Nick Rahall: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this legislation. There may be Members in this Chamber, or watching this…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this legislation. There may be Members in this Chamber, or watching this debate, who may be saying to themselves: ``I don't have any coal miners in my district. Why should I vote for this bill?'' Well, who do you think produces the energy to provide the lighting, heating, and cooling in this very Chamber and in your offices? Our Nation's coal miners. That is who. You may be from New England, from Florida, from almost anywhere in this great Nation of ours and either all or some of your electricity is generated from coal. So I would submit that you, as do I, have a substantial stake in this bill, a bill to fulfill a promise this Congress, the Federal Government, made to the coal miners of our country back in 1969. And that promise was that we will compensate you for the black lung disease that you may contract for mining coal, for producing the energy so necessary for this Nation to maintain its industrial strength and our standard of living. My colleagues, that promise has been broken. That is the reason for the pending legislation.”