mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time , and i thank him so much for his service to this committee and for his constant support of workers ' rights , workers ' health and safety , and the protection of their families if they are injured on the job .  the occupational safety and health act has substantially improved the safety of the american workplace to the benefit of the american worker .  far fewer workers are killed or injured today than was the case before the law was enacted .  despite this progress , too many americans continue to be sick or injured or killed in workplace accidents that could or should have been avoided .  every day , 15 workers are killed on the job .  another estimated 50 , 000 to 60 , 000 die every year due to occupational illnesses .  hundreds of thousands of workers face serious injuries on the job every year .  liberty mutual , the largest workers ' compensation insurance company , estimates that the direct cost of occupational injuries and illnesses is $ 1 billion a week .  two major workplace tragedies , one in texas this year and the other in ohio last year , underscore the need to strengthen , not weaken , the health and safety laws of this country .  on march 23 of this year , a huge explosion at the bp amoco texas city refinery killed 15 workers and injured 170 others .  although bp initially blamed contract workers for the explosion , it now appears that faulty equipment played a major role in this catastrophic blast .  as it turns out , the bp amoco refinery in texas city has been a repeat safety violator .  repeat safety violations also played a key role in the deaths of four iron workers when a massive bridge crane collapsed near toledo , ohio , in 2004 .  the contractor fru-con failed to address urgent issues with anchoring the crane properly raised by the crane 's european manufacturers .  osha fined fru-con $ 280 , 000 and cited the contractor for willful safety violations .  rather than taking decisive action on behalf of hardworking employees , like increasing the minimum wage , stopping runaway pension terminations or expanding access to health care , these bills do nothing more than jeopardize the health and safety protections of employees on the job .  h.r. 742 significantly diminishes the protections of occupational safety and health by discouraging osha from even enforcing the occupational health and safety act and punishing taxpayers unless the agency , like perry mason , can win every case .  that simply is not going to happen , and this bill weakens workers ' protections .  h.r. 740 unnecessarily expands the size of the occupational health and safety review commission , and h.r. 741 weakens the fundamental responsibilities of the secretary of labor .  it contorts the law and confuses enforcement responsibilities of both the secretary and the review commission .  finally , h.r. 739 creates a legal loophole for employers ' obligations to meet the 15-day deadline for contesting an osha citation or notice of a failure to abate a hazard .  the deadline for an employer 's response was set at the 15-day mark to encourage both a timely correction of cited workplace hazards and expediting the handling of cases .  the commission already has the authority to review any missed deadlines on a case-by-case basis in a manner that protects both employers and workers .  we have an obligation to help hardworking americans and their families to have a safe and healthy workplace .  these bills do the opposite .  taken together , these bills will significantly weaken osha enforcement laws , and i urge my colleagues to oppose h.r. 742 , 741 , 740 and 739 .  