PANEL TELLS BUSH OSHA:
CURB COMBUSTIBLE DUST

By a bipartisan and unanimous vote, the Democratic-run House Education and Labor Committee passed legislation April 9 ordering the GOP Bush regime’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to write a rule mandating companies curb combustible, or flammable, dust.

No date was set, however, for a floor vote on the bill, sponsored by Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA.) and Rep. John Barrow (R-GA). Barrow’s district was site of a Feb. 7 flammable-dust-caused blast in Imperial Sugar’s refinery. It killed 13.

Congress had to act because Bush’s OSHA refused to do so, even though the dangers of the dust were known for years, the two lawmakers said. “It’s downright stunning that OSHA still has no sense of urgency in dealing with these deadly hazards, even after the Imperial Sugar tragedy,” Miller said. “Unlike OSHA, this Congress is not complacent about the safety of American workers.”