Political Quotes

“my amendment addresses a crisis that affects Members of Congress and all who live and work here resulting from a public health advisory regarding lead in the drinking water in the Nation's Capitol. I am seeking to increase general project construction money in the amount of $20 million by increasing the amount of savings in slippage. The $20 million will help to address a federally created drinking water crisis caused by leaching from lead pipes installed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers more than 100 years ago amidst controversy that lead pipes were not safe even then. EPA standards for lead in the drinking water is 15 parts per billion, yet thousands of homes in this city have tested above this standard, hundreds above 300 parts per billion. The water crisis I am asking Congress to address, however, not only affects people who live here but 200,000 Federal employees in the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the White House and Federal office buildings and millions of tourists from throughout the country and world who come here. Public health officials testified at a May 21 Committee on Government Reform hearing that lead contaminated drinking water is dangerous for everyone, but can be especially dangerous to fetuses and young children under the age of 6, hindering their brain development and lowering their IQs. Yet, pregnant women and young children drank the water here not knowing about dangerous levels of lead.”