Dan Kildee: “This is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill…”

“This is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. My motion to recommit is quite simple. It exempts class action lawsuits that are brought to protect public water supplies. I know some of you have heard me speak of this. I am from Flint, Michigan, and we know, in my community, what happens when we fail to protect drinking water. In the course of the day, most Americans take for granted that water that comes from the tap is safe. But for my community of 100,000 people, that is not true. It hasn't been true for years. Since the State government switched to a corrosive water source, the Flint River, they have not been able to drink water out of the tap. This terrible decision poisoned the city's water supply with corrosive water, resulting in high levels of lead leaching into their water system, going into their pipes, into their homes, into their bodies, 100,000 people, 7,000 children under the age of 6. Nearly 3 years later, those same families are still reeling from this crisis. It is unacceptable. It is an injustice. Lead is a potent neurotoxin. There is no safe level of lead. Lead exposure can lead to serious health effects felt for years. But the impacts are not limited just to health. Those high levels of lead also damaged Flint's infrastructure, and we now have to remove thousands of pipes in order to provide safe water.…”