[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 95 (Friday, June 8, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H5004]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CLEAN WATER PROVIDES CHILDREN WITH A CAREFREE RECESS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, for most students here in the United 
States, recess is a time for recreation. For the pupils of Balkumari 
Primary School in Kathmandu, Nepal, recess is the only opportunity for 
them to get water.
  For decades, the school relied on a tiny stream as its only source of 
drinkable water, a 20-minute walk away. In 2013, however, the stream 
dried up, leaving the school without access to drinkable water. So the 
education stopped.
  Mr. Speaker, the story has a happy ending because the Balkumari 
Primary School received U.S. aid for water. Now with water access, 
students scramble out of the schoolyard, learning and developing with 
an education, as normal kids should.
  This is why the Water for the World Act that Representative 
Blumenauer and I authored is so important, which is now the law of the 
land. The legislation requires a comprehensive plan for the United 
States to aid other countries in securing clean water.
  We have it within our power to help kids like the Balkumari Primary 
School because, Mr. Speaker, water is life.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________