The publication is reproduced in full below:
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUNSHINE MINE FIRE
Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, 50 years ago, on May 2, 1972, 91 miners lost their lives when a fire broke out in the Sunshine Mine. Along with my colleague, Senator Mike Crapo, I rise today to honor those men and commemorate the worst mining disaster our State has ever seen.
The Silver Valley mining heritage dates back to the 1860s. Whole generations of Silver Valley residents have worked in mines, with sons following their fathers and uncles into the mining tradition. As its name indicates, this area in North Idaho's Shoshone County is especially abundant in silver. Throughout its history, this region has produced over 1.2 billion ounces of silver, making it one of the richest silver-producing areas in the world.
Mining has always been a dangerous job. While safety conditions in the mines have improved over the decades, the hazards of mining can be reduced, but never completely eliminated.
Just before noon on May 2, 1972, a fire broke out on the air intake side of the Sunshine Mine as 173 miners worked underground. As the fire burned, the intake of air led carbon monoxide to fill the No. 10 mineshaft. Eighty men were safely evacuated from that shaft before the death of the No. 10 shaft hoistman. After that, only two more men were rescued.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, and in its wake, the Sunshine Mine shut down for 7 months before production resumed. It ceased operation in 2001, having produced over 360 million ounces of silver.
The 91 men who died during this horrific incident left behind 77 widows and 200 children, many of whom still reside in Kellogg and the surrounding area. The Sunshine Miners Memorial, which stands near where the mine was located, lists the name of each of the men killed along with a poem by former Governor Phil Batt commemorating the incident. Ken Lonn, a former Sunshine miner, sculpted the monument.
The Sunshine Mine fire looms large in the region's memory, and every year on May 2, the people of the Silver Valley gather at this memorial to remember the tragedy. This year, Idaho Governor Brad Little has declared May 2 as Miners Memorial Day.
We commemorate the tragic and untimely loss of these 91 men and the disaster's decades-long impact on the Silver Valley community. We commend the memorial committee for their efforts to preserve their legacy through maintenance of the memorial and by organizing the Miners Memorial Day ceremony. We hope all Idahoans will remember the events from May 2, 1972, and the men who went underground that morning but did not return.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 69
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