Jay Rockefeller: “I rise to let my colleagues know that, at an appropriate time, I plan to offer an amendment to the package of tax cuts…”

“I rise to let my colleagues know that, at an appropriate time, I plan to offer an amendment to the package of tax cuts that the Senate is, in fact, considering today. The recent tragedy in West Virginia's coal mines, as well as in Kentucky, highlights the need for Congress to take steps to better protect miners who have worked hard for years to extract the coal used to create over half of all of our electricity and the country doesn't know it because we are always talking about oil. The amendment I am going to offer provides incentives for coal companies to make crucial investments in equipment and training that will help coal miners return to their families safely each night. The world of coal mining, as you know, is a very close one. Almost nobody ever gets to go into a coal mine for the obvious reasons--its danger and the training needed. So as to that which provides the majority of our power in this country, people never get to see and understand the dangers involved. Let me briefly explain the tax incentives this amendment would create. First, coal companies would be allowed to immediately expense 50 percent of the cost of purchasing new safety equipment. This is extremely important because American mines simply don't have the best available equipment at this time. In fact, some of the equipment, I regret to say, is the most important--for example, oxygen. Rescue hasn't changed a whit since 1977.…”