[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1574-S1577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FLINT, MICHIGAN, WATER CRISIS
Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I wish to talk about an issue my
colleague Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and I have been working
on for 2 months. It is an issue that is sad and has been absolutely
catastrophic for people who live in our State, in the city of Flint.
In fact, today we had hundreds of folks from Flint come to
Washington, DC, to attend a House hearing that was held to talk about
what had happened in Flint and to get answers from the EPA
Administrator, as well as the Governor of Michigan. The folks came to
make sure their voices were heard in this tragedy, to make sure people
would see them as human beings who are being afflicted by this horrible
tragedy. They are in a situation where they can't turn on their
tapwater and have clean water, water free from lead.
I think many folks are aware of what happened. We had a situation
where an unelected emergency manager was appointed by the Governor to
save dollars, to save money, and in the process contaminated a water
system.
The decision was made to move away from clean Detroit water from the
Detroit water system--water that comes from Lake Huron in the Great
Lakes--and move on a temporary basis until a new system could be put up
and running that drew water from the Flint River. The Flint River was
known to be water that was very corrosive. In fact, General Motors had
an engine plant along the Flint River and used Flint River water in
their manufacturing process but found that the water was so corrosive
that it was damaging engine blocks. So they stopped using this water
because of the damage it was doing to the manufacturing process, but,
unfortunately, the unelected emergency manager and the State government
decided to use that water for the people of Flint as a source of
drinking water, and they did not put in the proper corrosion control
chemicals that may have mitigated this disaster. As a result, this
highly corrosive water was going through the pipes, damaging the pipes,
and released very large amounts of lead that has led to the
contamination of an entire water system.
This should have never happened. This is a disaster that was clearly
manmade. It was a result of negligence on the part of those folks who
were given the trust to run the system properly. Now we are left with
an absolute catastrophe in the city.
Although every resident is hurt, there is no question that it is
primarily the children of Flint who have been impacted as a result.
That is what is so insidious about lead poisoning. Even though it will
eventually be flushed out of your body, if you are ingesting this when
you are young while your brain is still developing, it can have
permanent brain damage. That damage can be mitigated, but it is going
to require the use of wraparound education services. It is going to
make sure those children have proper nutrition and make sure they have
health coverage, but certainly this is every resident in Flint, not
just children but also the elderly and everybody who is a resident of
that city.
What has been so frustrating about this effort is that certainly we
know this is the State's responsibility. The State broke it. They need
to fix it. The State needs to put substantial resources in place. The
Governor was here today talking about some of those efforts. He needs
to do a whole lot more. Everybody agrees the State has to do a whole
lot more, and taking responsibility means making sure the resources are
there to provide the services that are going to be necessary--not just
now but for what will likely be many decades in the future.
What I am concerned about, what the residents of the city of Flint
are concerned about, is that although right now this issue has received
national attention and the eyes of the country are focused on Flint,
they know that sooner or later the TV cameras will go, that the lights
will not be shining on Flint, and people may forget what happened in
Flint. However, the people of Flint will be left dealing with this
problem for decades to come. We cannot let that happen. These people
cannot be forgotten. Certainly Senator Stabenow and I have been working
aggressively to hopefully force the Governor to create a future fund
that will provide resources for years to come for the people who have
been impacted by this horrible crisis.
Even though this is a State responsibility and the State needs to
step up and do more, there is also a role for the Federal Government.
Wherever there has been a disaster anywhere in the country, the Federal
Government has stepped up and helped those folks who have been the
victims of disaster. Some argue this is a manmade disaster, the Federal
Government shouldn't be involved in it, and we only deal with natural
disasters, but I would just say ask the people of Flint: Does it matter
who actually caused this problem? Can we be there to help folks? They
don't care. They don't really care where it came from. They just know
their children have been poisoned. They have ingested lead. They know
they can't use the water. Even now, although they have filters, a lot
of them can't use the water. They are living on bottled water.
Today I had a woman named Gladys who came up to me. She traveled to
Washington to tell her story. She brought a bag with hair in it. She is
losing her hair as a result of using some of this water. She can't use
her home. She was in tears as she talked about the lost value of her
home, her entire life's savings in this house. Now she doesn't know
what that house is worth because she is not sure whether the water is
safe to drink.
Folks in Flint don't care who caused this problem, they just need
help. In the past, the Federal Government and this body, the Senate,
have always stepped up to help those in need. That is the right thing
to do. That is what the American people expect us to do. The American
people look to make sure that they are always in a position to help
those in need. It is our values. It is who we are as a country. It is
who we are as a people. Yet it has been extremely difficult to get that
help out of this body.
I am pleased to say that in the last 2 months we have made some
progress. Senator Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma
have been great in working with Senator Stabenow and me. We have been
able to build a list of cosponsors who are also helping us in this
effort: Senator Burr, Senator Capito, Senator Kirk, and Senator
Portman. A number of Senators have come together on both sides of the
aisle to say: Here is a solution we can get behind.
The proposal Senator Stabenow and I have worked on will provide money
through the Safe Drinking Water Fund. It will provide grants for any
community that has an emergency. Any community, not just Flint, that
finds itself in an emergency of this kind could reaccess these
resources. Although Flint is the only community right now that would
qualify, we believe there are other communities that will likely
qualify in the future. In fact, there may be some in a relatively short
period of time.
It also creates a loan fund of potentially up to $700 million--
perhaps even more--that every single community can access. This is an
issue every community in our country may potentially face. With aging
infrastructure, we know there are incredible infrastructure needs that
have to be met, and the legislation we have worked on helps every
community of every single State deal with this very important issue.
It also addresses some of the health issues I mentioned earlier in my
talk--issues that help the children and the residents who have been
poisoned by lead--by plussing up public health programs for lead
abatement and helping the CDC do its great work to help folks.
[[Page S1575]]
This is a commonsense proposal that addresses some of the pressing
needs in the city of Flint, while also addressing some of the pressing
needs we face as a country to make sure we are investing in water
infrastructure so that a citizen, no matter where they live or who they
are, can turn on their tap and have clean drinking water come out of
it.
We have also worked hard to address some of the concerns we heard
from the other side of the aisle, in addition to the fact that this is
open to all communities, not just Flint. We also heard that folks
wanted it paid for, and certainly Senator Stabenow and I believe that
as well. So we are fiscally responsible. We found a pay-for in a
program that deals with vehicle technology but one we thought was
important to use to help the people of Flint and help water
infrastructure projects across the country.
The important thing about this, in addition to dealing with the
problem and in addition to its being completely paid for, is that it
also reduces the deficit. It will actually generate more money than is
necessary to pay for this bill and will reduce the deficit.
In the past, when we have had a national disaster such as the one we
have seen in Flint, normally we see emergency funds being used, as we
have done with bridge collapses and oil refinery fires and water main
breaks. Even though that is probably the best source to fund this--if
you treat the people of Flint like we treat other folks all around the
country, we would use emergency funds--we went the extra distance to
take a fund and make sure it would completely pay for this program,
while at the same time reducing the deficit.
We have done backflips and have worked with our colleagues on both
sides of the aisle and have built support, and I believe if this bill
went to the floor, it would pass. I think it would pass by a good
margin. We believe we have very strong support for it. Yet here we are
today, about ready to break for 2 weeks, and we are going to break
without addressing this issue that has such strong bipartisan support.
This has been a work in progress for over 2 months. It is ready to be
voted on, yet we are going to leave without that vote.
We are going to leave because there is basically one Senator out
there who doesn't want to see it move forward--one Senator who doesn't
really like this proposal. I am not going to speak for that individual,
but they have their issues and they continually want more and more. The
folks who are suffering right now are the people of Flint. I wish that
one Senator who has the hold would have met with the people I met with
this morning and that Senator Stabenow and some of our other colleagues
met with this morning. I wish that Senator would have heard their
stories, heard their anguish, and saw the tears in their eyes as they
talked about what they are dealing with. Yet this Senator continues to
have a hold.
Now, I understand the Senator may have a problem with a particular
piece of legislation. That happens. We are not going to agree on
everything. I would just ask that we allow this legislation to come to
the floor and the one Senator who has the hold--if he doesn't like the
legislation, that is fine--can vote no if he likes. That is certainly
his prerogative as an elected Member of this body--to vote no. But
please let the other 99 Senators in this body have a say. That is all
we are asking for. Put it on the floor and let this body make the final
decision as to whether or not this is an appropriate response to an
absolutely catastrophic disaster that has hit a community in this
country of ours. I don't think that is asking a lot.
Now, I am a new Member here. I am new, but I cannot imagine that
folks here in the Senate will not allow legislation that is so
important for people who have been impacted in such an extreme way to
come to the Senate Floor. What would our Founding Fathers think if they
were to look upon the Senate? They were concerned about factions and
political parties and a body that would be paralyzed to really work on
the tough issues that our country was going to face. I can't imagine
looking in the eyes of our Founders and saying: The Senate--the
deliberative body, the body that is supposed to take up the really
tough issues facing us as a country--refuses to act and refuses to even
put it on the floor so it can be debated and voted upon.
So I will close and pass this on to my colleague, the senior Senator
from Michigan, Ms. Stabenow, and let her continue. I am certainly
disappointed, and I would ask all of my colleagues to please join with
us to work to get this to the floor so we can have a vote. The people
of Flint cannot wait any longer. The rest of the country is looking at
the Senate and they are shaking their heads wondering why the Senate is
incapable of putting this issue on the floor and having a simple up-or-
down vote.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, first I want to thank my partner and
colleague, Senator Peters, for his wonderful friendship and commitment
to the people of Flint. We both share this. This has really become a
second full-time job for us, given what has happened in Flint, in
reaching out on behalf of the 9,000 children who are under the age of 6
who have been exposed and the homes that have exposure of lead that is
higher than a toxic waste dump.
As a mom and now as a grandmother, I can't imagine what that must
feel like for the moms and dads and the grandpas and grandmas and the
fear and horror they feel, as well as for the adults and the seniors
who are exposed and everyone who is paying a price. Certainly, the
business community is concerned now about people coming and doing
business and going to restaurants in the city of Flint, despite the
fact that there is wonderful work going on downtown in rebuilding this
community. There are wonderful, exciting things happening, and now they
have really been knocked off their feet because of what has happened.
Across the way in the other Chamber today, there are hearings going
on. There is a lot of effort back and forth in talking about who is to
blame for what happened. We certainly understand what happened, coming
from Michigan, but I have to tell you that we are laser-focused on the
folks who had nothing to do with what happened--nothing to do with what
happened. These are the people of Flint, who assumed, like each one of
us does, that when you get up in the morning and turn on the faucet,
when you take a shower or you feed your children, clean water is going
to come out of the pipes. We all assume that. That is pretty much a
basic human right, certainly in America. It may not be in other
countries, but it certainly is in America, where we assume that is the
case.
In America, when a community is struck by this kind of catastrophe--a
catastrophe they did not cause--we come together as Americans. That is
what we do. We pitch in. We do what we can to help. That is what
Senator Peters and I have been hoping to accomplish on behalf of the
people of Flint.
Since we have started debating these issues, we have found other
communities as well that have challenges--none to the extent we are
seeing in Flint, where 100,000 people and the entire city have been
exposed to lead poisoning and the whole water system is in shambles.
But there are other communities that have challenges, and we believe it
is important to help them as well. So we have come up with something,
as Senator Peters said.
We have been working hard for the last 8 weeks to find a bipartisan
plan--a compromise--that is not only fully paid for but out of
something that I authored in the 2007 Energy bill, by the way. Because
of the importance of this to the people of Flint, I said: OK, we will
give something we care about here. We will restructure it. We will
shorten the time of the program, and we will pay for it out of that.
Senator Peters, when he was in the House, was the champion for this
particular advanced manufacturing loan program. We are saying: OK, we
are willing to have that end in order to be able to pay for what is
happening in Flint. On top of a fully paid-for program out of a program
that Republican colleagues don't like--so we are going to be ending
something that folks would like to end--tens of millions of dollars in
deficit reduction come along with this for the score. So it doesn't get
any better than this.
[[Page S1576]]
We were told to find something that is a pay-for that is not going to
infringe with what other people care about. We did that. We were told
no earmarks. We did that. We were told no new programs built on current
programs. We did that. And we added deficit reduction. Yet the children
of Flint are still waiting. The children of Flint--for the last 8
weeks--and their families are still waiting.
As Senator Peters said, we met some of these people this morning, and
it just breaks your heart. People are looking at us and saying: OK, you
have been working on this and you have this bipartisan group; isn't
that great. But what is happening? The children of Flint are waiting.
So we are at a point where this has to stop. We need a vote. We need
a vote. We have a bipartisan bill, and we need a vote. We are at a
point where we need to have a vote and stop this ability of one person
to just hold things up.
First, I want to thank our Republican colleagues as well as
Democratic colleagues who have been working with us. First of all, our
main Republican sponsor, the chairman of the Environment and Public
Works Committee, Senator Inhofe, has been a true champion for
supporting water infrastructure investments nationally. I am so
grateful he came forward and offered the idea of not only being able to
support Flint but to activate a financing program set up in the last
water resources bill that would address communities across the country
as well. That is terrific. If we can help other communities, along with
what we need to do to support the families of Flint, that is great. So
we thank him for his diligence. He has really stepped up, and we are so
grateful.
I want to thank the chair of the Energy and Natural Resources
Committee and the ranking member, Senator Murkowski and Senator
Cantwell, who have been stellar. I can't count how many hours we have
talked on the phone, we have had meetings, and we have talked on the
floor, and the lengths to which both of them have been willing to go to
support us in solving this problem. They have been wonderful--even as
late as a couple of hours ago in talking to us to figure out how we
could move forward both to address this water infrastructure bill to
help Flint and other communities and also to move forward on the Energy
bill. So we need to be doing both, and we are at a point where that
needs to get done.
We have 10 cosponsors of the bill, and I want to thank Senator
Portman and Senator Brown, Senator Kirk, Senator Reed of Rhode Island,
Senator Burr, Senator Durbin, Senator Boxer, Senator Mikulski, Senator
Capito, and Senator Baldwin. People from both parties have come
together to do something that will make things better for the families
and the communities that we represent. There are a number of other
Members and staff who have been working behind the scenes. We are so
grateful for their kind words and encouragement and for the people who
have offered their support for what we are doing.
I particularly want to thank our appropriations leaders, Senator
Cochran and Senator Mikulski, for going the extra mile to figure out
some strategy that would satisfy the Senator from Utah to get beyond
this hold and to come together.
Unfortunately, despite strong bipartisan support and our best
efforts, we find ourselves still in a spot, even though we have had
conversations today--and I appreciate that, and folks say they still
want to work together, but it seems like we go round and round and
round and round. We need to stop and have a vote at this point in time.
At one point, we thought we had agreement. As I said, we met again
today. It would make sense in moving forward to offer the Senator the
opportunity to have a second-degree amendment to our proposal. He has a
different idea on structuring that. We are willing to make the case,
let him make the case, and decide. That is what the Senate is about--
have a vote, decide.
The children of Flint need our help. Somehow this procedural stuff--
talking to folks about holds and cloture and all this--is not going to
turn on the water in Flint. It is not going to help the children who
have already been exposed and their families. We need the sense of
urgency they have.
When we look around the country--and, believe me, our focus is on
Flint. Even though there are certainly other communities in Michigan
with water issues, others around the country, we are laser-focused on
the place where the water has been destroyed and the people have been
poisoned because of a whole range of what happened, and people have not
been able to take a bath or cook with water out of a tap or to be able
to care for their children or themselves for almost 2 years.
It is also true that when we talk to colleagues in putting together
this bill, there are drinking water infrastructure needs around the
country to be addressed. Utah will require $3.7 billion in drinking
water infrastructure over the next 20 years to meet minimum human
health and safety requirements. In Jackson, MS, last month--after
random samples showed lead levels above Federal action levels--the
mayor issued a warning to pregnant women and children 5 years of age
and younger to stay away from tapwater. The mayor also said: This is
not Flint because we are telling people about it and we are taking
action, which, unfortunately, did not happen to protect the health and
safety of the people in Flint.
Last month in Crystal City, TX, there was black sludge water coming
out of the faucet, and residents were warned to boil tapwater before
drinking it--in Texas. According to a recent survey by EPA, Texas will
require nearly $34 billion in upgrades to its drinking water
infrastructure over the next 20 years to comply with minimum safety
standards.
Last month in Ohio, 13 water systems were under lead advisories. In
Sebring, OH, lab tests last August found unsafe levels of lead in
drinking water--and it took 5 months before the city told pregnant
women and children not to drink the water and to shut down the taps and
fountains in schools.
Just today, the USA TODAY network published a report that identified
nearly 2,000 water systems where excessive lead levels have been
detected in the last 4 years, and they serve 6 million people.
Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards recently again sounded the alarm
about lead pipes in Washington. In Cleveland, children have high levels
due to exposure to lead in household paints. We could go on and on.
Pennsylvania, high lead levels.
The reason I am saying this is because while the catastrophe has
happened in Flint--for many reasons beyond the control of anybody in
Flint--there are other communities now that need help as well, which is
why the proposal we have is one that has broad bipartisan support to be
able to activate a wider infrastructure-financing mechanism that allows
communities around the country to be able to solve problems before they
get to what happened in Flint on the early end to solve the problems so
people don't get lead poisoning. That is in this bill. We step up,
because these are Americans in Flint, MI, and say: We hear you. We see
you. We care about you, and because you have a Federal emergency
declaration we will provide the opportunity to get some help. In
addition to accountability and responsibility of the State, the Federal
Government, because of the EPA's role in this, will be a part of the
solution in fixing these pipes.
We also address public health issues: the Centers for Disease Control
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund, HUD's Healthy Homes Program
for lead both in water and in paint, and we address the opportunity to
reach out and deal with the public health issues for children.
Needless to say, we are extremely disappointed--putting it mildly--in
how we feel about coming to a point today, despite best efforts on many
people's parts, frankly, despite our patience working with people,
accepting them at their word, working, trying to get things done,
looking at various alternatives to get beyond the roadblocks, despite a
lot of effort. Again, we are grateful for those who have stood with us
and worked so hard on our behalf. It is incredibly disappointing and
frustrating and, frankly, maddening that we are here as the Senate is
leaving for the next 2 weeks and we do not have action on Flint and on
water systems across this country.
Again, I can tell you that for the people of Flint who have not
gotten help
[[Page S1577]]
for so long, for the people of Flint who were told the water was OK and
it wasn't--and I have now been watching coverups and slow-walking for
going on 2 years--this is just one more time when they are watching
inaction and we could be stepping up and doing something to help.
So that is what we are asking for; that when we come back, the
children of Flint be a priority for action; that we work together, as
we have done across the aisle, to put forward something that will
address water infrastructures to help the people of Flint, to help
people around the country so they don't find themselves in a situation
like the people of Flint; and that we do that together; that we pass
that bill; that we pass an energy bill; and that we move forward after
weeks and weeks and weeks of good-faith efforts to get something done.
All we are asking for is a vote. That is all we are asking for, after
all this effort, is the opportunity to vote. If someone believes it is
not the right thing to do, they have the opportunity that we all have,
to vote no, but the children of Flint deserve a vote. The children in
Jackson, MS, and the people around the country are worried they might
become the crisis, the catastrophe in Flint, and are asking us simply
to vote.
Lead poisoning is a frightening thing. It gets in your body and never
leaves. It goes from your blood to your bones. When a woman gets
pregnant, it goes into the fetus. It is a frightening form of poison.
If that is not a national emergency worthy of action by the Senate and
the House--the Congress of this country--I don't know what is.
Frankly, there are a whole lot of people who have lost faith in the
government right now of Flint, who are asking us to see them, to care
about them, and to help.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
____________________