Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, delivered the following speech on the House floor on the 1-year anniversary of the deadly explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia:

[as prepared for delivery]

“Mister Speaker, it was exactly a year ago today that an explosion ripped through Upper Big Branch Mine and killed 29 workers.  It was the deadliest mine accident in 40 years.

“But perhaps “accident” is the wrong word to characterize what happened in Montcoal, West Virginia last April 5. 

“This wasn’t a hurricane or tsunami or some other act of nature.  Although the Mine Safety and Health Agency (MSHA) has yet to complete their investigation, it’s clear from the preliminary reports that this tragedy was avoidable, but for negligence and carelessness on the part of Massey Energy.

“When Chairman Miller and I traveled to West Virginia, miners told us that Massey routinely cut corners on safety.  And yet they were afraid to come forward for fear of losing their jobs. 

“That’s why we need stronger federal whistleblower protections.  MSHA inspectors can’t be everywhere all the time.  We need to rely on the people who know best, the workers, to report safety violations.

“The questions we need to be asking ourselves are: what can we be doing to make sure this doesn’t happen again?  What can we do to ensure that our nation’s coal miners, some of the hardest-working and courageous people you’ll ever meet, aren’t descending into a potential death trap every time they clock in?

“But the silence from the United States Congress has been positively deafening.  It’s incomprehensible to me that we still haven’t passed the Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act.  How many miners have to die before we take action? 

“Worker safety, not just in mines but in workplaces aboveground and across the nation, is under siege thanks to irresponsible cuts in the Republican Continuing Resolution.  Fully half of OSHA staff would be furloughed if H.R. 1 becomes law. 

“A weak economy like this one further undermines worker safety, as workers who want to report violations know there are dozens who would happily take their job. 

“As ranking minority member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, I am committed to bringing OSHA and MSHA into the 21^st century, strengthening regulations to protect people from injury, sickness and possible death on the job.

“Needless to say, the Upper Big Branch explosion has devastated a tight-knit community, with so many families still coping with grief.  Gary Quarles, who testified before the Education and Labor Committee last year said “the life’s been sucked right out of me” since losing his only child in the explosion. 

“Another man says of the death of his twin brother: “it’s like part of me is gone.”  One woman lost her fiancé, whom she met when they worked side-by-side in the mine.  And I can’t imagine the ordeal of Timothy Blake, who survived the blast and tried in vain to save eight co-workers. 

“But on this one-year anniversary, let’s do more than look back in remembrance.  Let’s use this tragedy as a call to action.  In honor of the 29 fallen miners, let’s give their co-workers the safety and protection they deserve.”

Watch Congresswoman Woolsey speaking on the House Floor :