Political Quotes

“today I am proud to introduce the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2011 along with my colleagues, Majority Leader Reid and Senator Boxer. This legislation will allow local communities to improve their water infrastructure in the face of changing hydrological conditions. Improving our water infrastructure is a major challenge to my constituents living in Maryland and to all Americans. It is no secret that America's current water infrastructure systems are in poor condition. Our water and wastewater systems have been given a D-, the lowest possible grade. In the United States, close to 250,000 water mains wasting 1.7 trillion gallons of water break each year. Unfortunately, Marylanders have experienced this crisis first hand. In July of this year, a water main break in Cumberland, Maryland, caused close to $300,000 in damage to a local, family-owned business. Last January, a Prince George's County water main break shut down a portion of the Capital Beltway, closed local businesses and schools, and required 400,000 residents to boil their drinking water to ensure its safety. The EPA has estimated that traditional necessary repairs and replacement costs over the next twenty years will cost over $600 billion. We, as a Congress, have stepped up in the past to assist communities in fixing aging water infrastructure systems. The Safe Water Drinking Act Amendments of 1996 established the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.…”