[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S11773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CLEAN WATER

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I am going to mention one final topic as we 
wait for the final wrapup business to be concluded. It is a topic that 
is related to the topic I just discussed because it centers on the 
continent of Africa. It focuses on a different issue, but an issue that 
has real global consequence.
  I traveled to Africa last year with our colleagues from this body, 
Senator Warner, Senator DeWine, Senator Enzi, Senator Alexander, and 
Senator Coleman. We visited a project to bring clean water to people. 
This was down in the southern part of Africa in Mozambique. The project 
is to get clean water to the village of Tshalala, Mozambique.
  This particular project is funded by a wonderful organization whose 
leadership I admire tremendously, supported by generous people all over 
this country, indeed, around the world, the group called Living Water 
International.
  Now, this was out in the bush. It was out in a very rural area. The 
project was located in a neighborhood that was small. It was a very 
dusty, very poor neighborhood. But that neighborhood had clean water, 
and it came from a simple well with a hand pump. We all pumped from 
this well. It functioned easily. It became the whole centerpiece, of 
course, and the real focus for that entire community.
  Access to clean water is a women's issue. It is a public health 
issue. It is a sanitation issue. But I started by saying it is a 
women's issue because it is the women in Africa--all over the continent 
in Africa, in Mozambique and in Tshalala--who, before having a well, 
would be the ones who would walk for, not just minutes, but hours in 
order to get water for their family. But women in that part of Tshalala 
did not have to walk miles with jugs of water to provide for their 
families. Instead, the well supplied their households with clean 
drinking and bathing water.
  What Living Water International does is very simple. It teaches 
residents to drill wells. It trains them in sanitation and equips them 
with the tools and knowledge to maintain water equipment.
  The pump we saw in Tshalala cost, in American dollars, about $2,800. 
It improves the standard of living. It spares many of the women that 
backbreaking labor. It saves them time and allows them to be with their 
children. This well saves the lives of dozens of villagers.
  From a public health standpoint, from a sanitary standpoint, it saves 
lives. It is exactly the sort of resource that is lacking in much of 
the world. Clean water ranks high among the world's health problems. 
The statistics are staggering. They should alarm any person of 
conscience.
  What are they? According to the World Health Organization, over 1.8 
million people die each year as a result of diarrheal disease. Almost 
all of it is caused by waterborne illness--1.8 million people.
  Over 40 percent of the world's population, most of it in undeveloped 
regions of Africa and Asia, live without access to clean water. Without 
intervention, the problem could get much worse. In the next 50 years, 3 
billion people will join the human family. Most will live in areas that 
lack clean water.
  Economies in the poorest regions of the world will be unable to 
develop unless good water systems are in place. Agriculture alone 
consumes anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of available water supplies. 
Manufacturing, likewise, is nearly impossible without clean water.
  Just as important, unsafe water poses a clear security threat. Water 
basins do not follow national borders, and conflict over them will 
escalate as safe water becomes even scarcer. These conflicts may come 
to threaten our own national security.
  Modest, pragmatic, clean water projects that yield real measurable 
benefits will make things better. While we would like to build First 
World water systems everywhere, we obviously have to acknowledge limits 
of time and resources.
  Over the last several decades, the United States, the United Nations, 
Japan, and dozens of other nations and organizations have worked to 
bring the world clean water. Despite sincere efforts, we have not made 
enough progress. There is much more to be done. Access to clean water 
has even declined in some parts of the world.
  Our experiences in Africa showed us the magnitude of the problem we 
face. They offer four important lessons about how we can improve access 
to clean water, to safe water, to healthy water around the globe.
  First, any strategy must involve the entire community that it serves.
  Local businesses, nonprofits, and individuals should own, maintain, 
and improve the water sources that serve them. Without adequate local 
support and local expertise, water systems will fall apart.
  We should also promote cost-sharing with water users to create a 
sense of ownership. At the Tshalala well, for example, community 
members contribute 5 percent of the total cost toward maintenance.
  Second, the U.S. and other developed nations must mobilize both 
public and private resources to confront this problem.
  This may require legislative action. A strategy should leverage 
resources to increase our projects' scale and avoid duplication of 
effort. Private organizations can provide a vast reserve of 
humanitarian and hydrological expertise. We should work to build 
coalitions of governments, international organizations, water 
utilities, and other private enterprises, foundations, scientific 
institutions, and NGOs.
  Third, education should play a key role in any strategy.
  Simple hand washing, for example, prevents disease transmission. But 
a single set of dirty hands can contaminate an entire water source. 
This aspect is going to take more than simple outreach. Real hygiene 
improvements will happen only if people have access to adequate, 
reliable, convenient water resources.
  Fourth, where appropriate, clean water should rank high among our 
health aid priorities.
  The developed world spends billions on health aid. Health care 
professionals have long understood the strong connection between clean 
water, basic sanitation, and good health.
  Last year, USAID spent less than $325 million for international 
drinking water supply and sanitation. Less than $20 million of this 
amount went to Africa--the very region that has the most severe water 
crisis. Clearly, these are inadequate sums.
  Our large and worthy investment in the battle against HIV/AIDS in 
Africa and around the world cannot succeed without clean water; they 
are interrelated. And neither can our vision for a safer, healthier, 
and more prosperous world.
  The people of the world need clean water to live. They deserve it. 
With our help and firm commitment, they can get it.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________