Nick Rahall: “Mr. Speaker, coal mining is a dangerous occupation. Many of these individuals, these brave, courageous individuals that…”

“Mr. Speaker, coal mining is a dangerous occupation. Many of these individuals, these brave, courageous individuals that work in coal fields across our Nation and especially those in the Appalachian coal fields that I have the honor of representing will go to work before the sun comes up. They will not see their loved ones again until after the sun has gone down. They will do this for 5, 6, even 7 days a week, never seeing the light of day so that our Nation, as the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) has said, will be able to have light, so that those in the big cities who automatically turn on their air conditioning and their lights every morning can reflect on from where that power comes. We in West Virginia have known our share of tragedies, and it is unfortunate that when we look back over the history of our mine safety laws in this Nation that it has taken a tragedy for the Congress to act. It is unfortunate that every mine safety and health law on the books today is written with the blood of our Nation's coal miners.”