The Nation - News from July 30, 1987

President Reagan’s nominee as chief enforcer of the nation’s mine safety laws ran into a storm of opposition, and Senate Republicans conceded she is not likely to win confirmation. Dorothy Strunk, named to head the beleaguered Mine Safety and Health Administration, promised the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee to set a “tone of aggressive enforcement.” But Strunk was grilled on her role in helping draft a bill that she conceded would have gutted the agency’s power to levy fines. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said Strunk is unlikely to win confirmation because of heavy opposition from the United Mine Workers.