Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2108. First of all, I want to say that all of us here today are committed to responsible stewardship of the Black Lung Benefits program and with its basic purpose as a worker's compensation program, something of which I think we lost sight of from time to time, designed to provide payments to disabled miners based on a clear showing of employment-related medical disability. Unfortunately, H.R. 2108 would move the program far beyond congressional intent concerning the Black Lung Benefits Act and, indeed, move us backward to the 1970's. Mr. Chairman, most of the people by now have forgotten that this $1.5 billion per year program was a last-minute addition, indeed an afterthought to the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, a law concerned primarily with the technical safety requirements of coal mines. So it was that Congress with minimal debate or consideration tacked a rider on to the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act and created the Black Lung Benefits Act, a workers' compensation act.”