Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall).

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens).

(Mr. OWENS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, and Members of the House, I am honored to join in support of this resolution offered by our colleagues from West Virginia and to join our colleagues in paying tribute to these 16 brave miners who lost their lives last month in West Virginia, and also to the miner who lost his life in Pike County, Kentucky, who died during the mine roof collapse, and to express the condolences to their families and to their friends who have lost loved ones.

We continue to hope and pray for the full recovery of Randal McCloy who lived through this ordeal at the Sago mine disaster, and wish him well. I join, I am sure, our entire Nation in recognizing the sacrifice of these individuals. And I want to salute the efforts of dozens of brave rescue workers who volunteered to risk their own lives to save others and the efforts of citizens of the affected communities who continue to help and to support the families of victims and to deal with their loss.

Despite a half century of improvements in mine safety, the truth still remains that underground mining continues to be one of our country's most dangerous occupations. It is also an occupation that we recognize many people would have a very difficult decision to make to join this occupation. It is one of the reasons we talk about the bravery, the courage, and the sacrifice of these workers and those who entered the mines after the disaster to join them, because we recognize that many of us would not want to do this.

But we also understand that just a week ago the President was here telling us the importance that coal would make if we really want to achieve energy independence for this Nation for a whole host of reasons that are very

good for this Nation. Then we continue to need to have the sacrifice and the courage and the bravery of the mining community and of these communities to send their young men and women into the mines. But if it is about their bravery and their courage and their sacrifice, then our obligation is to meet their bravery with the duty of care.

There is no question that our progress in making mining a safer and healthier occupation than it has been in the past has been remarkable, but the Sago tragedy shows us that our job is not done. Death, injuries, and serious illnesses remain a very real part of those who go down into the mines and to their families and their communities and the brave men and women who help when the safeguards fail.

The men and women who need the solid incomes provided by mining jobs face difficult choices every morning before they go to work and see their loved ones at the door. I think the way that we truly honor their courage, their sacrifice, and their bravery, and these miners who have lost their lives and the volunteers who helped out and the grieving families and the communities, is to make the promise, as the gentlewoman from West Virginia said, that part of their legacy is safer mines and a safer occupation and a safer future for their children and their grandchildren and others who will go down into the mines. That means that we must meet our duty of care to these miners to make sure that we fully understand where the failures took place, where the improvements can be made, and where the risk is unacceptable.

Mr. Rahall and his West Virginia colleagues have already introduced legislation that deserves immediate consideration to make certain improvements in standards and operations of the Mine Health and Safety Administration. I am delighted that they already received a partial response to that with the Agency engaging in emergency temporary standards to require coal operators to maintain additional self- contained, self-rescue devices in storage areas within underground coal mines, and to require coal operators to notify the Agency within 15 minutes of an accident. This is quite properly done on an urgent and emergency basis. I have urged the Education and the Workforce Committee to immediately commence oversight hearings to help us to determine the actions that would help strengthen the agency so that it can carry out the important responsibilities we have vested in it and what they owe the workers in the mines.

Next week, Monday, February 13, my colleagues and I are sponsoring a mine safety forum. We have invited the miners and their families and mine safety experts to share their views on how Congress and the Department of Labor can make mine safety enforcement more vigorous and effective.

It seems clear to me that there are serious questions regarding this administration's track record on mine safety that the employees and families of the Sago and Aracoma Alma mines have a right to know. I think we have to know the impact of the changes in the regulations and the regulations that were withdrawn in 2001 and the regulations that were implemented in their place. What was the margin of safety? Was there a change in that margin of safety, and did they have impact on the overall mine safety in the mine? We know that some of those regulations that were withdrawn at that time are now seen as urgently needed, as I just recited, from the response to the West Virginia delegation by the mining agency, safety standards for oxygen and breathing devices, standards for flame-resistant conveyor belts that Mr. Rahall has raised, and that their withdrawal may have undermined the safety at Sago and Aracoma Alma mines.

We want to know what is the relationship between the drop in maximum fines and the usage of fines. Are fines helpful? Do they deter bad behavior? Do they, in fact, make for improvements to take place?

What is the relationship between the mines and those who are repeat offenders of serious violations of the current mine safety regulations and the protections that are put in place for those miners? Should they be dealt with in a different fashion? Do we fully understand the voluntary compliance assistance program that is currently in place? Should that continue to be extended to those mine owners that, again, repeatedly violate the law?

What is the relationship between the voluntary nature of the program and the compliance and the margins of safety that we expect for these miners?

Does the administration have the right people in the right place for the running of this Agency? Are their qualifications commensurate with the duties that they have to the miners in the field, and are we sure that we have the best people to continue the downward trend of mine fatalities in the mine, but also the general safety environment within the mines?

And we want to make sure that, in fact, the Department of Labor has kept pace with existing mine safety technologies, such as electronic tracking and communications devices and reserve oxygen chambers, technologies used in other countries, in some cases in other mines in this country, but clearly are not mandated. But we now see, as we start to do the forensics of what took place here, that maybe these things, had they been in place, these miners would have had the opportunity to walk out of that mine. These miners may have had a chance to shelter in place until rescuers could have gotten to them if they did not understand their ability to work their way around the danger that presented itself.

So these are the questions that the miners and their families will address in the forum. These are the questions that must be addressed by the administration, and these are the questions that must be addressed by this Congress, and must be addressed by this Congress in an independent fashion.

I am not sure I entirely agree with my colleagues on the other side that we must await the administration's doing its own investigation and hearings prior to our embarking upon that effort. I think that we ought to ask these people to come before the Congress and to explain the situation that we see.

Again, this is about the legacy of these miners' lives. It is about the future of mining in this country. It is about our responsibility to these individuals, to their families, to these communities. Again, it has been made clear that coal is going to play an evermore important role in our energy future, so we must understand that these individuals were patriots in that effort to achieve energy independence in this country. And I would hope that we would understand that as we pay tribute to their courage, to their sacrifice, and to their bravery to go down in these mines, that we inherit on their behalf and on behalf of their families a duty of care to these individuals and a responsibility to make sure that we have done all that we can do, as the government, in assuring their safety and making sure that they are working under the best safe environment that is possible for them and their colleagues.

Again, I thank the members of the West Virginia delegation for bringing this resolution to the floor and urge the support of it by all of our colleagues in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Education and the Workforce Committee had a subcommittee hearing dealing with the mine safety issues around the recent tragedies that happened in the Sago mine disaster in January of this year. Unfortunately, that hearing was arbitrarily gaveled to adjournment at a time before members could have exercised their rights to ask questions of the witnesses that were there from the Mine Safety Administration, the United Mine Workers, and the mine association of the companies.

Had we had the opportunity without the arbitrary adjournment of the hearing, we would have tried to ask the Mine Safety Administration how they have come to delay and weaken and scrap the 18 regulations that were put forth to protect the miners in the coal mining industry of this Nation and, in fact, regulations that may very well have been able to save the miners, the 12 miners who died in the Sago mine disaster. But we were not allowed to ask that question because of the adjournment by the chairman of the committee.

We would have asked them whether or not they have ignored the requirements of the law that no standard put in place be less protective than the existing standard, as they have continued to chisel away at the safety standards for the miners working in deep coal mines of this Nation, meeting our energy demands for this Nation, for the miners and their families, who every day make the decision to go into the mines in this hazardous occupation.

We would have also asked them whether or not, when they see the failure of the regulations to protect these miners, whether or not this shift of enforcement and the loss of enforcement personnel to a compliance assistance philosophy to work voluntarily with the mining companies, whether or not that led to this mine accident, especially when this particular mine, the Sago mine, had 208 violations in 2005.

It is clear that the owners were interested in maximizing their profits and not complying with safety laws, and it is clear that the penalty system that we have in place does not deter repeat violations, because the Sago mine had many repeat violations, serious violations of the safety rules dealing with combustible gases in the mine and the protection of these miners.

We would have also tried to ask them whether or not they felt that Congress had exercised its oversight authority, since this was the first oversight hearing on mine safety in 5 years.

We would have also asked them to stop shutting out the public in the decision-making process. We would have asked the administration to open up all of its records, including the inspector's notes, to public scrutiny around the Sago mine disaster so that we can be able to do the work to determine whether or not we could have prevented this disaster that took these lives.

We also would have made sure that they would have put in place commonsense rules dealing with the ability to communicate with the miners who were in the mine. We now think we are learning that it might have been possible for those miners to walk out of the mine had they known where they were and had we been able to communicate with them. And while communications devices are available, they are used in some American mines, they are used in some Canadian mines, they are used in Australian mines, they are not very well used, if at all, in the U.S. coal mining industry; and yet the government has done nothing to try to push this technology so we could have had communications with these miners.

Also the idea of locators, so that we would have been able to send a message to these miners about what their situation was and what they might have done to prolong their lives, because we now know they were down in that mine for a very long time waiting to be rescued, but that did not happen.

As we heard from Amber Helms, the 23-year-old daughter of Terry Helms, who died in the explosion, he died in the explosion, she asked us why if she can set up a Web page in her computer, if we can communicate to the solar system, if we can communicate around the world, why couldn't we have communicated to her father and those other men down in that mine that lost their lives?

Why wasn't this put in place when the cost of the items to protect their lives ranged from apparently $20 to $200? It means nothing in terms of the profits of these mines, the revenues they generate and the overriding concern for the safety of their miners.

But, no, we didn't have a chance to ask these questions, because after one round of questioning, the chairman decided that enough was enough, that we were not going to have the opportunity to ask the Mine Safety Administration, Where have you been for 5 years on the issue of rescue chambers in mines and the protection of these miners, and when are their families going to get these answers?

Well, they didn't get them today, and apparently they are not going to get them from the Congress for a very long time.

This Congress has been blind to the need to maintain even the protections that already exist under the law. It was not long ago that some members of our committee, including its former chairman, were actively seeking legislation to abolish MSHA and NIOSH and to cut back critical enforcement provisions.

Under that legislation, 3 out of the 4 mandatory annual inspections at every underground mine would have been eliminated. Inspectors would have needed a warrant before entering mine property. Only miners in unionized mines would have had the right to accompany inspectors as they examined the mine. The circumstances in which an inspector could shut down an unsafe section of a mine would have been restricted. Mine operators would not have had to pay fines for typical citations as long as the hazards were abated. And on and on.

That legislation was defeated. But that apparently hasn't deterred Administration officials from trying to gut MSHA anyway. Now they're just dismantling it and taking it out the back door, where they think no one is watching. Well, we are watching, and legislation must be enacted to ensure that changes are made, changes that make the safety and health of these mine workers a priority, and that prevent the industry from being allowed to get away with further abuses.

I want to commend my colleagues, Congressman Rahall of West Virginia, and the West Virginia delegation, for their prompt hearings and action on these issues. on February 1st, they introduced H.R. 4695, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006, which enhances and reinforces the original purpose of the landmark Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. This legislation is a vital step in this process, and an effort that I am hoping will be a catalyst for change.

Amber's testimony, and the powerful and courageous testimony provided by all

The witnesses at the forum is documented on DVD. I strongly urge all members of this subcommittee to watch the footage of the forum, and the incredibly important questions

posed by these witnesses, questions that have unfortunately, been asked before, but that have not been answered, not by the administration, and not by MSHA. As Amber said:

I understand that nothing that I say today or nothing that

happens in the future is going to bring my Dad back. But my

Uncle Johnny, my Uncle Mike, my cousin Rocky, as well as

every other miner that is underground and every other son

who's getting ready to go into the coal mines--because that's

where the jobs are in West Virginia and maybe some of these

other states--we can prevent their families from going

through this.

We owe it to Amber and every other American who has lost a loved one in a mining accident to learn what more we can do to make mines safer. And then, just as Amber says, we must take action to prevent more families from going through the hell that she has had to go through.

Mr. Speaker, the resolution before us today is one that demands our attention, and I hope it is attention in more than just a ceremonial memorial way. It demands our attention for future action.

This resolution pays tribute to 17 courageous and hardworking West Virginia miners and their families, as well as the many rescue team members mobilized to save them in the face of last month's lethal accident at Sago mine, a subsequent fire at the Aracoma Alma mine, and 2 other mine incidents. Despite intense rescue efforts, 12 brave miners were killed at Sago, as we all know. We honor them with this resolution, and we grieve with their families, friends, and neighbors who will miss them terribly. We also honor the sole survivor of those miners trapped by the Sago explosion, commending his courage and perseverance. We wish him and his extended family all the best throughout the long and arduous recovery process that he faces.

We also honor the 2 miners killed in the Aracoma Alma fire and 2 other killed in sepatate incidents in WV coal mines. All of the miners I just spoke of, and you heard their names read earlier, are referenced by name in this resolution. It is our hope that the family members and descendents of these hardworking men will find this resolution and our statements in their honor a source of solace as well as inspiration for many years to come. For we intend that their names and personal histories will be immortalized, so to speak, inscribed within a public law that Americans may read and refer to from this year forward.

But Members of Congress are not poets by nature, nor should we be. In addition to enacting this commemorative resolution, we must do far more to honor these West Virginia mine workers. We must take critical and immediate steps to ensure that all of the other mine workers from West Virginia and throughout the Nation get the safe workplace environments they need and deserve.

One speaker has already pointed out that a large percentage, about half of the electricity produced in America, is produced by coal. Throughout the world, coal is a major fuel producing electricity. Huge mines in Russia and China, and elsewhere, in many of these places their mines are perhaps often not as safe as ours. But there are some places obviously with mines that are safe, safer than ours. There are obviously technologies available which will avoid the kind of catastrophe we experienced here or at least minimize that kind of catastrophe.

I hope that all of us have read about the accident in the Pot Ash mine in Canada where a number of workers were trapped in an explosion and they all got out safely. It was pointed out that while they were waiting to be rescued, there were some cubicles or little cubby holes that they were able to go into and there they found extra oxygen, they found sandwiches and food and a number of things were stored there. And it had all been prepared ahead of time in case an accident should happen.

I doubt if the bottom lines of the profits for the coal mines were greatly affected by preparing those kinds of emergency arrangements. I think that we ought to take a hard look at the fact that there is technology available, there are techniques available to save miners' lives. There are places in the world where mine safety is made a priority. But nobody should be ahead of

America. No worker should be treated better than our workers in the effort to provide safety.

Congressional committees must conduct the requisite oversight hearings to determine whether Federal funding shortfalls or staffing shortfalls or rule-making snafus at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, played any role in the two WV mine tragedies. And if that is the case, then we must fix any such problems without delay. For such subsequent congressional action will serve equally as a fitting and altogether appropriate tribute to the West Virginia men and their families, as well as rescue team members we honor today.

Thus, I urge my colleagues both to pass this resolution and to undertake all other congressional actions, from oversight to authorizing and appropriations legislation, essential to protecting America's hardworking miners and their families.

Mr. Speaker, the resolution before us today is one that demands our attention. It pays tribute to 17 courageous and hard-working West Virginia miners and their families, as well as to the many rescue team members mobilized to save them in the face of last month's lethal explosion at Sago Mine, the subsequent fire at the Aracoma Alma Mine and two incidents at other WV mines. Despite intense rescue efforts, twelve brave miners were killed in the Sago disaster, Thomas Anderson, Alva Martin Bennett, Jim Bennett, Jerry Groves, George Hamner Jr., Terry Helms, David Lewis, Martin Toler, Fred Ware, Jr., Jack Weaver, Jesse Jones, and Marshall Winans, and two brave miners at Aracoma Alma, Don Israel Bragg and Ellery ``Elvis'' Hatfield. Also, two other miners, Edmund Vance and Paul Moss, were killed at other WV mines. We honor them with this resolution and grieve with their families, friends and neighbors who will miss them terribly. We also honor the sole survivor of those miners trapped by the Sago explosion--Randal McCloy-- commending his courage and perseverance. We wish Mr. McCloy and his extended family all the best throughout the long and arduous recovery process he faces.

All the miners I just spoke of are referenced by name in this resolution, which I am very pleased to cosponsor. It is our hope that family members and descendants of these hard-working men will find this resolution and our statements in their honor a source of solace as well as inspiration for many years to come. For we intend that their names and personal histories will be immortalized so to speak, inscribed within a public law that Americans may read and refer to, from this year forward.

But Members of Congress are not poets by nature, nor should we be. In addition to enacting this commemorative resolution, we must do far more to honor these West Virginian mineworkers. We must take critical and immediate steps to ensure that all the other mineworkers, from West Virginia and throughout the nation, get the safe workplace environments they need and deserve. We must ensure that the appropriate Congressional committees conduct the requisite oversight hearings to determine whether federal funding shortfalls, staffing shortages, or rulemaking snafus at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) played any role in the Sago, Aracoma Alma, and other mine tragedies. And if that is the case, then we must fix any such problems without delay. For such subsequent Congressional action will serve equally as a fitting and altogether appropriate tribute to the West Virginia men and their families, as well as rescue team members we honor today. Thus, I urge my colleagues both to pass this resolution and to undertake all other Congressional actions--from oversight to authorizing and appropriations legislation--essential to protecting America's hardworking miners and their families.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 331 to honor the now 16

West Virginia miners who have lost their lives in coal-mining accidents this year.

I want to thank the Nation, I want to thank the Nation for their outpouring of concerns, prayers, and sympathy. You have fortified us as West Virginians.

On the morning of January 2, an explosion rocked the Sago Mine in Upshur County, West Virginia. Thirteen men were trapped 260 feet below the surface. One, Randal McCloy, suffered serious injuries resulting from a lack of oxygen, yet he miraculously survived. Twelve other miners, Tom Anderson, Alva M. Bennett, James Bennett, Jerry Groves, Junior Hamner, Terry Helms, Jesse Jones, Dave Lewis, Martin Toler, Fred Ware, Jackie Weaver, and Marshall Winans were killed in that tragedy.

Only 2 weeks later, another accident struck at the Aracoma Alma Mine in Logan County, West Virginia, taking the lives of Don Israel Bragg and Elvis Hatfield. Sadly, just last week, Edmund Vance and Paul Moss were killed in separate mining accidents in Boone County, West Virginia.

These men made the ultimate sacrifice doing a job that is vital to our Nation. Over 50 percent of America's electricity comes from coal, and our West Virginia veins run with an abundance of coal. Mining is the profession most closely identified with West Virginia, not only because of our State's abundant supply of the resource, but because of the character of our people. Coal is in our blood; whether we work in the mines or not, our heritage and our souls are coal-fired. West Virginians are proud and hard-working people with a deep devotion to our country.

Martin Toler, one of the Sago miners wrote to his family while he lay dying in the mine, and I quote, ``It wasn't bad. I just went to sleep. Tell all I see them on the other side. I love you.'' Simple, powerful words with great meaning. The valor of these miners is, in fact was, with them until the end.

The 16 miners who died over the past 5 weeks in our State mines knew the dangers of their work. They knew that over the past century over 100,000 men have lost their lives in coal mining, but they performed their jobs with reliability and a sense of duty to their families, indeed our country. Miners know just how important their jobs are. They know how important it is to our economy across the Nation, and they sacrifice for us.

Author Homer Hickam of Rocket Boys fame, who himself grew up the son of a West Virginia coal miner, wrote and delivered what I thought was an incredible eulogy to the Sago miners. He listed a philosophy of life that exemplifies coal miners and, I think, all West Virginians:

We are proud of who we are.

We stand up for what we believe.

We keep our families together.

We trust in God.

We do what needs to be done.

We are not afraid.

Most of the time we are not thinking of coal miners when we turn on the lights or sit down to watch television. It is easy to take for granted the constant supply of relatively inexpensive electricity we have in this country. It is easy to forget that somebody gave of themselves and risked injury or death to mine the coal that powers the Nation's economy.

Today in the wake of the terrible tragedy at Sago and the death of the miners at the Aracoma Alma and Boone County mines, we as a Congress pause to remember the coal miners. We remember their hard work and sacrifice. We remember that each one of these men was a husband, a grandfather, a father, a brother and a son, and we pray for each of their families as they cope with the loss of a loved one. And we pray for Randal McCloy, who, despite improvements, faces a long road to recovery from his injuries.

This resolution also stands to honor the mine rescue teams who were willing to sacrifice themselves to save others. Rescuers of Sago were eager to enter even before it was safe to do so. Once in the mine, these rescuers demonstrated tremendous courage. And without their work, it is doubtful that Randal McCloy would be with us today.

West Virginia's communities came together during these tragedies, as they always do, to support their friends and neighbors. You see, in West Virginia, we are all family with a special closeness and respect for one another.

During this time I sat and talked with the families at the Sago Baptist Church as we awaited news from their rescuers. The prayers and support of people from across the Upshur County area and the Nation was overwhelming at the church, and this resolution honors the commitment and friendship shown by these folks.

I know that this commitment of community and family not only occurred in Sago, about also in Logan and Boone Counties because, as I said, in West Virginia, we are family.

Through our sorrow, we recognize our duty to do our part to improve safety for our miners. Sixteen West Virginians have been lost this year. While this resolution honors their loss, their legacy must be safe mines. It is important that Congress, State governments, MSHA, mine operators, and miners themselves work in a concerted effort to improve mine health and safety.

The West Virginia delegation has introduced on a bipartisan basis the Federal Mine Safety Act of 2006. I hope my colleagues will support this effort to bring enhanced technology to the mines, improve rescue teams, and ultimately save lives.

We all recognize the dangers of the mining profession, but we must do everything in our power to make underground mining safe. I have seen the pain and suffering in West Virginia at Sago, Logan, and at Boone County, and I do not want to see that suffering again. We must act to prevent similar accidents.

May God bless the lost West Virginia coal miners and their families and friends.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding me this time, and thank him for his leadership and expertise in helping us on mine safety legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise and associate myself totally with the comments just made by the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), and I commend her for the very eloquent manner and touching manner in which those comments were made.

It is with sorrow that we rise today to express the heaviness in West Virginians' hearts. Grief hangs a misty veil across our mountains. Since just the beginning of this year, West Virginia has lost 16 brave coal miners in a nightmarish series of mine tragedies. Sixteen sons gone in the span of a month, 16 souls that too soon slipped the bonds of Earth. These were good and decent men, God-fearing men, brave citizens, caring fathers, loving husbands, loyal friends, and generous neighbors who worked hard to earn an honest wage. They walked in the wake of risk to provide for their families.

These were tough men, made strong not merely by the labor of digging coal, but also by the work of building a Nation.

Coal has long been the lifeblood of America's industrial engine. It has fueled our economic growth. It has reinforced our military might.

But none of this would be possible without the labor of coal miners, who have served our Nation quietly and faithfully for generations, but with precious little thanks. To these men, we owe so much.

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of gratitude, I join with my West Virginia colleagues in offering this resolution and, again, commend the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) for bringing it to the floor. Today we celebrate the courage and stamina of Randal McCloy whose miraculous survival in the Sago mines was a glorious gift. We thank the teams of rescuers who in recent weeks have risked their own lives to save the lives of others in our coal fields. And we honor the memories of these 16 men: Thomas Anderson, Alva Martin Bennett, Jim Bennett, Jerry Groves, George Hamner, Jr., Terry Helms, David Lewis, Martin Toler, Fred Ware, Jr., Jack Weaver, Jesse Jones, Marshall Winans, the two from my congressional district, Don Israel Bragg, Ellery ``Elvis'' Hatfield, whose families I sat with for close to 40 hours in the Melville Freewill Baptist Church as we sang, as we prayed together for a miracle that never happened.

And to the latest two, also from my congressional district, Edmund Vance and Paul Moss. We honor their memories. These brave men have now joined the ranks of so many miners before them who went to their daily shift anticipating the warm and loving hugs of family at day's end, but who emerged instead into the outstretched arms of heaven. May God bless them, their families and their brothers and sisters, still in the mines, who continue to walk in the wake of risk in service to our great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, it is with sorrow that I rise today to express the heaviness of West Virginia's heart.

Grief hangs a misty veil across our mountains.

Since just the beginning of this year, West Virginia has lost 16 coal miners in a nightmarish series of mine tragedies; 16 sons gone in the span of a month; 16 souls that too soon slipped the bonds of Earth.

These were good and decent men--God-fearing men, brave citizens, caring fathers, loving husbands, loyal friends, generous neighbors--who worked hard to earn an honest wage.

They walked in the wake of risk to provide for their families. These were tough men made strong not merely by the labor of digging coal, but also by the work of building a nation.

Coal has long been the lifeblood of America's industrial engine. It has fueled our economic growth. It has reinforced our military might.

But none of this would be possible without the labor of coal miners who have served our Nation quietly and faithfully for generations, but with precious little thanks. To these men we owe so much.

Mr. Speaker, in that spirit of gratitude, I join with my West Virginia colleagues in offering this resolution.

Together we celebrate the courage and stamina of Randal McCloy, whose miraculous survival in the Sago mines was a glorious gift. We thank the teams of rescuers who, in recent weeks, have risked their own lives to save the lives of others in our coalfields.

And we honor the memories of these 16 men: Thomas Anderson, Alva Martin Bennett, Jim Bennett, Jerry Groves, George Hamner, Jr., Terry Helms, David Lewis, Martin Toler, Fred Ware, Jr., Jack Weaver, Jesse Jones, Marshall Winans, Don Israel Bragg, Ellery ``Elvis'' Hatfield, Edmund Vance, and Paul Moss.

These brave men have now joined the ranks of so many miners before them, who went to their daily shift, anticipating the warm and loving hugs of family at day's end, but who emerged, instead, into the outstretched arms of Heaven.

May God bless them, their families, and their brothers and sisters still in the mines who continue to walk in the wake of risk in service to our Nation.