Monday, October 23, 2006
President Bush Uses Senate Recess To Appoint MSHA Head
Last Week, President George W. Bush used what is known as a recess appointment, to name Richard Stickler as head of the Mine Safety and health administration, which over sees federal mine regulations. The Senate had scheduled confirmation votes for Sticklers nomination on two different occasions, but both times Republican Leadership decided to cancel the vote after realizing they did not have the 60 votes needed to override filibuster which democrats would’ve used to stop the nomination from going through.
Through the recess appointment, Stickler will remain in the post until the end of the next congressional session. Democrats from the coal fields are speaking out against the nomination, with several upset with Stickler, who the United mine workers of America have stated had a deplorable record on mine safety, during his time as a mine manager in Pennsylvania.
EKB news contacted Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator Jim Bunning, Republicans from Kentucky and Senator Robert Byrd and Senator Jay Rockefeller Democrats from West Virginia, to get Law Makers from the coal field’s reaction on this appointment. Stewart Chapman, press secretary for Senator Rockefeller told us that the Senator had fought throughout this session to block Stickler’s confirmation. Senator Rockefeller feels that during the same year that such tragic accidents as the Sago Mine tragedy and the Melville mine incident as well as the many fatalities across the nation and sweeping changes to mine safety laws, that Senator Rockefeller does not believe that Stickler is the best man for the job.
Senator Byrd, who was on the campaign trail, even making a stop in Kermit submitted this written statement to us. The sad reality of the Bush Administration’s actions is that the person who will now lead MSHA lacks the trust of the miners he’s charged to protect and has a skewed view of what the safety priorities should be. The Senate has twice returned this nomination to the President with the hope that he would reconsider his choice. We need a bulldog agency that will place miner safety over all other priorities, and not an agency that will continue to place a higher priority on mine production than on miner protection.
As of air time on Monday afternoon, we had still yet to receive a response from the two Kentucky Senators. Senator McConnell’s office has committed to providing us a statement and Senator Bunning’s office has yet to return our call.
According to a press release from the White House, Mr. Stickler served as Director of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety. Earlier in his career, he worked for Beth Energy Mines, Inc. for thirty years. During that time, Mr. Stickler held a number of positions including Manager, Superintendent and Shift Foreman. He received his bachelor's degree from Fairmont State College.
Through the recess appointment, Stickler will remain in the post until the end of the next congressional session. Democrats from the coal fields are speaking out against the nomination, with several upset with Stickler, who the United mine workers of America have stated had a deplorable record on mine safety, during his time as a mine manager in Pennsylvania.
EKB news contacted Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator Jim Bunning, Republicans from Kentucky and Senator Robert Byrd and Senator Jay Rockefeller Democrats from West Virginia, to get Law Makers from the coal field’s reaction on this appointment. Stewart Chapman, press secretary for Senator Rockefeller told us that the Senator had fought throughout this session to block Stickler’s confirmation. Senator Rockefeller feels that during the same year that such tragic accidents as the Sago Mine tragedy and the Melville mine incident as well as the many fatalities across the nation and sweeping changes to mine safety laws, that Senator Rockefeller does not believe that Stickler is the best man for the job.
Senator Byrd, who was on the campaign trail, even making a stop in Kermit submitted this written statement to us. The sad reality of the Bush Administration’s actions is that the person who will now lead MSHA lacks the trust of the miners he’s charged to protect and has a skewed view of what the safety priorities should be. The Senate has twice returned this nomination to the President with the hope that he would reconsider his choice. We need a bulldog agency that will place miner safety over all other priorities, and not an agency that will continue to place a higher priority on mine production than on miner protection.
As of air time on Monday afternoon, we had still yet to receive a response from the two Kentucky Senators. Senator McConnell’s office has committed to providing us a statement and Senator Bunning’s office has yet to return our call.
According to a press release from the White House, Mr. Stickler served as Director of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety. Earlier in his career, he worked for Beth Energy Mines, Inc. for thirty years. During that time, Mr. Stickler held a number of positions including Manager, Superintendent and Shift Foreman. He received his bachelor's degree from Fairmont State College.
# posted by DS @ 5:00 PM 
