Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., this afternoon recounted his own father’s brush with death in a Nevada mine as he extended his sympathies to West Virginia in the wake of the blast in the Upper Big Branch Mine that claimed 29 lives. But he stopped short of calling for the federal government to impose tougher safety standards.
Reid’s father Harry was a gold miner in Searchlight, Nev., who was injured during an explosion in the mine that blew the sole off one of his shoes and embedded hundreds of splinters in his leg.
The West Virginia explosion, Reid said on the Senate floor Monday, “brought back a lot of memories. I sympathize with the people of West Virginia for their loss.”
Reid has also worked in the Nevada hardrock mines and two sons have worked for law firms that represent mining companies. Reid’s son-in-law lobbies for mining companies.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., whose state has a significant coal mining industry, said he wants more government involvement in mine safety to prevent similar disasters.
“It clearly calls for a much more aggressive approach by our federal government,” Durbin said on the Senate floor. “Let us use their lives as an inspiration for doing a better job of writing the laws and enforcing the laws,” he said.
