Norman Mineta: “just trying to reflect on my own experience of having served 8 years in local government, including one term as mayor of…”

“just trying to reflect on my own experience of having served 8 years in local government, including one term as mayor of a city where we grew that city from 400,000 in population to 560,000 in a 4-year period, as well as having had the privilege of serving as chair of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation in the 103d Congress, let me at this point rise in support of the amendment offered by our very fine colleague, the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor]. As the gentleman from Mississippi has already illustrated very effectively, the impacts of water pollution know no political boundaries, nor should the solutions to continued water pollution in this country be limited by partisan boundaries. We are all well aware of various situations where Members have already talked, where sewage that is discharged into a river, lake, or a stream adversely impacts citizens of downstream or adjacent localities and States. For example, New York and New Jersey have received national attention surrounding New York's sewage that shows up on New Jersey's shores; sewage discharges from Detroit, MI, into the Detroit River have impacted Lake Erie and residents in adjacent New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and discharges of sewage from combined sewer overflows in the District of Columbia impact the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and citizens of Maryland and Virginia. But these are not isolated problems.…”