[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 171 (Saturday, November 22, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ANACOSTIA WATERSHED INITIATIVE ACT OF 2003

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 21, 2003

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Anacostia 
Watershed Initiative Act of 2003. I am very pleased to be joined on the 
bill by several of my colleagues from the Washington region--Mr. Hoyer, 
Mr. Wynn, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Van Hollen.
  Although the beautiful Potomac, a river we also love, gets most of 
the attention in this region, it is the Anacostia that flows closest to 
the Congress and to the neighborhoods of the city and region. The 
Anacostia flows just 2,000 yards from the majestic Capitol Dome. The 
wastewater from the Capitol complex flows into the river when the 
ancient D.C. sewer system--built over the last century and a half--
overflows on rainy days. The polluted runoff from congressional and 
federal parking lots and the fertilizers and pesticides from our 
magnificent lawns and gardens go into the Anacostia on those days as 
well. Many Members of Congress maintain a home in the Anacostia 
watershed. It is a sad fact that more than 30 years after the passage 
of the Clean Water Act, the Anacostia, despite its proximity to the 
Congress, remains badly contaminated with fecal bacteria, toxic 
chemicals, heavy metals, and many other pollutants. Contact with the 
water of the Anacostia isn't safe for human beings, there are official 
warnings not to eat fish caught in the river, and according to the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, more than half of the bottom-feeding brown 
bullheads in the river have cancerous tumors caused by chemicals.
  We're simply not doing a good job of taking care of our home river. 
The Anacostia has no treatment plants and very few small industrial 
sites. Federal agencies are the biggest polluters of the river. Nearly 
all of its pollution enters the river from public streets, storm 
drains, and sewers. These public systems--particularly the District's 
combined sewer--are old and inadequate and should have been upgraded 
years ago.
  One of the many challenges in cleaning up the Anacostia is that five-
sixths of the land area that contributes polluted water to it is within 
the state of Maryland, about a sixth of the total is owned and managed 
by the federal government. The residents of the District of Columbia 
especially feel the effects of the pollution. The result of that 
geography is that neither the District of Columbia nor any other single 
jurisdiction can achieve the cleanup of the river by itself. If we are 
to envision the day that the Anacostia can be a real asset for the 
entire Washington region extraordinary cooperation among the federal, 
state, and local governments will be required.
  This is the purpose of the Anacostia Watershed Initiative Act of 
2003. The bill that my colleagues and I are introducing today would 
bring together federal, state, District of Columbia and other local 
governments in a joint approach to cleaning up the river. It would set 
up a mechanism to develop, fund, and implement a 10-year Comprehensive 
Action Plan for the Anacostia watershed that would address both the 
District's outdated and inadequate combined sewer system and the runoff 
from federal facilities and other properties in Maryland. It would 
involve all the major players in a truly unified approach to cleaning 
up the home river of Congress.
  This legislation has broad support, not only among members of 
congress, but from state and local officials, environmentalists, and 
the business community. With regional colleagues as original co-
sponsors, I will work hard for the passage of the Anacostia Watershed 
Initiative Act of 2003 and know that our colleagues in the other body 
will work for it there, too. I urge all members of the House to join me 
in creating a Congressional home river that we can be truly proud of.

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