WEST Virginians are still mourning the loss of 29 miners killed at Performance Coal Company's Upper Big Branch mine on April 5, 2010 - the worst coal mine disaster in America in 40 years.  

In response to another tragedy, the Sago mine disaster that killed 12 miners in my district four years ago, Congress worked together to pass stronger mine health and safety protections.

Unfortunately, the terrible accident at the Upper Big Branch mine is proof positive that there is more work to be done.

We must continue to work together to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of mine safety standards in a bipartisan, straightforward manner.

On Tuesday, Members of the House Committee on Education and Labor convened to hear testimony on the "Mine Safety and Health Act" (House of Representatives Bill 5663) introduced by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

Miller's bill is a good starting point - but it can and needs to be improved.

I agree that mines that pose the greatest risk to the health and safety of miners should be held accountable.

But Miller's bill goes beyond the scope of safety and threatens the very livelihood of those we're trying to protect.  

Safety and productivity should be viewed as complementary, not competing, objectives.

We must examine how the industry and those entrusted with regulating it are meeting today's safety challenges, which is why I plan to introduce my own mine safety bill.

My bill is neither a Republican bill nor a Democratic bill. Rather, it's a good-faith effort to give everyone involved in mine safety - from inspectors to operators to the miners themselves - the resources they want, need and deserve to run a safe mine.

My bill builds upon what we have learned since that fateful day in April and pulls from conversations I've had with coal miners, inspectors and mine operators.  

My legislation addresses shortcomings in Miller's bill, while offering concrete solutions to improve implementation of mine health and safety laws and create an environment where everyone has an obligation to keep our mines safe.

Real reform includes streamlining the permit appeal process while keeping strict punitive measures, establishing a completely independent federal agency to investigate mining disasters, requiring that inspectors receive annual training, and encouraging operators to work with employees to institute a behavior-based safety system.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass a tough and meaningful mine safety bill in the near future.

Our miners and their families deserve nothing less. 

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito,

R-W.Va., is co-founder of the Congressional Coal Caucus.