Attalea (plant) important economically. Products extracted from "A. speciosa" were reported to support over 300,000 households in the Brazilian state of Maranhão in 2005, and in 1985 it was estimated to support over 450,000 households throughout the Brazil. Piassava fibres, extracted from the leaf bases of "A. funifera", are commercially important, and generated about US$20 million in annual income to Brazilian farmers in 1996. Attalea (plant) Attalea is a large genus of palms native to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. This pinnately leaved, nonspiny genus includes both small palms lacking an aboveground stem and large trees. The genus has
Sago Mine disaster head MSHA, Richard Stickler. He announced he had written a January 5, 2006, letter to Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao requesting “regular and comprehensive briefings on the progress and preliminary findings” of the MSHA investigation. and enforcement efforts at the Sago mine. Enzi held an oversight hearing March 2, 2006, into safety procedures and enforcement measures related to the disaster. On January 4, 2006, Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Major Owens (D-NY) wrote a letter posted on Miller's website to House Education and Workforce Committee: Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) asking for a hearing, saying Congress had abdicated