Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I firmly believe that members of the public must have access to the information contained in annual consumer confidence reports, which are required by the Safe Drinking Water Act's right-to-know provisions. For the past 11 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has required community water systems to provide customers with an annual report on the quality of their drinking. Currently, large water systems, those serving 10,000 people or more, are required to mail copies of the entire report to every customer. Today, believing wholeheartedly that public access to consumer confidence reports is critical and must be maintained, I am cosponsoring Senator Toomey's bill, S. 1578. Under this bill, community water systems would be required to send reports in the mail if a violation of the maximum contaminant level occurs during the year. However, if there is no violation, water systems could post the reports online and only mail hard copies upon request. I believe that S. 1578 draws attention to an area in which our Federal policy might benefit from discussion, debate, and potential modernization. Since Internet access has increased dramatically since 1999, the option of reviewing reports online is likely far more appealing to consumers than it once was.…”