James Oberstar: “When all else fails, Mr. Speaker, read the bill. The findings section of the Safe Drinking Water Act says: The Congress…”

“When all else fails, Mr. Speaker, read the bill. The findings section of the Safe Drinking Water Act says: The Congress finds that the Federal Government commits to maintaining and improving its partnership with the States in the administration and implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. States play a central role in the implementation of safe drinking water programs and need increased financial resources and appropriate flexibility to ensure the prompt and effective implementation of safe drinking water programs. Under the rubric of States come cities. Cities are entities of the States. What we are doing here is helping cities deal with the problems of providing clean and safe drinking water for their people. Just about 4 years ago, the people in the city of Milwaukee were frightened out of their wits by an attack that hospitalized thousands and affected 400,000 people with abdominal pain, diarrhea, dysentery, and caused 131 deaths when an attack of cryptosporidium found in the drinking water was unable to be cleansed by the drinking water treatment system of the city of Milwaukee. If ever there were a red flag on the horizon for America to wake up and deal effectively with both the standards and the infrastructure for providing safe drinking water for our people, that was the wake-up call.”