On the recordDecember 16, 2014
today we celebrate the passage of a bill I have been working on for 6 years--the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act. The bill is aptly named after my predecessor from Illinois in the Senate--Paul Simon. Paul Simon was ahead of his time on so many issues--including on the importance of clean water and sanitation for the world's poor. He understood if you wanted to avoid conflict between some nations, you had to look at the issue of water. He understood if you wanted to keep a girl in school or reduce infant mortality, you had to provide adequate sanitation and clean water. He understood that without clean water and sanitation, efforts to improve health and economic opportunities will never be fully realized. In fact, a dollar spent on clean water and sanitation returns between $4 and $8 in economic, health, and other benefits. Paul understood all this. In 1998, he wrote the book, Tapped Out. It was prescient in its wisdom and policy proposals. Despite my recommendations, the book never became a bestseller. Though Senator Simon's wife, Patti Simon, has become a champion on water in her own right. In 2005, the Congress passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act, which made providing access to clean water and sanitation for the world's poor a key priority in U.S. development assistance. When we passed this bill, it was the first time our Nation had written into law our commitment to any of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.…
