On the recordApril 14, 2010
I rise simply to thank my many colleagues in this body on both sides of the aisle that have expressed their condolences this week in the debate that has just occurred or rather to me personally or in phone calls. I know that my colleague from northern West Virginia, Representative Mollohan, called every day for a status update; and I appreciate the gentlewoman from the Second District, Representative Capito's, comments. But most importantly, Mr. Speaker, I do recognize the work of the distinguished chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, my dear friend George Miller. We worked together following previous disasters that have been referenced during this debate, the Sago and Aracoma disasters that occurred in West Virginia as well about 4 years ago. Reference has been made to the MINERS Act that was passed following past disasters. Many good parts of that were put in place by our operators across the State and were in place at this particular mine. Unfortunately, due to the severe nature of this blast, these features did not have a chance to trigger or to come into play. So something else needs to be done to prevent these disasters. I salute the chairman again.
