Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today because it is the 24th day that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has intentionally discharged toxic water from Lake Okeechobee in Florida's interior into the Treasure Coast of Florida, which is my community. Today, I have a group of warriors with me, the River Kidz. They are here in Washington fighting to show that what is happening in our community is not okay. It is not right, and it is not just. The River Kidz are a group of young people from the Treasure Coast of Florida whose health and community have been threatened. While many kids across the country right now are gearing up to go to camp this summer or spending their days on a boat or at a beach or fishing, our kids are doing all that they can to avoid contact with our water because every single day our water is being made more and more toxic. As we speak, there is a toxic algae bloom over 100 miles in diameter laden with cyanobacteria. It is being drained into Florida's east coast, and, in fact, as we speak, satellite imagery shows that nearly half of the entire lake of Lake Okeechobee is covered in algae. It is a threat to the health of every single man, woman, and child who is exposed to it. The toxic algae blooms are also devastating to threatened species like manatee who inhabit our waters but cannot escape from the water.…”