Cheney voices support for coal in Raleigh County, W.Va.

The Charleston Gazette, W.Va. --Sep. 14--BEAVER

Sep. 14--BEAVER -- With more than a dozen coal miners standing behind him under a "Bush and Cheney Are Friends of Coal" banner, Vice President Dick Cheney pushed the administration's clean coal proposals to a Raleigh County Memorial Airport crowd.

Cheney said President Bush has proposed spending $447 million for clean-coal technology, "more than double the level of funding when we took office."

He criticized Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's energy policy, saying it "doesn't seem to find as much use for coal," while he said state residents "can be certain" Bush has a policy for using coal.

America Coming Together, a group opposing the president's re-election, was quick to point out that Bush vowed to spend $2 billion for clean-coal technology projects during an October 2000 interview.

But his campaign noted the May announcement that the administration will spend $107 million over five years for a facility in Greenbrier County that will burn coal waste to generate electricity with little pollution.

The vice president had been expected to be accompanied by his wife, Lynne, Monday afternoon. Instead, Cheney's daughter Liz joined him as several hundred people crowded into a hangar to hear him speak.

And, while coal and the nation's security seemed to be the topics of the day, the crowd let out its loudest cheers when Cheney attacked partial-birth abortion and reiterated the administration's support for individuals owning guns.

"I thought he brought up all the points that are important here," said Shady Spring resident Chris Blevins.

Emphasizing the coal industry and traditional values excited Mark Agnor, too. "That's what I was looking to hear and I heard it," the Beckley resident said.

Cheney said 9,500 jobs have been created in West Virginia since May. He did not mention the hundreds of jobs lost in the Kanawha Valley in recent weeks -- including Monday's announcement that more than 250 people will lose their jobs at a Charleston AT&T call center -- or that the state has 18,100 fewer jobs since he took office in 2001.

"We know there are still challenges," the vice president said. "The president and I will not be satisfied until every American who wants to work can find a job."

The war on terror consumed the early parts of Cheney's short speech. He praised Bush for his decisions to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. "He makes these decisions with the wisdom and humility Americans expect from their president," Cheney said.

Bush was correct to move against the enemies with only a few allies and without United Nations support, he said. "We will never seek a permission slip to defend the United States of America," Cheney said to loud applause.

He said the world is safer now, saying the administration has stopped the black-marketing of nuclear weapons and components. "The biggest threat we face today is having nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists," he said.

With a son serving in Iraq, former Summers County Sheriff Tom Briers said he and his wife, Martha, wanted to show support for the president's policies. "He is for the same things we believe in," he said.

Cheney attacked Kerry's Senate record to intermittent crowd chants of "flip-flop." He said a senator can be wrong for 20 years and not endanger the nation, not so for a president. "A president always casts the deciding vote," he said.

Outside the hangar other state GOP hopefuls scurried around to meet and greet rallygoers. Gubernatorial hopeful Monty Warner, attorney general nominee Hiram Lewis and local state Senate nominee Jack Fincham were among them. Cheney didn't recognize any from the podium.

State Sen. Russ Weeks, R-Raleigh, said the region is primed to vote Republican this year. Despite Raleigh County's 3-1 Democratic registration, Bush carried the county in 2000 and Weeks upset an incumbent Democrat for his seat representing Raleigh and Wyoming counties in 2002.

Bringing the vice president, and a previous Bush visit to Beckley, helps the cause, he said. "That keeps doing what I like to do: keeping the pot stirred."

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