[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 11, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



            DISASTROUS SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT MUST BE FIXED

  (Mr. BEREUTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, the current Safe Drinking Water Act is a 
disaster and must be fixed as it is reauthorized. This Member is 
committed to supporting legislation which will inject more common sense 
into the way that public drinking water supplies are tested, monitored, 
and treated.
  It is certainly encouraging that the distinguished gentleman from 
Virginia [Mr. Bliley], the new chairman of the Commerce Committee, has 
indicated his intention to place a high priority on revising and 
improving Safe Drinking Water Act.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a growing financial crisis for communities 
across the country that becomes more evident each year as new water 
testing and treatment deadlines are imposed. These unfunded mandates 
hit small communities especially hard. Not only are these mandates 
costly, they often do nothing to ensure safe drinking water. It is 
clear that States and communities must be allowed to identify and focus 
on those contaminants which present an actual health risk in their 
geographic area.
  Without question, the safety of this Nation's drinking water must be 
vigorously protected. However, in these days of tightening budgets on 
the local, State, and Federal levels, it is more important than ever 
that this goal be reached in a realistic cost-effective, and efficient 
manner.


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