[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 81 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 81

          Supporting the goals and ideals of World Water Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 23, 2009

    Ms. Collins (for herself and Mr. Kerry) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
          Supporting the goals and ideals of World Water Day.

Whereas the United Nations General Assembly, by resolution, has designated March 
        22 of each year as ``World Water Day'';
Whereas a person needs 4 to 5 liters of water per day to survive;
Whereas a person can live weeks without food, but only days without water;
Whereas every 15 seconds a child dies from a water-borne disease;
Whereas, for children under age 5, water-borne diseases are the leading cause of 
        death;
Whereas millions of women and children already spend several hours a day 
        collecting water from distant, often polluted sources;
Whereas every dollar spent on water and sanitation saves an average of $9 in 
        costs averted and productivity gained;
Whereas, at any given time, \1/2\ of the hospital beds in the world are occupied 
        by patients suffering from a water-borne disease;
Whereas 88 percent of all diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water, 
        inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene;
Whereas 1,100,000,000 (1 in 6) people lack access to an improved water supply;
Whereas 2,600,000,000 people in the world lack access to improved sanitation;
Whereas the 263 transboundary lake and river basins in the world are part of the 
        territory of 145 countries and cover nearly \1/2\ of the land surface of 
        the Earth;
Whereas climate change may cause more extreme floods and droughts, increasing 
        political tension and the potential for clashes over transboundary fresh 
        water resources;
Whereas the global celebration of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out 
        of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 
        Rio de Janeiro;
Whereas the participants in the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in 
        Johannesburg, including the United States, agreed to the Plan of 
        Implementation which included an agreement to work to reduce by \1/2\ 
        from the baseline year 1990 ``the proportion of people who are unable to 
        reach or to afford safe drinking water'', ``and the proportion of people 
        without access to basic sanitation'' by 2015; and
Whereas Congress passed and the President signed into law the Senator Paul Simon 
        Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-121), which was intended 
        to ``elevate the role of water and sanitation policy in the development 
        of U.S. foreign policy and improve the effectiveness of U.S. official 
        programs'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of World Water Day;
            (2) urges an increased effort and the investment of greater 
        resources by the Department of State, the United States Agency 
        for International Development, and all relevant Federal 
        departments and agencies toward providing sustainable and 
        equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation for the 
        poor and the very poor; and
            (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
        the week of World Water Day with appropriate activities that 
        promote awareness of the importance of--
                    (A) access to clean water; and
                    (B) cooperation between stakeholders in 
                transboundary water management.
                                 <all>