[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1876-S1878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 466--SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF WORLD WATER 
                                  DAY

  Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Dodd, Mr. 
Feingold, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 466

       Whereas United Nations Resolution 47/193, adopted by the 
     General Assembly on December 22, 1992, designates March 22 of 
     each year as World Day for Water;
       Whereas a person needs a minimum of 20 liters of water per 
     day to live;
       Whereas a person can live weeks without food, but only days 
     without water;
       Whereas diseases related to inadequate water, sanitation, 
     and hygiene trigger 4,000,000,000 cases of diarrhea and 
     2,000,000,000 infections by parasitic intestinal worms 
     annually;
       Whereas 50 percent of childhood malnutrition in the world 
     is caused by water- and sanitation-related diseases;
       Whereas a child dies from a water-borne disease every 15 
     seconds;
       Whereas water- and sanitation-related diseases are the 
     leading cause of death for children under 5 years of age;
       Whereas millions of women and children spend several hours 
     a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources;
       Whereas women and children bear disproportionate economic 
     and educational costs associated with unsafe drinking water 
     and poor sanitation;
       Whereas every dollar spent on water and sanitation saves an 
     average of $8 in costs averted and productivity gained;
       Whereas water- and sanitation-related diseases account for 
     80 percent of the sicknesses in developing countries;
       Whereas 884,000,000 people lack access to an improved water 
     supply;
       Whereas 2,500,000,000 people in the world lack access to 
     improved sanitation;
       Whereas the 263 transboundary lake and river basins in the 
     world include territory in 145 countries and cover nearly \1/
     2\ of the Earth's land surface;
       Whereas climate change may cause more extreme floods and 
     droughts, increasing tension and potential clashes over 
     transboundary freshwater resources;
       Whereas the global celebration of World Water Day is an 
     initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations 
     Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro 
     to draw attention to the global water, sanitation, and 
     hygiene crisis;
       Whereas the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on 
     Sustainable Development, adopted by the 2002 Johannesburg 
     summit participants, including the United States, sets forth 
     the goal to reduce by \1/2\, between 1990 and 2015, ``the 
     proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford 
     safe drinking water'' and ``the proportion of people who do 
     not have access to basic sanitation''; and
       Whereas the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 
     2005 (Public Law 109-121) required the Secretary of State to 
     develop a strategy to ``elevate the role of water and 
     sanitation policy in the development of U.S. foreign policy 
     and improve the effectiveness of U.S. official programs 
     undertaken in support of the strategy'':
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of World Water Day, which 
     will be observed on March 22;
       (2) urges the Department of State, the United States Agency 
     for International Development, and all relevant Federal 
     departments and agencies to increase the efforts and 
     resources dedicated to--
       (A) providing sustainable and equitable access to safe 
     drinking water and sanitation; and

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       (B) improving the capacity for water resource management 
     for the poor and the very poor; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     the day with appropriate activities that promote awareness of 
     the importance of--
       (A) access to clean water and adequate sanitation; and
       (B) stakeholder cooperation on transboundary water 
     management.

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, yesterday, countries around the world 
celebrated World Water Day. This is a day to celebrate the progress we 
have made protecting this most important resource and to reflect on the 
many challenges we still face in providing clean, safe water to the 
world's poor.
  I was heartened to see that Secretary of State Clinton spoke at the 
National Geographic World Water Day event on Monday. She and others at 
the Department of State and USAID are doing a great job stepping up 
U.S. leadership on issues of clean water and sanitation.
  Last year alone, American development assistance helped more than 4 
million people access an improved water source for the first time. 
While we are proud of this help, we recognize that much more needs to 
be done.
  Today, nearly 1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking 
water, and more than 2 billion still lack basic sanitation. Lack of 
access to stable supplies of water is reaching critical proportions, 
particularly for agricultural purposes. The problem will only worsen 
with rapid urbanization worldwide. Experts suggest that another 1.2 
billion people will lack access to clean water and sanitation within 20 
years.
  The overall economic loss in Africa alone due to lack of access to 
safe water and basic sanitation is estimated at $28.4 billion a year. 
In many poor nations, women and girls walk 2 or 3 hours or more each 
way, every day, to collect water that is often dirty and unsafe. The 
U.N. estimates that women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa spend a total 
of 40 billion working hours each year collecting water. That is 
equivalent to all of the hours worked in France in a year. Clearly, the 
world needs to do more to help with such a basic human need.
  That is why Senator Corker and I introduced the Paul Simon Water for 
the World Act--a bill that would strengthen America's ability to 
provide clean water and sanitation to 100 million of the world's poor 
over the next 6 years.
  I am pleased that the bill is on the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee agenda and thank Senators Kerry, Lugar, Corker and so many 
others for their support on this effort. I look forward to the bill's 
consideration from the Foreign Relations Committee and urge my 
colleagues to support passage of the bill once it has been reported.
  The Paul Simon water for the world bill would put the United States 
in the forefront of providing poor people around the world with a most 
fundamental need--water. This is not an effort to create vast new 
programs, but to focus our foreign assistance efforts on a 
comprehensive, strategic series of investments related to water and 
sanitation. These are simple, commonsense steps that will make a real 
difference in people's lives.
  Our legislation would make the U.S. a leader in meeting key 
millennium development goals for drinking water and sanitation, which 
is to reduce by half the proportion of people without safe water and 
sanitation by 2015. The bill targets aid to areas with the greatest 
need. It helps build the capacity of poor nations to meet their own 
water and sanitation challenges.

  The Water for the World Act also supports research on clean water 
technologies and regional partnerships to find solutions to shared 
water challenges. The bill provides technical assistance--best 
practices, credit authorities, and training--to help countries expand 
access to clean water and sanitation. Our development experts will 
design the assistance based on local needs.
  The bill would also strengthen the capacity of USAID and the State 
Department to implement development assistance efforts related to water 
and ramp up U.S. developmental and diplomatic leadership.
  I know that these steps do make a difference. On a recent trip to 
east Africa, I saw American development assistance in Tanzania, the 
Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Sudan and had an 
opportunity to look at a number of global health programs including 
clean water and sanitation.
  One program in Ethiopia was provided by a nongovernmental 
organization called AMREF in the Kechene slum area of the capital of 
Addis Ababa. The 380 people living in the Kechene area have basically 
had to carry in water for years because there was no running water. But 
because of an AMREF project, they were able to build 22 water kiosks in 
the country and one in this slum area. It seems like something so 
simple, but it has changed their lives. They now have a source of safe 
drinking water.
  Very near the small lean-tos they live in, they have two showers, 
toilet facilities, and a source of clean drinking water--none of which 
they had before. The small fee that is charged by the residents who 
maintain it helps keep it clean and functional.
  The residents couldn't help but beam with pride as we took a look at 
a most basic yet critical source of community pride. Disease is down, 
threats to women who otherwise would have to walk great distances to 
obtain water are down, and the community even has a small source of 
income and employment. These are the kinds of simple self-sustaining 
projects the U.S.should be supporting for the world's poor.
  Water scarcity can also be a source of conflict and economic 
calamity. Last year millions in the horn of Africa suffered from famine 
because of droughts. Without reliable supplies of water, farmers 
struggle to grow crops, and areas once abundant with water are slowly 
becoming barren.
  I was reminded of these challenges talking to a government minister 
in Sudan. When I asked about the impact of climate change in his 
country, he immediately/wanted to take me to the Nile to show how the 
river had shrunk in volume. Can you imagine the Nile River, which 
sustains a land where historic civilizations emerged, is now shrinking?
  Helping other nations is in our national interest. Some say that now 
is not the time to invest in poor nations half a world away when our 
economy is in crisis and so many Americans are hurting. That view is 
understandable. Recovering from this recession and rebuilding our 
economy for the long-term must be, and is, our government's top 
priority. But investing in clean water for the world is a smart 
strategy that will make our foreign assistance dollars achieve more--
something we need in these hard economic times.
  We know what the solutions are and we know they are cost effective. 
For every dollar invested in water and sanitation, $8 are returned in 
increased productivity and decreased health care costs. Just imagine 
how bringing such a basic need to the world's poor will impact 
America's image--particularly at a time when we are in a battle of 
ideas in many parts of the world.
  The Water for the World Act builds on the similarly named landmark 
legislation--the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act--that at 
long last made safe drinking water and sanitation a priority of U.S. 
foreign development assistance.
  I owe my passion on water to my predecessor and long time mentor the 
late Senator Paul Simon. Paul Simon was a prolific author and 
visionary. He wrote books on a variety of compelling issues, and 
solving the global water crisis was his last great campaign. He knew 
the United States had the ability to be a leader on this issue.
  Two years after Paul Simon died the Senator Paul Simon Water for the 
Poor Act was signed into law in December 2005. The act has made a big 
difference to the world's poor, but we can do more. I can think of no 
better way to honor a man who did so much for so many, than to commit 
ourselves to achieving this vision and the ideals of the Senator Paul 
Simon Water for the Poor Act.
  Water is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century. No other 
issue is more important to human health, peace and security than access 
to sustainable supplies of water. As we celebrate World Water Day this 
week, let us renew our commitment to making sure the world's poor have 
access to this most basic human need.

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