On Oct. 31, the House Education and Labor Committee passed the Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act, which builds on the initial MINER Act approved in 2006. The bill is just waiting for a floor vote and then consideration in the Senate, action which has not been scheduled, and the condensed schedule may not allow for it until the next session.

• Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, in June introduced the Miner Health and Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, also building on the MINER Act, but it is waiting approval by the Senate Committee on Health Education and Labor.

• The same committee also needs to consider the Mine Disaster Family Assistance Act of 2007, sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., which specifically addresses communication with families and the media should a major accident occur again.

• The HELP committee, which has jurisdiction over mining, would also need to approve a bill by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that calls for more federal research into mine communication resources.

Webb's bill is similar to one by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, that the House has already passed that calls for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to figure out how to get around the limits of communications devices used now by miners.

The institute would work with other federal agencies and the telecommunications industry to identify research priorities, and grants would be made available to speed development.

The Senate's Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies initially announced Murray would likely be subpoenaed to testify in its investigation after he failed to appear on Sept. 5 at the panel's first hearing on the accident.

"Murray is an indispensable witness, and candidly, he really flouted the responsibility and authority of the United Sates Senate to have his testimony to find out what happened so we could do our utmost to prevent future occurrences," Specter, the subcommittee's ranking member, said in announcing the subpoena.

During the rescue effort, Murray became a primary spokesman for media updates and information, a role lawmakers question because under law the Mine Safety and Health Administration is supposed to be in charge.

Murray Energy has said the CEO did not attend the September hearing because he was still handling the aftermath of the accident and working with the families of those killed.

But several family members of those who died testified before the House Education and Labor Committee in October saying at times Murray yelled at them and they did not get the respect they deserved. Murray also opted to take members of the media into parts of the mine, which mining industry experts have criticized.

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com