Political Quotes

“Congress plays a key role in the use of the development assistance budget in addressing issues of cities in the developing world. Cities around the world must accommodate 2.5 billion additional people in the next 25 years and 95 percent of these people will be in cities of the developing world. In the large urban areas of developing countries, 30 percent do not have access to safe drinking water and 50 percent do not have adequate sanitation. A crisis is in the making and if left unattended, problems due to rapidly expanding cities will have serious repercussions for these nations as well as for us here at home in the U.S. When cities work, the economic growth and potential for trade exists. When things go wrong in cities, it affects the entire nation. We need to support foreign assistance programs that help make cities in the developing world work. We need to help build the capacity to plan for and provide the basic services, promote economic growth, reduce environmental degradation, and improve health services--at the city level. That is why in its Outlook 2015, the Central Intelligence Agency ranks rapid urbanization among its top seven security concerns.”