Congress Must Do More to Ensure Americans Have Safe Drinking Water

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, for far too long, countless people across our country have been forced to suffer the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water, especially low-income communities and communities of color. We need to fully fund lead pipe replacement in our country to protect our children and our neighbors.

We simply can't build back better if children are being poisoned.

Water contaminated by lead service lines can be found in every congressional district in our Nation and has proven to cause long-term effects like cancer, brain dysfunction, and more. There is no safe level of lead.

A recent water quality study done by the Environmental Working Group and recently published by the Detroit Metro Times shows that there is an overwhelming number of contaminants in our drinking water, not just lead and PFAS, and they are in every community across the State of Michigan. We need $1.65 billion to remove those contaminated water pipes now.

I know experts say that we need close to 45 to $60 billion to basically be able to provide safe drinking water across our Nation.

The U.S. EPA has historically failed to safeguard clean drinking water with regulations that are sorely out of date, but it doesn't have to be this way, Madam Speaker.

We must do more to ensure that we have accessible safe drinking water, and our communities cannot wait. The impact on our children's brain development alone is the reason to move with urgency.

This is why I am proud to have launched the bipartisan Get the Lead Out Caucus with Congressmembers Dingell, Meijer, and Blunt Rochester. We are going to provide a working group bringing us all together in this national crisis that we have.

Our children and our families deserve access to safe drinking water, and I look forward to my colleagues' partnership. Celebrating Hattie White on Her 100th Birthday

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Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Hattie White, a long-term resident of southwest Detroit in Michigan's 13 District Strong on the occasion of her 100th birthday.

Mother Hattie White was born on February 23 in 1922 in Alabama and later moved to the city of River Rouge, Michigan.

Hattie married the love of her life, Albert James White, in 1946. They were married for 52 years and raised their seven children in the River Rouge and southwest Detroit communities with love and instilling an ethic of responsibility and kindness toward others.

In 1967, Mother White and her husband started a community church, Love Joy Missionary Baptist Church in River Rouge, which cemented her role as a matriarch of our community.

Mother White shines bright in our community and has brought so much joy to her family, friends, and neighbors.

Please join me in wishing a happy 100th birthday to Mother Hattie White. Celebrating Project We Hope Dream and Believe

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Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Project We Hope Dream and Believe from the 13th District Strong on their hard work on getting civil rights leader Malcolm X's home in Inkster, Michigan, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Nebraska. During his childhood, his family relocated many times to communities in our Nation's midwest, including Inkster, Michigan, before moving to Boston and New York City in his teens.

The home on Williams Street where Malcolm X and his family resided from 1952 to 1953 sat neglected for decades until the leadership of local organization Project We Hope Dream and Believe worked to preserve this historic site.

The house will be transformed into a museum that will focus on the life and significance of Malcolm X, his advocacy, and as a youth learning center.

Thank you to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for their help in preserving our district's Black history and Malcolm X's legacy and impact on our communities.

Please join me in congratulating Project We Hope Dream and Believe on their incredible accomplishment and their hard work in preserving our history.

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