World Water Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentlewoman. I often refer to the gentlewoman not as Representative Kaptur, but as ``Our Lady of the Lakes'' because, truly, we share a lot of the same concerns when it comes to an absolutely incredible gift from God that has been given to us. It is in our stewardship now. It was put in our care and custody with the idea that we are going to pass it on to the next generation in better shape than what we received it.

I think when we look at the Great Lakes, there are so many things you can say about the Great Lakes. Oftentimes it is hard to sit back and say, what is it exactly that the Great Lakes represent?

We have already said it is one-fifth of the world's fresh water, not one-fifth of America's fresh water, not one-fifth of the continent's fresh water, but one-fifth of the world's fresh water.

It is 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water. I have absolutely no idea what that figure would look like other than this: if you were to look at the lower 48 States and you were able to pour the water from the Great Lakes over the lower 48 States, it would cover it to a depth of 9\1/2\ feet.

So when you put it in that perspective, all of a sudden it starts to make sense and you start to focus on it, and you say this truly is a gift from God. This is truly a gift that we have to look after.

Too often it is said, well, you know, just let things go, because if you let them go, they will usually work out on their own.

My goodness, nothing could be further from the truth. We have seen the great damage to the Great Lakes, and we have also seen that over the years we all of a sudden have become very much aware of it.

I would just like to say in the district that I represent, Pennsylvania's Third District, Erie, Pennsylvania, Presque Isle was on the list, and it was one of those things that said this is an area of concern. So the attention was turned to what do we have to do to save Presque Isle.

Now, in 2012 it was the first one of these properties that was taken off the list of concern through the efforts of not only the Erie community, but through the efforts of Congress, and also through the efforts of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Now, we stand here today, and as I have said, I have always referred to the gentlewoman as ``Our Lady of the Lakes.'' There is nothing more precious to us than this great amount of water that we have, potable water. If we were to turn our backs on it or for some reason to think that it is not important or that it is not critical or that it is not a gift from God that has been put in our care and custody and is up to us to protect, then we have fallen far from where we are as a people and as a nation.

I would like to read one excerpt. A friend of mine named Art Grayhead is an Army veteran, Special Ops guy. He is also a Native American. To him, the Great Lakes represent not only a body of water, but also something precious and also something that has a much deeper religious meaning. He gave me a book called ``The Living Great Lakes.'' It is written by Jerry Dennis. I am going to read it because I think it is worded so magnificently by Mr. Dennis:

To appreciate the magnitude of the Great Lakes you must get close to them. Launch a boat on their waters or hike their beaches or climb the dunes, bluffs, and rocky outcrops that surround them, and you will see, as people have seen since the age of the glaciers that these lakes are pretty darn big. It is no wonder they are sometimes upgraded to the ``Inland Seas'' and the ``Sweetwater Seas.'' Calling them lakes is like calling the Rockies hills.

So when you see them and conceptualize in your head what it is that we are talking about and what it is that we are concerned about and what it is that has been put in our care and custody, none of us can ever turn away and say: ``This doesn't fall on our watch'' or ``We don't have to worry about the Great Lakes.''

We have to worry about the Great Lakes, we have to guard the Great Lakes, and we have to pass it on to the next generation so they, too, can enjoy all the benefits from it.

We talk about the economic consequences and the environmental consequences. There is nothing in the life of everyday Americans that is more important than our Great Lakes.

I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio. She certainly has fought this battle for a long, long time. She has always been a great champion of the Great Lakes. So many of our Members who live around the Great Lakes champion it every day. But it is not just for us, it is not just for those States around the Great Lakes. It is for every single American. I thank the gentlewoman so much for her concern, her dedication, and more than anything her passion.

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. I can remember as a child my parents taking us to Lake Erie for summer vacation. I had no idea what I was going to see, but as we got closer to Erie, my dad said: See, Mike, there it is. There is the lake. I said: It looks like it is going to come crashing on us.

Because, you know, as you get closer to those bodies of water, as the horizon, the water and the sky meet together, and as you are approaching it, it looks like: My goodness, I can't imagine anything this big.

In the eyes of a child, I looked at it and I was completely taken away. I couldn't believe it. That has only increased as I have aged and I have watched that marvelous, marvelous gift from God that we have and that we have to protect.

Again, I thank the gentlewoman. It is always a pleasure being with her on the floor talking about our Great Lakes. It is always a pleasure working with her. The passion she has to protect our Great Lakes is absolutely incredible.

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Yes, ma'am.

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