"Families Of Dead Miners Feel Let Down By Washington"

"MONTCOAL, W.Va. -- As he delivered a eulogy last year for 29 men killed in the worst coal mine disaster in four decades, President Obama bowed his head and repeated a plea he had heard from mining families: 'Don't let this happen again.'

Looking at the audience that filled the Beckley, W.Va., convention center hall, he asked: 'How can we fail them?'

A year later, many family members say that Washington has failed them, and some of the president's closest congressional allies agree.

While there have been improvements, many of the glaring problems revealed by the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine remain unaddressed."

Kim Geiger, Tom Hamburger, and Doug Smith report for the Los Angeles Times May 8, 2011.