Political Quotes

“It looks like we dodged a bullet with the Prince George's water emergency, but wasn't it fascinating to watch all of the frantic activity that was necessary to deal with a planned 4- or 5-day period where people would be denied something that virtually all of us take for granted? Safe drinking water when they needed it, as much as they need to drink, to bathe, to flush the toilet, to clean their dishes, to wash their clothes. The prospect of almost a week without water service really turned people's lives upside down. I'm glad that there is a temporary fix that may have solved the problem at least for the foreseeable future, but I hope that it will serve as a wake-up call because, in the United States, frankly, we are spoiled. We take for granted something that 2\1/2\ billion people around the world cannot: having adequate sanitation and safe drinking water. That's why I'm introducing legislation, Water for the World, with my colleague Congressman Poe from Texas, to enhance the efforts of the United States to be a partner to help poor people around the globe have access to what is a global problem, but we also need to do more at home. The challenges of climate change, combined with aging, inadequate water and sewer systems in the United States, place us at risk. We have 80 percent of our population served by over 50,000 community water systems that have facilities with a life span of 15 to, maybe, 95 years.…”