The purpose of this hearing is to consider a rather fundamental proposition. Will we keep the promise or not.

It is that simple.

A promise made to the coal miner. In 1946. In the White House. Devised as a direct result of the sweat and blood of generations of coal miners whose toil carried this Nation through war and peace, through the Industrial and the Technological Revolutions.

A promise of cradle to grave health care that manifested itself into the 1992 Coal Act.

And a promise made to coalfield citizens and communities. In 1977. Again, at the White House. Devised as a result of the ravages of past abuses, and on the souls of the 118 individuals who perished in 1972 at Buffalo Creek in Logan County, West Virginia.

A promise to reclaim their devastated landscapes, to return their land to productive uses, and to protect their health and safety that is part and parcel of the landmark Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program has been a success. Unlike the Superfund, this program has a track record of real, on-the-ground progress in restoring lands and eliminating health and safety threats. And since 1992, through the transfer of just the interest which accrues to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to the Combined Benefit Fund, we have provided health care for tens of thousands of elderly retired coal miners whose former employers can no longer be identified.

The nexus is there. The welfare of abandoned miners and of reclaiming abandoned mines, you see, go hand in hand. To date, the promise has been kept.

Yet, at the end of this year the fees assessed on the coal industry which finances this effort expire.

In this regard, it is no secret that for many years the interests of Wyoming, the largest producer of coal, and West Virginia, with a large legacy of abandoned coal mines and retired coal miners, differed on the issue of reauthorizing the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.

But over the course of the past three years the gentlelady from Wyoming and myself have engaged in a dialogue on these issues. Always respectful of each others views, working in good faith, we have found that in at least this matter common ground can be found between the coalfields of the Appalachian basin and those of the Powder River Basin.

The result: H.R. 3796, the Cubin-Rahall bill.

This legislation keeps the promise. To the retired miner, to coalfield citizens and to the States and tribes.

We have an old adage in the Appalachian coalfields, dating back to 1932 and the Harlan County Coal Wars. Which side are you on? Which side are you on.

I had hoped the Administration would be on our side. Yet, it chose to ignore the historic agreement brokered by the gentlelady from Wyoming and myself and instead launch a torpedo into a ship that already has some rough ocean to navigate.

I welcome the Administration’s interest. It is always fascinating when this Administration attempts to come forward with a pro-environment, pro-labor proposal.

But in my view it is a flawed proposal.

I fear that under the Administration’s bill the program’s goals will not be achieved. That through loopholes there will be a continued hemorrhaging of funds to lower priority projects. Cubin-Rahall says protecting human health and safety must come first.

In my view, the Administration’s bill does not keep faith with the coal States and tribes. It appears to say that reclaiming an abandoned coal mine in Oklahoma is less important than reclaiming an abandoned coal mine in Pennsylvania. I do not accept that notion. The fact of the matter is that the States and tribes entered an agreement with the federal government premised on their receiving at a minimum a 50% return on their contributions to the program. Cubin-Rahall maintains the integrity of those agreements. The Administration does not.

And finally, the Administration’s bill does not keep faith with the retired coal miner. It does not keep the promise. Cubin-Rahall does. Whether they reside in Salt Rock, West Virginia, or Rock Springs, Wyoming, it keeps the promise to some 50,000 retired coal miners that their health care will continue uninterrupted.

The eyes of coalfield communities and coal mining families, ladies and gentlemen, are upon us this day.

To this gentleman from West Virginia, enacting the principles of the Cubin-Rahall bill are a matter of justice, a matter of human dignity and respect, and are those which I shall not flag nor fail in my efforts to achieve.