Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell once again took to the Senate floor to advocate on behalf of Kentucky coal miners and their families. Senator McConnell called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to take up and pass McConnell’s comprehensive coal jobs package, The Saving Coal Jobs Act, to counter the Obama Administration’s War on Coal. Senator McConnell’s legislation will help the coal industry from ground to production by forcing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop stalling on mining permits and by blocking burdensome regulations issued by the EPA.

On the Senate floor, McConnell asked for unanimous consent to pass the measure, but was immediately blocked by Senator Reid on behalf of Senate Democrats. 
Click on the image below to watch:

The EPA has already slowed down the permitting process for new coal mines so dramatically that the agency has effectively shut down many coal mines through illegitimate, stalling tactics. Senator McConnell’s jobs bill would streamline the mine permitting process for new coal mines by putting the EPA on the clock and approving 404 and 402 permit applications that sit idle, or those that are neither denied nor granted, after a given period of time. It also blocks additional carbon emission standards for new and existing power plants set forth by the EPA. The legislation requires that any such regulations would need to be approved by Congress.

“In the year President Obama took office there were over 18,600 employed in the coal industry in my state.  But as of September 2013, the number of persons employed at Kentucky coal mines is only 13,000. And the picture is getting worse instead of better,” Senator McConnell said. “This week, a major employer announced 525 layoffs in its eastern Kentucky mines. This news ironically came on the same day the President announced that his proposals are, according to him anyway, helping to strengthen the economy. Try and tell that to the hard-working coal miners in eastern Kentucky who are now trying to figure out how to feed their families and pay their bills. Well, Kentucky coal miners have suffered far too much already. Congress cannot sit idly by and let the EPA unilaterally destroy a vital source of energy and a vital source of employment.”

Currently, the coal industry employs 13,000 people in the Bluegrass State, and for every one mining job, three more are indirectly dependent on coal.

Below is the full text of Leader McConnell’s Speech. Click HERE to view the floor speech.

“The EPA is due this week to announce regulations capping carbon emissions on new coal-fired power plants.   It’s just the latest Administration salvo in its never ending War on Coal; a War against the very people who provide power and energy for our country.  The EPA has already stifled the permitting process for new coal mines; the agency has done this so dramatically that they have effectively shut down many coal mines through illegitimate, dilatory tactics. 

“The EPA’s actions ignore the thousands of people in my home state of Kentucky who depend on the coal industry for their livelihoods.  Kentucky’s own, Jimmy Rose, a veteran and former coal miner said it best in the title to his song:  “Coal Keeps the Lights On.”  

“In the year President Obama took office there were over 18,600 employed in the coal industry in my state.  But as of September 2013, the number of persons employed at Kentucky coal mines is only 13,000. 

“And the picture is getting worse instead of better.  This week, a major employer announced 525 layoffs in its eastern Kentucky mines.  This news ironically came on the same day the President announced that his proposals are, according to him anyway, helping to strengthen the economy.  Try and tell that to the hard-working coal miners in eastern Kentucky who are now trying to figure out how to feed their families and pay their bills. 

“Well, Kentucky coal miners have suffered far too much already.  Congress cannot sit idly by and let the EPA unilaterally destroy a vital source of energy and a vital source of employment.

“As such I would like to bring up and pass the Saving Coal Jobs Act.  I introduced this measure earlier in the week.  It is a combination of two bills, both of which have languished in committee for months.  The bill would essentially repeal the Administration’s Declaration of War against coal.  The first part of the bill would prevent the EPA from regulating carbon on new and existing coal plants; the second would force the EPA to stop stalling on mining permits.  The time to act on the Saving Coal Jobs Act is now.”