[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 16, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7877-S7878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SAFE DRINKING WATER

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, there is an old adage that, ``You never miss 
the water until the well runs dry.'' I come to the Senate floor today 
to speak about an issue that is essential to the health and well-being 
of every American--safe drinking water. All life as we know it depends 
on the necessary element of water.
  Most Americans take safe drinking water for granted. Most Americans 
just

[[Page S7878]]

assume that when they turn on the faucet, clean water will 
automatically flow out of the faucet. They assume that there will 
always be easy access to an unlimited supply of clean, safe drinking 
water. Only recently, the residents of the District of Columbia 
discovered that safe drinking water is no longer one of life's 
certainties. They found themselves and their families to be quite 
unexpectedly vulnerable--vulnerable to a possible contaminated water 
supply. Washington officials announced that certain residents should 
boil water, and that the city would increase chlorine levels for 
several days to cleanse possible contaminates in aging water pipes. 
Although this condition was said to be only temporary, and it is 
reported that the water is now safe, an outcry of rage arose. District 
residents were annoyed. They were upset. They were inconvenienced.
  The Washington Times of July 9, in an editorial, entitled ``Home rule 
stops at the water's edge,'' said, ``Safe drinking water is not 
optional in the capital of the most prosperous and powerful nation on 
the face of the Earth.'' Mr. President, the same thing can be said with 
reference to safe drinking water all over this country--it should not 
be optional. ``It is a fundamental element of modern civilization--such 
a given, in fact, that most Americans don't think twice about it.''
  So, without doubt, the condition of the water system in Washington, 
DC, is an important matter. However, it is time that the citizens of 
the District and other cities be told about the frightening reality 
regarding much of our entire Nation's supply of drinking water--the 
reality that faces much of rural America every day. In my view, safe 
drinking water should not be optional anywhere in the most prosperous 
and powerful nation on the face of the Earth.
  Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture completed Water 2000, a 
study of safe drinking water needs in the United States. I hope 
everyone will take note of the results. Incredibly, in these United 
States, nearly 3 million families, representing 8 million people, do 
not have access to safe drinking water. Now, let me repeat that, 8 
million people in the United States of America, the greatest country on 
the face of the Earth, do not have access to a reliable source of clean 
drinking water. Every day, every night, millions of Americans cannot 
turn on their faucets and assume that the water is safe to drink. That, 
in my view, is a national disgrace.
  Regrettably, in my own State of West Virginia, the study reports that 
it would take $162 million to clean up and provide potable water to 
approximately 79,000 West Virginians. It would take another $405 
million to meet the worsening drinking water supply situation of some 
476,000 West Virginians. That's nearly half of the population of my 
State. Nearly half of the people in my state have cause for concern 
about their water supply. And many other States are facing a similar 
serious situation.
  Sadly, the United States Congress has chosen not to help. During 
debate on the budget resolution, I made two attempts to restore some of 
the funding for our national infrastructure that is being carelessly 
axed at every turn. I offered an amendment that would restore $65 
billion to the Federal budget for domestic infrastructure--water and 
sewer needs, bridges and highways, our national parks, and so forth. 
Regrettably, this Senate voted 61 to 39 in favor of $65 billion in 
corporate tax loopholes, rather than for basic infrastructure needs of 
this Nation. I tried again, offering a second amendment, one that would 
restore $1.5 billion specifically for Federal water and sewer programs, 
but this Senate again said no by a vote of 54 to 45. This very Senate 
said no to a most basic need--clean, drinkable water.
  Given the sad outcome of my attempts in the Senate to restore common 
sense to the budget priorities of this Nation, I am pleased to 
acknowledge the efforts, which I strongly support, of the Clinton 
administration to provide safe drinking water to Americans. Today, the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture has reallocated $2.8 million for four 
water supply projects in West Virginia, and $70 million for projects 
throughout the United States. This is a very small step to be sure, 
national safe drinking water needs are assessed at some $10 billion.
  But, I come to the Senate floor today to congratulate public service 
districts in four counties of West Virginia for finally securing funds 
that will help to provide adequate, safe drinking water systems to some 
of their rural residents in greatest need. I want those families to 
know that I care, and that I am pleased, very pleased, by the 
Department's announcement today. To families in West Virginia covered 
by the following public service districts--Page-Kincaid in Fayette 
County, Leadsville in Randolph, Downs in Marion, and Red Sulphur in 
Monroe County--I would like to say that finally there is some relief on 
the way.
  Finally, at least these town residents will enjoy a basic standard of 
living that people residing in the United States of America ought to be 
able to expect. Finally, these communities will have the beginnings of 
an infrastructure which might encourage businesses to locate there. 
Finally, at least some of the residents in communities in my State will 
be free to offer a child a sip of water from the tap without fear.
  I sometimes seriously wonder about the priorities in this Senate. We 
often blithely ignore the real-life, day-to-day essential needs of our 
own citizens. The need for 8 million Americans to confidently use water 
for drinking, cooking, and recreation ought to be a birthright. There 
ought never to be any question about government's doing all that it can 
in the first place, before there is a crisis, to insure that Americans 
have safe drinking water.
  While this announcement is only a small victory for West Virginia and 
other rural communities across the Nation, I want to recognize this 
occasion. For those residents within Fayette, Randolph, Marion, and 
Monroe Counties, this is no doubt a most significant event.
  I am also heartened by the increased levels of funding in the 1997 
Agriculture appropriations bill, wherein the Senate added $231 million 
above the House level for rural development grant and loan programs, 
including water and sewer facilities, bringing the total for rural 
development programs to $5.7 billion.
  All of this will help, but it is high time that Members of this body 
wake up and focus on the looming water quality crises in this Nation.
  This could be your water, coming from your household faucet in your 
city or your town next month or next year. We cannot ask the American 
people to put up with this sort of outrage any longer.

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