On the recordDecember 13, 2011
As America prepares for the holiday season and the new year, it is important to pause to reflect on our good fortune and, on this season of goodwill, what we can do for others. I hope that Congress will give the gift of life, hope, and economic prosperity to people around the world, a gift most Americans take for granted: safe water. Almost a billion people around the globe lack access to safe drinking water, and over 2\1/2\ billion don't have access to adequate sanitation. This is why the number one health challenge is water- related disease. Half the people who are sick today anywhere on this planet are sick unnecessarily from waterborne diseases that are particularly brutal on their impact on children. Ninety percent of the deaths caused are children under 5. The 1.8 million lives that are lost are more than AIDS, TB, and malaria combined. It's also a major cause of the struggle for economic security. For example, in India, the estimate is over $50 billion a year, more than 6 percent of its economy, is lost due to inadequate water and sanitation. How does this happen? Children cannot attend school if they are sick from unsafe drinking water. People with illnesses overwhelm the few hospitals and clinics and they can't go to work. Hours spent looking for and carrying clean water, usually by girls and women, means that they're not adding either to education or the economic well-being of their families.…
