Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate World Water Day, just celebrated on March 22. Water sustains life on Earth. It is critical to health, sanitation, food production, and the economy at large. Tragically, over 2 billion people around our world lack access to safe drinking water, a humanitarian crisis. Some live in our country. Limited access to freshwater is an ever-increasing risk to our national security as nations go to war over this precious resource. Meanwhile, terrorist organizations seek to control water resources to finance their destabilizing activities. That is why we must fully fund U.S. diplomatic leadership, to ensure that the looming conflicts over water can be nipped in the bud. My own constituents in northern Ohio are acutely aware of how precious access to clean water can be. In the summer of 2014, fertilizer runoff led to massive clusters of harmful algae blooms in Lake Erie, compromising water supplies to over half a million residents of Toledo. Flint, Michigan, shortly thereafter, endured its own water crisis. As the Appropriations Committee's Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee chair, I can assure you that our committee is working tirelessly to fight for improved infrastructure, environmental protections, and access to clean water. Together, we will meet this crisis in our country and abroad and allow the vital human right for freshwater to belong to everyone. ____________________”