That from U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and sponsor of the Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2007.
The bill was drafted in response to another deadly year in U.S. deep mines - 25 coal miners and 28 other miners have died to date. It enhances and hastens many of the safety provisions contained in the Miner Act of 2006 and provides for additional rules and regulations in an industry where safety is sometimes sacrificed in the quest for profit.
There's a lot to like about Miller's bill, which is co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and was inspired in part by the tragic accidents at Utah's Crandall Canyon coal mine in Emery County, where six miners and three rescue workers were killed in mine collapses in August.
The legislation would establish the Office of Miner Ombudsman, which would receive and track anonymous complaints from miners who are aware of dangerous mining conditions or safety violations, but are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs.
It would give the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration absolute authority to supervise and direct rescue and recovery efforts after mine accidents, negating the need for voluntary cooperation of mine owners.
And it would provide for more oversight of retreat mining - a dangerous mining method in which coal is scavenged from mine support walls - in mines more than 1,500 feet underground, which are common in the West.
The committee forwarded the bill to the full House in a 26-18 vote that fell along partisan lines, with Republicans, including Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, siding with the mine industry and MSHA in opposition.
Bishop, who argued that the Miner Act of 2006 is not yet fully-implemented and probes of the Crandall Canyon tragedies are still under way, says the bill is premature and takes "everything to an extreme." But it's obvious that immediate and extreme measures are needed, because miners are still dying by the dozens. Congress should approve this bill.
