Rep. Snyder invites Trump to visit coal miners in Greene County
Rep. Snyder invites Trump to visit coal miners in Greene County
{child_byline}Mike Jones{/child_byline}
WAYNESBURG – State Rep. Pam Snyder is inviting president-elect Donald Trump to visit Greene County to meet with the region’s coal miners and explain how he will revive the ailing coal industry.
Snyder D-Jefferson, extended the invitation Monday through a letter – and later tweeted directly to the president-elect himself – asking Trump to include the region in his ongoing victory tour across the country.
“Your words have echoed through my district as a spark of hope for a bright and prosperous future,” Snyder wrote in the letter. “I would personally like to invite you to the 50th Legislative District of Pennsylvania, in the heart of coal country, to meet and discuss how we can best help my constituents.”
Trump visited North Carolina on Tuesday and planned to travel to Iowa and Michigan in the coming days as part of his “Thank You” tour.
She had not heard from Trump or his transition team as of Tuesday afternoon. However, Snyder said many people praised her initiative while she attended Tuesday morning’s memorial service to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the Robena Mine explosion that killed 37 miners in Greene County.
“They were thanking me for inviting him here and having a dialogue on the coal fields,” Snyder told the Observer-Reporter after the memorial service. “I thought this is a perfect fit. A lot of my constituents are anxiously waiting to see what he does and look forward to what his plans are.”
Trump campaigned on a promise to resurrect the coal industry and bring back jobs to Appalachia. He defeated his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton by a whopping 68-to-28 percent margin in Greene County.
Snyder, who did not endorse either candidate for president, won re-election to her third term in office last month. Her district includes all of Greene County and parts of Washington and Fayette counties.
“I listened to what he said on the campaign trail,” Snyder said. “He talked a lot about coal miners and coal jobs and about the coalfields. We have the largest coal reserves in the country in this district, so what better place for him to come and speak about it?”
In her letter, Snyder also asked Trump to support the Miners Protection Act, a federal bill designed to funnel money earmarked for clean up abandoned coal mines to instead be used to bolster union pensions and health care benefits for retired miners. The bill is currently stalled in Congress.
“I am among those who fervently hope that President-elect Trump was sincere in promising that his administration would represent a rebirth for the coal industry,” Snyder wrote. “I wanted to invite him here, so he can see firsthand just how vital that (coal) resurgence would be to Southwestern Pennsylvania.”
An email sent to Trump’s campaign press office requesting comment on the invitation was not returned Tuesday. Phone calls to Pennsylvania GOP officials and Greene County Republican Chairman Greg Hopkins also were not immediately returned.