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

                                                       Calendar No. 131
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, Mr. Kerry, and Mr. Durbin) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

                             July 28, 2009

  Reported by Mr. Kerry, with an amendment and with amendments to the 
                                preamble
  [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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 <DELETED>liters</DELETED>gallons 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 5 years of age <DELETED>5</DELETED>, water-
        <DELETED>borne</DELETED>related diseases are the second leading cause of 
        death;
Whereas millions of women and children <DELETED>already</DELETED> spend several 
        hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources;
Whereas <DELETED>every dollar spent on water and sanitation saves an average of 
        $9 in costs averted and productivity gained</DELETED>884,000,000 people 
        do not have access to safe drinking water;
Whereas 2,500,000,000 people do not have access to adequate sanitation and 
        1,200,000,000 people do not have access to any sanitation facilities;
Whereas water-related diseases are responsible for 80 percent of all illness and 
        deaths in the developing world;
Whereas, at any given time, \1/2\ of the hospital beds in <DELETED>the 
        world</DELETED>sub-Saharan Africa are occupied by patients suffering 
        from <DELETED>a water-borne disease</DELETED>water-related diseases;
Whereas <DELETED>88 percent of all diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water, 
        inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene</DELETED>50 percent of childhood 
        malnutrition is associated with water- and sanitation-related diseases;
Whereas <DELETED>1,100,000,000 (1 in 6) people lack access to an</DELETED>every 
        dollar invested in improved water supply and sanitation yield gains of 
        $4 to $12, depending on the type of intervention;
<DELETED>Whereas 2,600,000,000 people in the world lack access to improved 
        sanitation;
</DELETED>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, Brazil;
Whereas the participants in the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in 
        Johannesburg, South Africa, including the United States, <DELETED>agreed 
        to</DELETED>adopted the Plan of Implementation which included an 
        agreement to work to reduce by \1/2\<DELETED>from the baseline year 
        1990</DELETED>, between 1990 and 2015--

    (1) ``the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford 
safe drinking water''<DELETED>,</DELETED>; and

    (2) ``<DELETED>and</DELETED> the proportion of people without access to 
basic sanitation''<DELETED>by 2015</DELETED>; and

Whereas <DELETED>Congress passed and the President signed into law</DELETED> 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 sanitation; and
                    (B) cooperation between stakeholders in 
                transboundary water management.




                                                       Calendar No. 131

111th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               S. RES. 81

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

          Supporting the goals and ideals of World Water Day.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 28, 2009

     Reported with an amendment and with amendments to the preamble