Dan Kildee: “First of all, the underlying bill is an attempt to delay the implementation of the stream protection rule, an important…”

“First of all, the underlying bill is an attempt to delay the implementation of the stream protection rule, an important rule that protects our Nation's rivers, our streams, and the nearby communities from the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining. My amendment would not allow any rule that improves drinking water quality to be delayed. Ensuring that we protect our streams and rivers--often important sources of drinking water--is of vital importance. Listen, I know firsthand something about what happens when regulations are not strong enough to protect drinking water. Today, in my hometown of Flint, safeguards for better drinking water could have prevented the entire city and upwards of 10,000 children under the age of 6 from being exposed to dangerous levels of lead. Lead is a deadly neurotoxin that is especially harmful to young children. It can permanently lower the IQ, increase disruptive behavior, and stunt neurological development. These children in my hometown, many of whom already have great hurdles to overcome because of the misfortune of the ZIP code into which they were born--communities of very high poverty--now must endure another blow to their futures due to the decisions that were outside of their control and the lack of effective protection of their drinking water. No other community should ever face that same danger, the danger of having their children literally poisoned by unsafe, contaminated drinking water.…”