Rep. Kelly Votes to Protect Coal Mining Jobs & Stop Government Waste
House passes ‘Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America Act’ with bipartisan support
WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) – a member of the House Ways and Means Committee – spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives this afternoon in support of H.R. 2824, the Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America Act. The legislation would save American jobs and taxpayer dollars by preventing the Obama administration’s expensive rewrite of the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule, which would effectively shut down most of the nation’s underground coal mines. The bill was passed by the House with bipartisan support by a vote of 229-192.
Highlights from Rep. Kelly’s floor speech:
“There is no question about the [Obama administration’s] war on coal. It is factual. … The area of the country that I represent is Western Pennsylvania. It is hard to look at a source that is so abundant, so accessible, so affordable, so reliant, and so sustainable, that keeps our energy costs lower; it creates thousands of jobs. The administration’s efforts have not only eliminated people who are mining coal; they have absolutely eliminated entire communities and wiped them off the face of the Earth.”
“In 2008, we had a rule that received certification from the Environmental Protection Agency and completely complied with the Clean Water Act — so the question becomes: how good does the coal industry have to become in order to receive a pat on the back from the administration? The answer is: they can never reach that level; they will never be accepted; it will never be part of our energy strategy; it will never lead America to be independent from every place else in the world.”
“All you have to ask yourself is: What in the world are we doing to the people we represent? This is not a Republican strategy or a Democrat strategy — this is an American strategy. If it is truly about energy and creating jobs and protecting our environment, it’s all there, gentlemen, and it’s been there for years.”
“The lights are going out across this country. Our position in the world is being challenged right now. In a country that has been so blessed for so long with abundant, affordable, and accessible energy — [it is wrong] to sit back and say, ‘You know what? [Coal mining plants] are getting better but they are never going to be good enough for us; they are just never going to quite reach that metric that they have to reach.’”
“So we have to start asking ourselves: Where is it that they going with this? Is this a way to prop up an agenda by the administration or is this a way to prop up the American success story? Are we going to go forward and truly achieve an independence of energy from any other place in the world other than our own? Or are we going to continue to fight over things that don’t make sense to the American people and yet somehow make sense in this House?”
“What we are doing today just makes sense. We have already run the traps on it; we have already run the tests; we have done all the metrics. Coal is good for America. Coal has always been good for America. Coal has cleaned itself up incredibly, and will continue to do so. These are the most responsible people. I would invite some of my friends who have never been down in a coal mine: travel with me to Western Pennsylvania; go down in the Bailey Mine; go down 700 feet and see how they are mining coal today, and see how they are scrubbing coal, and then say to me that they are not doing it the right way.”
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