[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 83 (Thursday, May 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1071]]

            H.R. 961, THE CLEAN WATER AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                          HON. CARDISS COLLINS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 1995
  Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I oppose H.R. 961, the Clean 
Water Amendments Act of 1995. It is interesting that the Republicans 
have continually claimed to have an interest in bringing common sense 
to the legislative process and yet they are now proposing taking one of 
the most successful environmental laws on the books and recklessly and 
nonsensically gutting it. This Dirty Water Act is a threat to our 
health and should be rejected soundly.
  Almost half of the lakes and rivers in America are currently so 
polluted that it is not safe to fish or swim in them. The Clean Water 
Act was passed to improve this horrific situation and has been steadily 
improving the quality and the safety of the waters across our country. 
Yet, now, with our environment still not even close to the level of 
clean that it needs to be, the Republicans are foolishly working to 
overturn and undermine this most critically important clean water law.
  In the State of Illinois, as in the other 49 States, substantial 
improvements in the quality of water have been made over the past 20 
years but there is still a long way to go. In fact, 91 percent of 
Illinois' lakes and 55 percent of our rivers and streams are not safe 
for fishing or swimming or are so dead from pollution that they cannot 
support aquatic life. H.R. 961 would halt the progress that has been 
made so far and dangerously jeopardize the future health of Illinois' 
waterways through several damaging provisions.
  First, the bill would undermine the Great Lakes initiative which 
seeks to control the amount of toxic chemicals being dumped into Lake 
Michigan and the other Great Lakes. Since this is the source of 
drinking water for my constituents, the quality of Lake Michigan's 
water is of primary interest and concern. Currently, because of high 
levels of mercury and PCB's, there is an advisory for women of child-
bearing age, pregnant women, and children not to eat more than one fish 
meal per month from Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan trout now contain PCB 
levels that are more than 180 times their target and likely cause 
thousands of cancer deaths in the area.
  The Great Lakes initiative seeks to improve this situation by 
organizing the Great Lakes border States in a unified Federal-State 
partnership to clean up the Great Lakes. This model initiative should 
be promoted and encouraged rather than weakened and undermined as H.R. 
961 seeks to do.
  In addition, H.R. 961 dramatically alters the definition of wetlands 
that are protected and eliminates the current legal protection for 70 
percent of Illinois' wetlands. We need only think back to the 
Mississippi floods of 1993 to remember how critically important 
wetlands are to flood protection. Illinois has already lost 90 percent 
of its acres of natural wetlands and this loss of nature's flood 
absorption system has caused billions of dollars worth of damages. The 
Illinois State Water Survey estimates that every one percent increase 
in wetland acreage would lead to a four percent decrease in flood 
levels. It seems extremely short-sighted and risky to me to further 
reduce our wetlands and cause even more severe flooding in the years 
ahead.
  Further, the Dirty Water Act does not address the critical issue of 
polluted run-off. Polluted runoff from fields, roads and cities is 
Illinois' number one water quality problem. It was also responsible for 
the cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee that caused 400,000 people to 
become ill, and 130 children, senior citizens, and people with AIDS to 
become seriously or fatally ill in 1993. Seemingly, after the tragedy 
in Milwaukee, this bill would be used as an opportunity to take 
specific steps to address polluted run-off problems.
  Mr. Speaker, the recklessness of this bill astounds me. Our lakes and 
streams are so polluted that they are almost unusable and they are 
posing a direct threat to our health. How much further do we want to 
go? Do we want to wait until all the fish die and every city 
experiences a Milwaukee-like tragedy? This is certainly not what my 
constituents want to see and I will not stand by and allow our lakes 
and streams to be turned into sewers. I urge my colleagues to join me 
in rejecting this dangerous bill.


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