Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act

Floor Speech

I rise today in support of H.R. 4470, the Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act, introduced last week by our colleague Representative Kildee, with the support of other members of the Michigan delegation.

This bill would strengthen requirements to have the EPA notify the public when concentrations of lead exceed Federal standards. That is notifying the public.

While I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to support it, far more than this is needed to address the many failings that led to the tragic circumstances that are still being experienced by the residents of Flint, Michigan, a situation that has drawn the Nation's attention and drawn compassion for children and their families. This should never have occurred in any city in our Nation.

As with any such tragic failure, there is an attempt to assess blame. Well, accountability is important. Those who failed in their responsibility should be held accountable.

But no one here has yet taken responsibility for our part, Congress' part, in this event. Collectively, this Congress as well as many previous Congresses have failed to maintain Federal support for the maintenance and improvements of our water infrastructure.

We have been underfunding these systems for decades. The poor condition of the water treatment and distribution system in Flint set the stage for this tragedy.

We are doing this in an attempt to save money. Well, in fact, we are wasting many millions of dollars more by allowing essential infrastructure to deteriorate to the extent where a constant stream of emergency responses and repairs are required to keep these systems working.

Finally, we need to do something for the people of Flint. The State of Michigan and President Obama's administration have both begun to mobilize resources to deal with the immediate need for safe drinking water, and they are working to eliminate lead from the water distribution system. But we still don't know if essential corrosion control can be reestablished.

And bottled water does not solve Flint's problems. The residents of Flint need a fully functioning public water system that delivers safe, clean water to their homes, to their schools, and to their businesses. We need to work with the State of Michigan to make that happen.

We need to care for the people who were exposed to lead, especially our children, who are most vulnerable to lead exposure. They need treatment and sustained assistance to deal with the health problems they may experience as a result of this manmade disaster.

The conditions that enabled this crisis to happen are not unique to Flint. And while this bill is a first step to help communities that may face these problems in the future, it cannot be our last step. We must embrace our responsibility to support Federal investment in drinking water systems.

The public health and future prosperity of the people of Flint and thousands of other communities across our great Nation are continuing to suffer from the concerns and are counting on our progressive actions. I look forward to continuing this discussion.

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Mr. TONKO. His energetic efforts, his determination, his obvious passion for getting this done, getting some relief, the relief essential for Flint done, is tremendously moving.

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Mr. TONKO. She is another member of the Michigan delegation.

Representative Brenda Lawrence has shown great leadership in her role on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and, again, has been a passionate voice to address the families of Flint.

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I am waiting for another individual to offer testimony.

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, might I inquire how much time remains?

In closing, let me again offer my appreciation to Chairman Upton and our ranking member, Representative Pallone, for their leadership on this and for working in a spirit of bipartisanship to bring this measure to the floor and in working with the Michigan delegation and, in particular, Representative Kildee, who has been directly impacted on behalf of Flint, Michigan, which he represents.

I would also make certain that we remember that under the Safe Drinking Water Act, as Representative Kildee indicated, States have primacy, an important issue for Members who frequently talked about empowering our State and local governments. It is a State's responsibility when they accept that role of primacy to run these systems and comply with Federal standards.

Before we point fingers at the EPA, let's remember that Congress has cut its budget year after year. We want them to do more with less. We have passed the point of achieving efficiency, we have cut valuable staffing, and we have cut valuable programs.

We can point to failures by all levels of government in this situation, but the public doesn't want to hear us blame anyone. They want and deserve real solutions and financial assistance to address the crisis at hand.

We need to help the people of Flint and better protect our public health going forward.

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