There was a fascinating little line in the opening statement given today by House Education and the Workforce subcommittee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, at a hearing where lawmakers received an update on the administration’s mine safety efforts:

Upper Big Branch is a terrible reminder that bad actors will look for ways to cut corners and jeopardize the well-being of their workers, despite a moral and legal obligation to make safety the number one priority. I am pleased that those who had a hand in the Upper Big Branch tragedy are being held responsible. It is taking some time, but justice is being served.

These comments come, of course, as U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin here in West Virginia prepares for trial on the criminal charges he and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby have pursued against former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

And, the comments — coming from a Republican subcommittee chair in Congress — are particularly interesting, given how Blankenship’s defense team has tried to portray his prosecution as nothing more than an effort by Democrats to shut down a conservative critic.