"Mr. Murray and the company would never knowingly expose any employee to danger and he hasn't in his 50 years of experience," McKown said. "For anyone to imply otherwise is blatantly false. Once the facts are known, they will show that Mr. Murray deserves tremendous credit for his courage and leadership under very difficult conditions."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who sits on the HELP Committee with Kennedy, along with the committee's top Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Congress should "refrain from rushing to judgments based on incomplete and unofficial evidence."

"(Kennedy's) report is one of a number of inquiries that will shed light on the Crandall Canyon Mine tragedy," Hatch said. "I will weigh the opinions in his inquiry with the official findings in the Inspector General's and Mine Safety and Health Administration's official reports that are due to be released later this year. I'll further examine the findings in all the other ongoing reports on Crandall Canyon."

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, also said he would consider Kennedy's report but "will withhold any final conclusion until I have reviewed the official report from the Mine Safety and Health Administration."

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com