BILL REQ. #:  H-0850.1 

Read first time 01/24/2003.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE UNITED STATES POSTMASTER GENERAL, AND TO THE CITIZENS' STAMP ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Since the birth of this country, our nation owes our coalminers a debt we could never begin to repay for the difficult and dangerous job they perform so we could have the fuel we need to operate our industries and heat our homes; and
     WHEREAS, The energy needs of communities throughout the nation have been met due to the hard work and dedication of American coalminers; and
     WHEREAS, Millions of workers toiled in the nation's coal mines over the last century, risking both life and limb to fuel the nation's economic expansion, and through their manual labor made possible the technological conveniences of modern American life through those contributions to the nation's welfare are generally unknown to the public; and
     WHEREAS, During the last century, over 100,000 coalminers have been killed in mining accidents in the nation's coal mines and 3,500,000 coalminers have suffered nonfatal injuries; and
     WHEREAS, 100,000 coalminers have contracted Black Lung Disease as a direct result of their toil in the nation's coal mines; and
     WHEREAS, Coal provides 50 percent of the nation's electricity and is an essential fuel for industries such as steel, cement, chemical, food, and paper; and
     WHEREAS, Coalminers keep the nation supplied with an energy resource that produces electricity for the lowest cost, when compared to fuels other than nuclear, and which makes possible the country's unmatched productivity and prosperity; and
     WHEREAS, Coalminers provide a vital pool of labor with the expertise to produce energy supplies from vast national coal reserves which serves to buffer the country from a dangerous dependence on foreign energy fuels; and
     WHEREAS, The United States has a demonstrated coal reserve of more than 500,000,000,000 tons, with an estimated 275,000,000,000 tons of recoverable reserves which, at current production rates, represents about 275 years of recoverable coal reserves; and
     WHEREAS, These coal reserves represent about 95 percent of all fossil fuel reserves in the United States, about one-fourth of the world's known coal reserves; and
     WHEREAS, Approximately two-thirds of all coal mined in the United States is transported by rail, making coal the largest single source of freight revenue for United States' railroads; and
     WHEREAS, Transportation by railroad provided jobs for thousands of workers by initially building the infrastructure, maintenance of same, and loading and unloading of coal; and
     WHEREAS, The dominant mode of coal transportation into New York is by railroad; and
     WHEREAS, It would be proper and fitting for our nation to recognize our coalminers, both past and present, for their contributions to this nation; and
     WHEREAS, Coal mining continues to be the economic engine for many communities, providing jobs to areas with little economic diversity; and
     WHEREAS, Coal mining provides an economic benefit far beyond its direct revenue, including billions of dollars in economic output and household earnings and hundreds of thousands of jobs in other industries;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the United States Postal service issue a postage stamp commemorating American coalminers, which would hold the promise of illustrating a colorful and historically rich segment of society for the benefit of school children, stamp collectors, educators, and the public.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the United States Postmaster General, the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the United States Postal Service, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.