Drinking Water Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Drinking Water
Protection Act, to arm communities against the threats posed by toxic
algae.

The water emergency across the Toledo region for three days last
August highlighted the need for a more robust federal response to
harmful algal blooms in our Great Lakes and around the country.

Nearly half a million people, businesses, and hospitals were without
fresh water from the city's system.

First and foremost, Northern Ohio--which draws its sustenance from
Lake Erie--has to guarantee our water is safe to drink.

Our communities must be informed and prepared to respond, in the
event of another emergency.

This bill is an important step in the right direction.

It is my hope that it expedites work at the U.S. EPA to publish long-
overdue guidelines on safe consumption limits and testing protocols, in
addition to treatment methods--information the EPA has been working on
for more than a decade and a half.

This is information that our mayors, our governor, and our citizens
are clamoring for.

Congress needs to pass this bill, and I hope our counterparts in the
Senate will take up the measure quickly.

Still, this bill only addresses one facet of the challenge.

We must meet the larger challenge of stopping the growth of these
blooms at their source--the nutrients flooding through our rivers, into
Lake Erie.

That imperative is not included in this particular bill, but we are
working through programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to
install conservation projects across our watershed.

Congress should overturn the ill-advised proposed cuts to the GLRI
program and fully fund it.

The EPA and Corps of Engineers are also working to better protect our
waterways through the Clean Water Act.

If we are interested in protecting our Lakes and rivers and the
communities that rely on them, Congress should stop opposing this
important progress.

Until the flow of algae-feeding nutrients into the lake is stopped,
the risk of further water emergencies will persist.

I urge my colleagues to join me in this broader effort, and that
starts by supporting the bill before us today.

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