Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank you for holding this hearing and giving us the opportunity to discuss how we can better protect the health and safety of miners.

When we discuss the health of miners, we must discuss finding ways to end black lung disease, and also to help those suffering from the disease secure the benefits they deserve.

I find it inexcusable that given these current conditions, a House budget bill would cut $32 million from OSHA's already sparse enforcement budget.

What is the impact of this lack of coverage for this group of workers? What would you recommend Congress do to address this problem of incomplete coverage?

I think it would make a big difference if--and we are talking about the tiny number of employers who really treat their workers this way, but we need to send them a message because these workers--that is where workers are being killed.

Mr. Speaker, today is Wear Red Wednesday to bring back our girls. All summer we have heard reports of Boko Haram's atrocities. This summer of savagery and brutality left us fearful for the fate of Nigeria and the Chibok girls. But with a…

Mr. Speaker, as the eighth annual Hunger Action Month comes to an end, I salute the efforts of Feeding South Florida for its year-round efforts to end hunger in our communities. For the past 8 years, we have dug our way out of a deep…

I want to commend you, because that is my life's work.

Mr. Speaker, Amelia Boyton Robinson was an American hero who devoted her entire life to the fight for equal rights for all. She was a child suffragette, who alongside her mother, advocated for the women's vote and then as a young woman…

Madam Speaker, almost a half century ago, while serving as an elementary school principal in Miami, I sensed a void in the lives of the boys who were always being sent to my office because of disruptive behavior. The one thing they all had…

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 492, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' ____________________