protections will Put Workers in Unnecessary Danger
10.05.11 WASHINGTON - A Republican proposal to block some workplace safety protections drafted by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration would put workers in unnecessary danger, members of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee learned today. “Today, we heard about the human cost that occurs when OSHA isn’t able to do its job,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, the senior Democrat on the subcommittee. “The Republican riders added to the House appropriations draft bill will make this worse by… Continue Reading
Upper Big Branch Report Confirms Need for Immediate Action, Rep. Miller says
05.19.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, released the following statement after today’s issuance of West Virginia’s independent investigation into the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, America’s most deadly coal tragedy in four decades.The investigation, led by former head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration J. Davitt McAteer, found that the mine was operated in a reckless manner that resulted in the… Continue Reading
Ed & Workforce Dems Demand GOP Witness Clarify ‘Questionable’ Testimony
05.13.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) demanded clarification today of ‘questionable’ testimony at odds with judicial findings given by a coal company representative called by the Education and the Workforce Committee Republicans.In a May 4 mine safety hearing, Anthony Bumbico, a representative from Arch Coal testifying on behalf of the National Mining Association, provided contradictory testimony to committee members on a case of Arch Coal unlawfully retaliat… Continue Reading
Woolsey: Congress Must Act on Mine Safety
05.04.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Below are the prepared remarks of U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), the senior Democrat of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for the hearing on “Modernizing Mine Safety”. *** Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening this important hearing. It has been 13 months since the Upper Big Branch disaster, yet Congress has failed … Continue Reading
Rep. George Miller Statement on 40th Anniversary of OSHA and Workers Memorial Day
04.28.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today on the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Workers Memorial Day. “On this Workers Memorial Day, we honor those workers who were injured, made ill, or killed on the job in the last year. We also recommit ourselves to protecting workers’ safety and health. Forty years ago today, the ope… Continue Reading
House Democrats Introduce Mine Safety Reforms
04.15.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Democrats reintroduced legislation today to bring our nation’s mine health and safety laws up to date, give mine safety officials the ability to effectively protect miners’ lives, and hold mine operators accountable for putting their workers in unnecessary danger. The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 1579) introduced today is similar to legislation brought to the House floor last year.“The Upper Big Branch disaster laid bare the loopholes that rid… Continue Reading
Rep. Miller: One Year Later, a Promise Unfulfilled to Families of Upper Big Branch
04.05.11 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives today commemorating the Upper Big Branch mine tragedy in Montcoal, West Virginia that occurred on April 5, 2010. As the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, Rep. Miller called the only hearings last year that included families and miners of the mine disaster. He was also the lead sponsor of legislation to protect … Continue Reading