Stickler Reappointed Head of MSHA
The country’s top mine-safety regulator will stay on the job despite the expiration of his temporary appointment as assistant labor secretary for mine safety and health. President Bush designated Richard Stickler as acting head of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, only a few days after the expiration of his recess appointment, The Associated Press reported.
"I’d like to thank the president for his designation today, which will allow us to continue our progress on completing the implementation of Congress’ safety improvements," Stickler said."MSHA’s mission is to help ensure that each and every miner comes home safe after each and every shift, and with Richard’s continued leadership and the diligence of everyone at MSHA, miner safety will continue to advance," said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
The Democratic-controlled Senate has so far refused to approve his nomination. Democratic senators have said Stickler spent too many years as a coal-mining executive and failed to demonstrate that safety is his priority. Stickler could have been limited to a 210-day stay starting from Bush’s designation on January. But since his latest nomination is still pending in the Senate, the White House said, the time limit does not apply and Stickler will likely serve until the end of the Bush administration. "The appointment of Richard Stickler to be acting Assistant secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, just days after his term in that position expired because he couldn’t be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, demonstrates the deep level of contempt the Bush administration holds for the Senate and the constitutional role that body holds," said United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts. "The Senate has pointedly refused to confirm Mr. Stickler to this position twice, and refused to bring his name up for confirmation just a few weeks ago. Clearly, ‘no’ is not an answer the administration respects when it comes to Mr. Stickler."
Stickler, the government’s public face during the Crandall Canyon mine disaster in Utah, took over the $340 million agency in late 2006 as a result of an appointment Bush made while Congress was out of session. He inherited an understaffed agency that was facing new mandates following the coal industry’s deadliest year in more than a decade. Forty-seven coal miners died on the job in 2006, the year he took over the agency.
"The UMWA’s position on Mr. Sticker has remained consistent from the day he was first nominated in 2005," said Roberts. "We do not believe someone who has spent the majority of his working life as a coal company manager, supervisor and executive ought to be appointed as head of MSHA. The U.S. Senate has agreed with us, under both Democratic and Republican leadership. For the Bush administration to continue to subvert the will of the American people, as expressed by their elected representatives in the United States Senate, is frankly outrageous."