Rockefeller requests mine safety hearing

West Virginia Sen. John Rockefeller, a Democrat, has formally requested that a Senate committee investigate the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 workers. Here’s his letter.

“[Last] week’s accident at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, shows that coal mining remains an unacceptably dangerous profession,” Rockefeller wrote to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Monday.