madam speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume .  h.r. 739 specifically creates a legal loophole for bypassing the obligation on an employer 's part to meet a 15-day deadline for contesting osha citations .  as such , the bill promotes increased litigation .  given that the osha commission already has the authority to review any missed deadlines on a case-by-case basis , such litigation is completely unnecessary .  that bears repeating .  at present , the osha commission relies on its longstanding practice of reviewing , on a case-by-case basis , any missed deadlines .  so what is the rationale for this bill ?  h.r. 739 is not only superfluous and offers nothing productive that is positive and new ; it also negatively serves to delay the timely correction of workplace safety violations and hazards .  the 15-business-day timeline for an employer 's response was set to encourage speedy removal of work site hazards as well as the expeditious handling of cases .  it establishes a reasonable time frame for protecting all the parties .  it protects the employers as well as the workers .  by contrast , h.r. 739 will needlessly place some workers at greater risk of on-the-job injuries or fatalities .  let me give you a few concrete examples to illustrate the risk .  in march 2003 , osha began an inspection of strack , incorporated , a pipeline company in atlanta , georgia .  osha inspectors had seen strack employees working in a trench that was up to 12 feet deep .  yet a trench box , designed to protect workers , had been left on higher ground and more than 100 feet away from the site .  in may 2003 , osha issued strack , inc .  a willful citation with a proposed fine of $ 44 , 000 for failure to use a trench box .  fortunately in this case , the hazards were corrected before anyone was killed .  as an osha inspector put it , cave-ins occur quickly and without warning ; and then it is too late to protect workers .  when it comes to trenching , failure to correct hazards in the 15-day required period can have fatal consequences .  as jeffrey walters of cincinnati , ohio , testified before me last year , his only son patrick died in a cave-in on june 14 , 2002 , only weeks after osha cited the firm patrick worked for , which is moeves plumbing , for willful trenching violations .  in fact , moeves plumbing had been inspected by osha 13 times before patrick 's death .  moreover , another worker had died while digging trenches for the same plumbing company several years before patrick died in the same way .  all of this is to say that speedy correction of work site hazards cited by osha can often mean the difference between life and death .  thus , when osha finds a safety violation , it clearly merits immediate attention .  i urge my colleagues to vote `` no '' on this bill again .  