cecil roberts is president of the united mine workers of america. and dr. jeffrey colder is director in the office of mine and safety health research with the national institute for occupational safety and health. before i recognize each of you for your testimony, i'll just remind you of the lights. i know all of you have been here. we've got a green light, yellow light and red light. green light will indicate that you have five minutes. the yellow light, you have one minute. and the red light, we would ask you to wrap-up your testimony. your entire written testimony will be included in the record. so you can summarize, if you would like. with that, we'll start with mr. shapiro. you're recognized, sir. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will summarize my written statement that has already been provided. >> microphone. >> is it on now? okay. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for inviting me to testify this morning. with respect to the oig report on allegations of retaliation and intimidation related to the ubb accident investigation. in march of 2011, we received

cecil roberts who was the president of the united mine workers of america. you're basically saying the coal industry could suffer the same fate as bin laden by which i i guess you mean the epa's going to put the coal industry out of business. is that fair? >> i think that's exactly what i've been saying. we've had three rules, two of which have been implemented. all of which are very troubling for the coal industry. and where we found ourselves today, i doubt if it's possible to build another coal-fire facility in the united states. >> well, that's what some of the environmental people are saying that there'll never be another new coal-fired plant. isn't the united states the saudi arabia of coal? aren't we a gigantic coal power? >> we have more coal in the united states than any country on earth and absolutely we're the saudi arabia of coal here in the united states and instead of trying to do away with this energy source, we ought to be tapping into it. >> as i understand it from your radio appearance yesterday, you're very annoyed at the obama administrat

so a tip of the hat to cecil roberts, president of the united mine workers, who knows how to appeal to american sense of justice >> the coal industry is not far behind with respect to what happened with osama bin laden. the navy seals shot osama bin laden in pakistan and lisa jackson shot us in washington. so there you go. >> >> stephen: well done, sir. osama bin laden was definitely the sympathetic figure in that story. and who can forget how upset the american people were when the american government took bin laden out. >> u-s-a, u-s-a! >> stephen: u-s-a, of course, the first three letters of usama. if you're comparing the coal industry to homicidal maniac, i would have gone with saddam hussein. the guy knew a lot about fossil fuels and he spent some time in an underground shaft. true story. sad but true. next up, i love sleeping. it's the second most fun thing you can do in bed. the first being breakfast. this is family show. so a tip of my hat to the research corporation for an innovation that will help me sleep better at night. >> today i'm going to show you some features of our r

he was a member of the united mine workers an sanctioned i by a virginia judge. he left the communist party back in the afl/cio and was one step below a socialist, admitting he's worse than that. people should know about his background and i'm for full disclosure. >> dennis, what about this, 37% in the last election -- 37% of union members voted republican. over 90 percent of the dues went to democratic. >> you want to talk about union issues? let's divert to fat cat salaries. that's the business of their shareholder. when a company makes politic -- may i speak? >> we'll give you a chance, rick. >> it doesn't dock worker pay. when a union make worker contributions it comes from worker pay. we'll collect dews and push for benefits and for our political fund we're asking for a second source of money for the political fund then let the workers have a voice. >> rick, we haven't heard from victoria. >> dennis, that's a genius idea. it gets rid of the corrupt issue in unions but it's the reason you are not a union boss. because clearly this would not be in the union bo

there is three minimum health and safety committee representatives of the united mine workers at every union mine. they travel with the federal inspectors. they travel with the state inspectors. and they file reports on their own. they inspect the mines themselves, at least four times a year. in some places they inspect the entire mine every month. so there is another set of eyes that being a representative to workers at all the union mines. and that's not true at a most nonunion mines. the protections that they have at nonunion mines are the federal inspectors and the state inspectors. so it's a world of difference. >> thank you for that response. dr. kohler, legal me ask you, do you feel you have sufficient personnel at and if so how do you keep them with you? >> the workforce challenges spread across the mining industry. they're not just confined to msha. we experienced them at niosh. universities, everywhere. everyone is struggling to hire and recruit talented personnel into mining. just to give you an example, msha and niosh both compete for entry level mining engineers. a student

cecil roberts, president of the united mine workers association whom we will hear from shortly once noted that 95% of mine operators are trying to do the right thing. yet bad actors continue to jeopardize miner safety. that is why we have the mine act and the mine safetiy and health administration, when workers are needlessly put in harm's way, federal enforcement must require action and hold the mine operator accountable. we've learned in startling detail from internal review and independent assessment, regrettably this did not happen at upper big branch. instead miners were forced to face reckless safety practices and enforcement failures on numerous occasions. inspectors identified safety violations yet didn't require abatement of the hazards. more schork i shocking hazards that went unnoticed what so zfr. in december 2009, msha secured a new plan to secure the roof of the mine. however, four subsequent inspections failed to cite massey for violating the approved plan proving a critical error allowing for the buildup of methane gas. it is difficult, almost impossible to imagine persona

my dad was a united mine worker for 37 years. and any time a disaster like this happens, it hits close to home, because basically everyone i grew up with and everyone i knew were coal miners. so with that, i'm interested in finding out, it says the internal review the abatement time for the one respirable was 30 days when the allowable was 7 days. why was msha setting deadlines weeks beyond what was allowed? i think one of the things that we found from the internal review was two things. one is that the mining company was abusing the system, and that we were not doing enough to keep up with the system. and some of those delays, i don't think, should have been in place. i think that there was extensions.

he worked for the united mine workers of america in various positions from 1974 it 2002 including 22 years as the administrator of umwa's occupational health and safety department. prior to his nomination he worked as a mine safetiy consultant. welcome back, mr. main. before i recognize you for your testimony, let me remind you of our quaint but nevertheless important lighting system there. it's a green, yellow, red, self-evident. we want to hear what you have to say. all of your testimony will be included in the record. you're free to summarize as you wish. when we get into questions, i will be asking my colleagues to stick to the five-minute rule so that we can all have a chance to engage in the discussion and have time for the second panel. and with that, sir, you're recognized. >> i think it's on now. thank you, chairman kline, and ranking member woolsey. i appreciate the opportunity to report on the april 5, 2010 disaster in the upper branch mine that caused the death of 29 miners. actions thins sen, findings and before the explosion and why this efforts to use all tools legislat

here is once again, the commandants alone, the united states mine and drum and bugle corps. ♪ ["into se] ♪ ["anchors away"] [applause] ♪ copps [applause] ♪ [applause] ♪ [applause] >> ladies and all men, the commandants of, the united states marine drum and bugle corps. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, pase lcome the director of the smithsonian air and space museum, general jack daley. [applause] >> if your blood is not moving now, let me know and i will send a gurney for you. [laughter] w about another hand for the tremendous performance as we have had here by miss denise graves said, the cover -- the color guard and the drum and bugle corps of the united states [applaus marine corps] good morning -- united states marine corps. [applause] good morning. it is my pleasure to welcome you here. this is the most mispronounced name of any smithsonian facility. we are delighted thave you here to transfer the space uttle discovery into america's collection of aviation and space treures. it is great to see such a large, enthusiastic crowd. and many of you have been standing for several hour

clearly a war crime is it a little late is it to you it shouldn't be but why does the united states use our land mines why we don't we're trying to stop it the problem is how. do you know how do you bring the rule of law to bear on the united states government it's very difficult to do and especially on the pentagon there are you know there are a lot to themselves so that's why it's so hard to bring the united states to heel or he sees isolation on the international stage as being the only way forward i think if we can get all the parties to the geneva protocol to send in that letter to the french government now apparently even the british are willing to go although that is armed and the u.s. then is the only outlier on d. you just maybe they'll say ok let's stop using the. france's boyles cause seems a desperate one the united states continue to make use of the iranians in developing their military arsenal. in two thousand and three one year before the battle of fallujah donald rumsfeld then defense secretary made a reference before the u.s. congress to the use of a new weapon the hellfire missile. t

it's the worst coal mining disaster in the united states in four decades. 29 miners died in the blast. wednesday, alpha natural resources, the new owner of the mine, says it's planning to permanently seal the mine by this summer. also wednesday, the family of one of the men killed filed a lawsuit against former masse energy chief don blanken ship and eight others calling them responsible for the disaster. the lawsuit doesn't target masse. >>> the commonwealth of virginia says the courts will have to abide by a $100,000 cap on damages in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against virginia tech. the parents of two of the students killed won their suit. the parents asked to be awarded $2 million despite a state cap on the damages. now the state is asking the judge to abide by the cap. >>> well, election day was two days ago but there's still one undecided race for d.c. council. it's between biddle and orange for the at large seat. last week orange was ahead by just about 500 votes. >> absolutely i feel like a winner. i think we're in a great place. yesterday was a great day for us, now up by

this land mine was shown at the united nations today. we caught up with richards who told us about his remarkable story. >> as soon as we see he come out of the ambulance, we see a team of professional surgical staff and their cambodian counterparts, and we basically see the trio of irish -- the triage system month-old. he walked in this happen several times before. he was thirsty and happen to take a small deviation from the path, and he was going to get some water or something. and he trod on all land mine. cambodia has become a poster child for the land mine epidemic. it is certainly not the only place in the world. i would call myself a land mine survivor as well. in april 2006 i was traveling with the canadian convoy. the vehicle charged into my own vehicle, detonated two roadside bombs set by the taliban. all four soldiers were killed. it had a profound effect on the. i had been working for several years. we all knew victim's. and suddenly i was faced with the psychological impact of seeing four people i had come to know die in fro

united other favorites. everything it can happen but it's not been a as they say i think that. more chance than i was because. we should be mine and after we should play you guys know. that would be a. terrific game and after we stared united would play against chauncey s. and in that for them would be too easy game. meanwhile here in russia as in it's in petersburg are now setting their sights on european success after becoming russian champions for the third time in five years with a two one win in time to deny moscow the hosts the lead off the hof and that this is the one shot off of the right but he may be strong and a penalty which top scorer alexander clergy call converted but almost immediately alexander who they are only pulled one back for the nominee and then ten minutes after the break as any concert in the city on off sent off however they held on until one it finished and then the celebrations began. well the fan saluted their team's achievement and as the champagne flowed on a split team praised his team's mental toughness over a long eighteen month season italian also claim to meet wanted to become one of europe

united states. >> i asked a very good friend of mine who has studied springsteen's lyrics and he said that is aboutmerican dream and the american reality. >> that's what bruce says about his work period. so in that sense everything he writes is about it. but you can say that on that song as well. >> that song seems to be so much of the moment. if there is anything that captures of the anger of wall street -- >> that's from jack of all trades. >> excuse me, yes. >> there is a line in it that said if i had a shotgun -- >> yeah i didn't quote line. that is almost violent. >> it is juvenile to expect the singer to be the person in the song. johnny cash didn't shoot a man in reno just to watch him die. the bankers probably manage his money pretty carefully. >> he hopes. >> yeah. but he is giving voice to genuine feelings. what he has been saying at his concerts, it's not which side of the 99% you on are it's which side of history you are on. so even though he is as wealthy as man could be he has put himself on the side of help. >> he went from unknown to superstar, able to gather presidents at his whim

united in what could prove to be a title deciding delegate. but. as they say i think that. more chance than i was because that. should be mine the guys knew. it would be a. good game and after instead united would play against chauncey is doing that for them would be too easy getting. now on to ice hockey and russia have bounced back from their opening defeat to finland by beating sweden four two in the latest leg of the euro hockey tour after a goal as a first period russian struck three times within four minutes to forge ahead while sweden pushed themselves back into contention to the couple of goals. second of the match maybe four two to russia with just over a minute to go while earlier while champions finland fought back from two goals down to hosts the czech republic three two you know the time. tennis now and second seeded maria sharapova will face another final against world number one of the tortillas are into following a hard fought victory over patrick that of god a single break of serve in the opening set was enough to cheer up a bit to take it six fought but kept the russian on her toes throughout and saved a match point in the

units it takes to graduate. ">>>i think its one hundred twenty i think twelve fifteen per semseter thirty four one hundred twenty one hundred fifty maybe one hundred twenty six for mineut i switched majors so i'm a senior with units but technically i'm a sophomore one hundred twenty oh no no no wait wait if your're a transfer student sixty but to graduate like with a bachelors if you started here one hundred twenty is that correct or thats a very good question actually. if i really had to guess like maybe over one hundred to graduate depending on the major. depends on the major so and i'd say over a hundred maybe" with thousands of students graduating next month ... one professor can say he's probably had many of them as students. after more than 4 decades, political science professor terry christensen is retiring this semester. ">>>since 1970 -- terry christensen has taught generations of students that have reflected their political times -- from the vietnam war to the age of obama. (terry christensen) i guess what i'll probably miss the most is that i wont have new generations of students to connect to.. so that's going to dry up soon since i wont have students in

united states. the more you know. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943.ine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. >>> president obama is speaking to college students in iowa today. it is the second day of his campaign to press for an extension of current student loan interest rates that would otherwise double july 1st. in north carolina yesterday, the president made it clear for him and the first lady this hits close to home. >> michele and i, we know about this firsthand. this is not something i read in a briefing book. this is not some abstract idea for us. we've been in your shoes. we only finished paying off our student loans about eight years ago. think about that, i'm the president of the united states. >> joining me now is the secretary of education, arne duncan. well, w

united states. the friends of mine two years ago are saying we want the united states to come in and bomb and a goodpoint that the u.s. bases, the homes and elsewhere. but who is asking the question of what comes after, what is being dismantled as an arab nationalism that really keeps in check some of the forces we are seeing rise up, some of the islamic forces, the movements and other countries, people have been so thoroughly punished by some of these u.s. dictatorships that the turn of deeper and deeper towards religion, and i don't get the sense, and i don't -- i'm curious on what you think, the u.s. policy makers are thinking much further than the news cycle and with public pressure seems to be brought on the large media outlets or by the influential prominent think tankers. so much of what we think of is policies actually driven by what is going on here. i mean, just to give you -- to go back to iran, we have an odd political situation here where normally a democrat would rule on the issue of jobs and the republicans would rule on the issue of national security. now, this is kind of reverse the

united price because twentieth and cheney think she likes it out of favorites. everything is going to happen but as much as they say i think that. more than i was because of. who should be mine and after we should play against newcastle it would be a. good game and after we stared united would play against each one serious and i did that for them would be too easy getting. well elsewhere the title could also be decided in spain's league as this sunday night round madrid will be having wasilla lose their match to go where ghana to reclaim the crime for the cats one side with three games to play they were in your side are ten points clear at the top following a three mile drubbing upset at the bernabeu christiane are now the right front before carrying bans him on i think another two even three second half minutes. while here in russia isn't so great as work and setting their sights on european success after becoming russian champions for the third time in five years with a two one win is home to deny moscow the hosts lead off to half an hour through the launch of rock off five minutes later leaving your distraught old a penalty which top spot at least on the verge of going to

fulmer johnson, some of the leading dissident mines in the united states. if we lived in a more sane reality the mind of tom engelhardt would be capped by the national security apparatus to actually help analyze what u.s. policy should be around the world. let's be clear about this. we live in a very dark moment in history where the united states is simultaneously waging covert wars, over wars, air wars, jerome wars, economic wars on multiple continent sins for of countries around the world. there was much fanfare about the end of the iraq war and yet we see iraq descending further into chaos. the united states has increased the number of private contractors that are going to be operating in iraq as the official u.s. military withdraws. in afghanistan the united states is increasingly moving toward front and center of the most lethal forces in the u.s. arsenal, those from the special operations command. all of america heard about the joint operations command field team 6 because of the assassination of osama bin laden but after the special operations comman

bush and not president obama who famously claimed to be a uniter, not a divider, does that somewhat under mineal as a vp pick? >> yes. i think the fact that he is 0-2 and trying to promote a budget and this latest one i think is going to be a disastrous as last year's was, and this whole bit about sarah palin now jumping into the mix, i mean, listening to sarah palin dispense v.p. advice is like going to michael jackson's doctor for medical advice. i agree that rubio is probably the front-runner. i think the choice of rubio is a better way to cross racial lines for rick santorum in i than, say, singing who let the dogs out. i think hayley is a better way of reaching out to women than by saying rush limbaugh used the wrong word or he would have used a different word other than slut to describe sandra fluke, and the real story is a lot of these folks aren't really that interested in being the v.p. candidate. people remember bob dole, lieberman, and being a v.p. candidate for a guy that everyone thinks is going to lose is not a good career move. >> onto julian's point, south carolina governor nik

united states. only 100 to 120 of them are mining methane gas that we can turn into natural gas right?is untapped resource of natural gas. >> companies making methane are making a fortune right now. >> we do something neat with the methane in california. we have a lnd fill in the bay area that turns that to liquid natural gas. the very garbage those trucks are picking up goes to fuel those trucks. it's what we call an environmental closed loop. >> the best clean and green story i know of. last night, the federal energy regulatory commission allowed cheniere to build a $10 billion plant in plaquemines parish, but will also export natural gas. we are importing oil in countries that you and i might think are sketchy, a word my kids use and we're exporting natural gas. does that make sense to you? >> we're sitting on a large reservoir. first, we should use it domestically to replace oil. let's tuesday to replace coal in power plants and disease nell our trucks. let's use it to power the chemical plants that, again, down in louisiana, are using natural gas that -- and moving these industrie

mines that anybody could protect them. they didn't believe the governor could. they didn't believe this congress could. they didn't believe the president of the united states could keep their job or protect them from don blankenship. and you have to understand the type individual this was who he visited these mines. he flaunted his power and authority. and he was retaliatory. and he had a long, long history of that. so what you have to do, if you want to prevent this in the future, we don't have many of these type people. i want to make sure that we're clear on that. most operators don't act like this. but you're going to have those type people from time to time, and you have to protect these miners from them. and you have to write it into law that if people put miners in unsafe conditions, it's jail time. >> so had you been sitting in secretary main's seat, what would you have said we need to do? >> had i been sitting in secretary main's seat -- let me -- we have publicly said that this mine should have been closed. and there has been a debate about these situations for 30 years now, whether msha really has the authority or not. and we've said that

point is absolutely the capability is out there and there are massive data mining taking place with the nsa inside the unitedat is approved post 9/11 which is fine to a point but sometimes you go to far and we need to help sure that congress has oversite. >> let me read a statement from the nsa. they say that many allegations have been made about the planned activists of the utah data there is. what it is a state-of-the-art facility designed to support the intelligence community efforts to strengthen and protect the nation. so, bottom line, i don't know they have time to be concerned with the average joe blow and to track what you are saying to your girlfriends. as secretary of defense panetta said, the greatest worry is cyber attack so the government needs to have this sort of massive data. >>guest: understood. and i was at dinner with secretary clinton the other day and her second most important threat to the country is cyber. i support 100 percent, i support the collection of information to make sure we are protected but you can swing too far and we need to ensure that the attorney general is making sure

with iran, that he is not amenable to normal relationship with the united states and he is going to do everything in his power to under mine u.s. interests in the region. i think the good news is that iran has not decided to weaponize its program, the u.s. intelligence community assesses that there is no indication that homany and the leadership decided to weaponize the program and given the vulnerabilities they face at home, lack of legitimacy, iran's receding regional influence, this gives us the opportunity to inka the islamic republic and hope for something better to emerge in the future because if you look at iran, i think iran more so than a lot of countries surrounding it has the real potential for a democratic system. and ultimately only a democratic iran will not solution to the nuclear crisis. thank you. >> thank you all for coming. when we originally drew up this i thought it would be a difficult case to make there is hope for diplomacy and a degree with those on the other side of the table there is increasing hope but i am going to try my best to pour cold water on that increasing hope. despite the fact that i

united have a fully fit squad to choose from. if he can happen but it's not being as they're saying i think that they have more chance than that because they're. it should be mine in the end after we should play you guys new cast that will be a cover game and after it would be instead united would play as swansea sound and in that for them would be too easy game. now tennis where maria sharapova has lifted her first title of the year beating world number one victoria azarenka claimed they stood guard the russian looking much sharper than in the previous two finals this loss to atlanta they swear. droppers precise groundstrokes insistence on the german clay helping the twenty five year old to take the order and set six one who had only lost once this season heading into the clash was also unable to take her opponent in the second break in the belorussian before holding sorrow for six one six four victory a great time for a few upwards of. the second slam of the year the french open the getting at the end. not the boxing where rushing to make two pair or gates putting his w b r middleweight title on the line here in moscow on tuesday night there was a bit of pre-

of touch i'm out of time ♪ >> governor romney called the president of the united states out of touch. as an old friend of minet's chutzbah. >> but i never had to change anything i said in the primary. there was no etch-a-sketch issue for me. >> we don't need people who write their public policy in etch-a-sketches. >> i did have etch-a-kesketches for my children, but i thought they were children's toys, not actual presidential campaign design systems. >> i wish my wife ann were here. for a lot of reasons, i wish she were here. >> this is not your father's republican party. >> good morning. i'm kris jansing. that was the week that was, and now today three primaries, and in all three -- wisconsin, maryland, washington, d.c. -- mitt romney is expected to win. his campaign hopes a big win in wisconsin might convince rick santorum to finally drop out. well, good luck with that. >> i think this primary, the longer it goes, the better it is for the party. people even said, well, go to convention. it would be dangerous. no, i think it would be an energizing thing for our party to have a candidate emerge who isn't the

united states. we currently have mining above it, but it will be stripped under arrest in the army corps of engineerssays if the mining occurs that it would endanger the dam. i would like to know what the gentleman could possibly look into this or is possibly familiar with it. host: david givens. but i i'm not familiar, appreciate the sense of history in this gives a good example of what the bureau does. for instance, it is responsible for the management of mineral rights for other federal agencies like the army corps of engineers and it often works closely with it. it sounds like, in this case, the bureau is in control of the mineral rights of the property and it is not too unusual for the land to be let out for coal mining production. i and stand an average citizen saying that this is a difficult situation to fight. this is very common of the divergence of interest groups where blm land and blm mineral rights are observed. host: another question of of twitter. guest: i do not know. looking at the map again of the western states where so much of that is federal land, not blm land, it is possible to

united states on a notice moments. >> does the bomb make him look even younger? you understand the question? >> the bomb? >> the big bomb. >> you mine the hydrogen bomb? >> yeah. does it make him look younger? >> when i saw him there alongside romney and you see him speak, you say is this fellow ready to be commander and chief and control the nuclear arsenal and i would say not yet. >> he's junior varsity. he's a talented guy. he is running for something. he's got his biography out. he's hired a private detector to invest his own background to make sure he knows all the skeletons are out there. i don't think he's running for vice president i think he's running for 2016. >> he is 40 years old. how old was jefferson when he ran? >> i don't know. >> he was older than that. >> older than 47? who was the youngest president? >> the youngest president was teddy roosevelt. nixon was 39 when he became vice president. >> he looks a little top young. and the rubio people you talk to them you got a sense they are not interested in it. he is taking advantage of this moment to get all the attention and publicity he can. but they are content for h

the government is appealing to mining companies to send heavy machinery and speed up the rescue effort. >> a wildfire has broken out in new jersey on the east coast of united states. >> 2 square kilometers of land is burning. is the second major wildfire in southern new jersey in less than a week. officials say it could have been caused by arson. and now let's look at other stories from around the world. >> mali's president has formally resigned, more than two weeks after a disastrous military coup. his resignation was part of the deal to restore ruled. meanwhile, other countries are meeting to discuss the rebellion in the north. >> of former kgb boss has won the election in georgia's breakaway province. russia and georgia fought a brief war over the status of ossetia in 2008. both countries still consider it to be part of georgia. >> there have been clashes in serbia between police and protesters over the construction of homes by and southern belgrade. 14 police were reportedly injured. they set up container homes for many roma families. >> transportation workers in brussels or are in -- are on strike after the brutal death of a colleague. police have arr