Norman Mineta: “This is a very large and very complex bill with enormous consequences for people from all across America. It will…”

“This is a very large and very complex bill with enormous consequences for people from all across America. It will determine how healthy or unhealthy their drinking water supply will be. It will determine whether the water that flows through their community is a blessing or a blight, and whether they need to try to keep their kids from swimming in it or fishing in it. It will determine whether they have enough clean water to be able to attract new businesses with new jobs. This is a big bill. When it was introduced, it was 141 pages. Now it is 326 pages. This bill makes far-reaching changes in the Clean Water Act, one of the most important and successful basic protections that our citizen have. This bill will reach into every community, every home and come out through every faucet in America. This is a bill which requires careful and thorough consideration. This is a bill where we cannot afford to make mistakes and we cannot afford to act in haste.”