U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, this week announced a January 31 hearing on the confirmation of former Pennsylvania Deep Mine Safety Director Richard Stickler as head of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

“In light of the urgent need to thoroughly examine the cause of this (West Virginia) tragedy and to ensure that similar accidents are never repeated, I will expedite the confirmation process for the President’s nominee, Richard Stickler, which is pending before the HELP Committee,” Enzi said. “The challenge of protecting workers in the mining industry while running an investigation into the Sago tragedy requires a full time administrator at the helm of MSHA.”

Stickler is the former Director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety, and has extensive experience in the mining industry spanning 37 years. His tenure as Director of Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety included the successful rescue in July 2002 of nine miners trapped for 77 hours in a coal mine near Somerset, PA.

1/13/2006