By Chairman George Miller on 11-05-2008, 12:14 PM
Yesterday's historic election of Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden as our next President and Vice President was a true victory for every child, student, worker and family in America. I congratulate Senators Obama and Biden, and I look forward to working closely with them to change the direction of our country and get our economy moving forward again.
During the past two years, the Education and Labor Committee has focused on strengthening our nation's middle class – a priority that Senators Obama and Biden clearly share, as demonstrated by their careers and the focus of their historic campaign.
With our country facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and our global leadership at risk, this mission is more important than ever.
In the next Congress, this committee will be dedicated to working with the new Obama-Biden administration and members of both parties of Congress to rescue our economy by rebuilding and strengthening America's middle class. We must get started right away by passing a Main Street recovery plan that will get Americans back to work and provide immediate relief to families and workers struggling with long-term unemployment and depleted state budgets.
We will dedicate ourselves to improving our nation's schools and continue our efforts to make college more affordable and accessible, so that every student has the opportunity to succeed. We are committed to rebuilding our country's roads, bridges and schools, and to green retrofitting and other modern energy programs that will create millions of good-paying jobs and reestablish America's technological leadership.
We will fight to restore workers' rights, so that every American can benefit from economic opportunity. And we will make the preservation and strengthening of retirement savings a priority, so that all Americans can enjoy a secure retirement after a lifetime of hard work.
Today marks a new beginning. Together, we can rescue our economy, restore the promise of the American Dream, and ensure that, in a nation as great as ours, the interests of students, workers, families and retirees are at the heart of our nation's priorities.
More information on recent hearings on the economy and the committee's work over the past two years.
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By Betsy Miller Kittredge on 10-16-2008, 02:23 PM
In December 2006, Rep. George Miller, the new Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, announced that the Committee would be dedicated to the mission of strengthening America’s middle class. And over the past two years, the Committee has delivered on its promise. America's students, workers, and families need help more than ever during the current financial crisis, and the Committee will continue its work to strengthen the middle class. Below is an overview of the Committee’s legislative milestones in the 110th Congress.
Affordable colleges »
The Committee has enacted three laws that together will make college more affordable and accessible for middle class students, create a more efficient, consumer-friendly, and fair American higher education system, and protect federal student loans from turmoil in the economy.
High quality education »
The Committee enacted legislation to strengthen the nation’s premiere early childhood program, giving more young children the skills they need to succeed in school and in life. The Committee also helped enact emergency aid to help Gulf Coast schools and colleges still working to recover from Katrina and Rita. In addition, the Committee took a key step toward improving learning conditions for schoolchildren by passing legislation to help schools modernize their facilities and become more energy-efficient.
A competitive workforce »
The Committee has enacted legislation that builds on the principles Democrats first laid out in their “Innovation Agenda – A Commitment to Competitiveness to Keep America Number One.” These new laws will help prepare more Americans for jobs in emerging, high-tech industries that will keep our nation more competitive and create more good-paying jobs here at home.
Fairness in the workplace »
During the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, the House passed the first increase in the minimum wage in ten years. Since then, Committee has passed a series of key measures to strengthen workers’ rights, improve workplace safety, end discriminatory practices that have unfairly eroded workers’ pay and other benefits, and help workers balance demands of work and family.
Retirement security »
While roughly 50 million American workers now have 401(k) style retirement plans, studies show that the vast majority of these workers don’t know how much they are paying in fees to the companies that service their 401(k) plans – fees that could be eating away at their retirement savings. The Committee passed legislation to help workers better understand these hidden fees and strengthen their retirement security.
Safe children and youth »
The Committee enacted laws to protect America's children and youth, including runaway, homeless and missing children, and to increase penalties when employers violate child labor laws. The House also passed legislation to protect teens in public and private residential programs.
Accountability and responsibility »
The Committee conducted oversight over government agencies in its jurisdiction, shining a light on the Bush administration’s failures to safeguard taxpayer dollars used to fund education programs and its efforts to weaken protections for workers. In some cases, the Committee’s investigations paved the way for legislation and spurred the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue a criminal investigation.
By the numbers...»
The Committee has held 113 hearings and heard from 683 witnesses in its efforts to grow and strengthen the nation’s middle class. In the next Congress, the Committee will continue to build on this record by working to improve the lives of children, students, workers and families.
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By Chairman George Miller on 08-06-2008, 02:49 PM
One year ago today, six coal miners were trapped after a series of catastrophic – yet preventable – events resulted in the collapse of the Crandall Canyon Mine. Our nation became transfixed on the heroic attempts to save the miners and prayed that everyone would return to their families unharmed. On this sad anniversary, our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends, and communities who lost loved ones in the mine and the rescue attempt.
After the Crandall Canyon mine disaster, the U.S. House of Representatives acted promptly to strengthen our nation’s mine health and safety laws by passing the S-MINER Act. This bill will require more vigorous oversight of retreat mining plans and activities.
Our committee’s investigation and other inquiries have shown that this tragedy was preventable. Actions by an irresponsible mine operator and an incompetent U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration allowed this disaster to occur. Unfortunately, Secretary Chao has failed to hold anyone in MSHA accountable for the agency’s substantial failure to prevent the Crandall tragedy.
This anniversary reminds us of the significant risks miners still face while extracting the coal that meets our nation’s energy needs. The several mine tragedies that have occurred recently have been the result of weak laws, outlaw mine operators, and government agencies asleep at the switch. This is unacceptable. We must work aggressively toward a future where all miners can return home safely after their shifts. There is no better way to honor the lives of these fallen workers than to do all we can to prevent these kinds of tragedies from ever occurring again.
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By Chairman George Miller on 07-24-2008, 07:05 PM
Today, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) fined the operator of Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine $1.85 million for the disaster that was the site of the worst coal mining tragedy of 2007. Pillars of coal supporting a roof burst, sending coal flying and creating enough force to register a 3.9 on the Richter scale. Rubble blocked every exit, entombing six miners somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 feet underground. Three courageous rescuers who attempted to reach them also died in the rescue effort. Crandall Canyon Mine is operated by Genwal Resources Inc., whose parent company is Murray Energy Corp.
MSHA's accident investigation report affirms the conclusions reached by our own investigation: Murray Energy should not have proposed the flawed retreat mining plan and MSHA should not have approved the plan. It is clear that Murray Energy is an outlaw company that recklessly endangered its employees’ lives. It is tragic that the deaths of six miners and three rescuers resulted from the reckless actions of a few individuals and inadequate MSHA oversight.
Especially troubling is MSHA’s conclusion that Murray Energy misled MSHA regarding bumps that occurred in March 2007. In April of this year, I asked the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into this very subject. The April referral was supported by significant evidence committee staff uncovered as they reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents, interviewed many witnesses, and deposed several individuals involved. I am confident that MSHA’s additional evidence in support of our criminal referral will provide further assistance to the Department of Justice in aggressively pursuing this criminal matter.
We will review MSHA’s investigation report and that of the forthcoming review of MSHA’s actions at the mine. The agency’s track record, however, leads me to believe that MSHA is not up to the task of protecting the health and safety of our nation’s miners. We must ensure that another tragedy such as this never happens again.
(In January, the House of Representative approved mine safety and health legislation that includes provisions to ensure more vigorous oversight by MSHA of retreat mining plans and activities. More information on the Supplementary Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (H.R. 2768) »)
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