Bush Appoints Mine Safety Administrator(coal mine executive..recess appt)

[RedEarth]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (AP) — With Congress now in a recess, President Bush on Thursday bypassed opposition from Democrats in the Senate and the United Mineworkers of America and appointed his nominee to head the agency that oversees mine safety.

Mr. Bush appointed Richard M. Stickler, who is expected to serve about a year until the end of the next session of Congress. Mr. Stickler, of Terra Alta, W. Va., will head the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which has been without a leader for two years.

The mine agency is part of the Labor Department.

Mr. Bush nominated Mr. Stickler last year, but Senate Democrats have blocked the nomination. The lawmakers and the mine workers’ union said Mr. Stickler had spent too many years as a mining executive and had failed to demonstrate adequate concern for safety in the mining industry.

More than three dozen miners have been killed in accidents this year, according to the mine safety agency’s Web site.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/washington/20mine.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

[maddezmom]

1. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2570736