Nick Rahall: “I do not dispute that; that is true. They are filed over already high rates concerning coal coming out of the Powder…”

“I do not dispute that; that is true. They are filed over already high rates concerning coal coming out of the Powder River Basin. So this anticompetitive provision in this legislation would only further add to the high cost of coal coming out of that area and, therefore, yield even further lawsuits. Mr. Chairman, on March 17 Mountaineer Coal in Mingo County in my district began laying off 460 people. These workers are among hundreds of others in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky to have gone out of work in the past year and a half. Meanwhile, the once hustling former B&O Railroad coal lines in part of my State are now recreational trails. The track has been pulled up. Over the years, we have suffered as we have lost critical electric utility markets to Federal coal production in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming to the detriment of our employment base and regional economies. The provisions in H.R. 6 that I seek to strike would provide that Powder River Basin coal production with an artificially created, additional competitive edge to the additional detriment of our employment base and our regional economies.”