FILE - Julie Su speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing for her to be the Labor Secretary, on Capitol Hill, April 20, 2023, in Washington. The Labor Department moved Tuesday to better protect miners from poisonous silica dust that has contributed to the premature deaths of thousands of mine workers from a respiratory disease commonly known as “black lung.” (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
John Robinson, a retired coal miner with black lung, speaks during a public hearing hosted by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration about its draft rule to limit worker exposure to silica dust, Aug. 10, 2023, at the agency’s office in Beaver, W.Va. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)
Vonda Robinson, vice president of the National Black Lung Association, speaks during a public hearing hosted by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration about its draft rule to limit worker exposure to silica dust, Aug. 10, 2023, at the agency’s office in Beaver, W.Va. Vonda Robinson's husband, John Robinson, a retired miner, was diagnosed with black lung around a decade ago. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)