Date: 2008-01-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. over this weekend we were treated to a very sad and disturbing story in the Washington Post about drug use in the mining community in Virginia and other States. about miners who have been crushed by equipment in the mines. who have been crushed in roof falls in the mine. who had been run over by other equipment in the mine. whose bodies were wracked with pain. who got addicted to painkillers. to OxyContin. to other drugs such as that. prescription drugs. and then were struggling with their addiction. There was also the story of a miner who got up every night at midnight. fixed himself a quick meal. and drove 135 miles round trip before he went to work so he could get his methadone treatment at the clinic and get on his job. and do that with the knowledge of his employer. struggling with his addiction. struggling to stay employed. In this bill. we had the opportunity to address this situation. RICK BOUCHER. our colleague. addressed it by authorizing with almost unanimous support $10 million for treatment and to work with these miners. that the Secretary can use. We have suggested an amendment in the managers amendment. which you voted for. which says that the Secretary will spend 6 months to work with the industry. to work with the miners. to work with the States. Virginia has a program. Kentucky has a program. West Virginia does not. Pennsylvania apparently does not. Indiana does not. Illinois does not. The Secretary will work with them to see how theyre doing it. the best way to do it. and at the end of that 6 months. after those consultations. after her study. to impose a drug program with drug testing and treatment and rehabilitation. How is that different than what is being offered here by my colleagues on the other side? They impose drug testing. and then they impose a blacklist for those who test positive. You want to- talk about baseball? Youre being a hell of a lot harder on hardworking miners in this country than you are on the baseball stars because they use drugs. and they go to work every day and nobody says anything. But a miner whos been crushed on the job. whos trying to provide for their families. tests positive. we dont know if its a false positive. They dont make allowances for false positives. He gets on the blacklist and he may never work again. RICK BOUCHER had a better idea. Our committee had a better idea. Have the Secretary work with the States and the companies and the mining industries and the miners and the unions and say how can we best do this because Im going to do it. So whats the best way for us to do this. So many of you from both sides of the aisle during the consideration of this bill have said to me one thing over and over again: Will you work with the companies? Will you work with the companies? Now. along comes drug testing. nobody says work with the companies. Nobody says work with the unions. Nobody says work with the community health facilities. They just say test them and list them. What the hell kind of thing is that to do to hardworking people in one of the most dangerous industries? Weve had spouses come to this committee and talk about the fear in their spouses at night when they come home from work and before they leave. the fear that these miners have of going into that workplace. In that article. one of the miners said he takes drugs and he used to drink because hes fighting. he hates the job. Some of them love the job in that article. They said. This is my life. mining. Digging coal is what I do best. but my legs have been crushed. my arm has been crushed. Lets give them testing. Lets give them treatment. and lets give them some understanding of the kind of industry that theyre in. We benefit. we burn the coal. we run the economy. and these families live in fear. This is a very good bill. This is a very good bill. We should not suggest for a moment that because there is no link between the tragedies of the mining accidents last year and the year before. that drugs were involved at all. We have a nutty owner in Utah. but were not going to test him. Were not going to test that. owner. who is running around giving all these false reasons to .these poor victims and their families as to what happened. So yes. you can talk about baseball. But at the end of the day. those baseball players. just as they did last season and next season. theyll be playing. And theyll get a warning. and theyll get treatment. And theyll get a second warning. and theyll get treatment. These guys get a test and a list. Its unfair. Its outrageous. And you should not support it.