U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) hailed today's passage by the House of Representatives of the MINER Act, legislation updating the Nation's coal mine safety laws in the wake of the loss of 33 miners this year, including 19 in West Virginia. The legislation was approved by a vote of 381-37.

"This has been a dark, mournful year in our Nation's coalfields. Thirty-three deaths. Thirty-three lives lost by decent, hardworking men who placed their trust in a mine safety system that failed them. Today, the clouds begin to part," stated Rahall on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The legislation, passed unanimously recently by the Senate, will allow for more oxygen to help miners survive a disaster, including mandating caches of oxygen stationed throughout the mine. To aid in communication, the bill requires devices that will provide at least one-way communications for those trapped underground, and sets a realistic deadline for the development and deployment of two-way, wireless devices. The bill also calls for timelier reporting of mine accidents, and provides the Secretary with new and stronger enforcement powers.

"This bill is not a cure-all, it's not the perfect bill. But it is misleading and dangerous to suggest that any bill can be a cure-all. It is a step in the right direction, a step that must not be delayed," said Rahall.

He continued, "It is a testament to those families from Sago and Alma who pounded these Halls again and again demanding that we fix the system that failed them. And they should be proud because this bill is a fitting monument to the memories of the men they love and miss."

Congress armed the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) with a sharp regulatory axe. But in recent years, there has been growing complacency and diminishing compliance with Federal mine safety laws. And as new safety technologies have become commonplace in the mines of foreign competitors, MSHA failed to prod American mines that have plodded along with antiquated devices.

The bill will now go to the President to be signed into law.