[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 51 (Monday, March 31, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S1866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            WORLD WATER DAY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, March 21 was the 21st anniversary of World 
Water Day. On this day, we call attention to the centrality of water in 
our lives and communities, and we recognize the vital work that must 
continue to ensure that every person has access to clean water and 
sanitation.
  The acute challenges in improving access to clean water and 
sanitation in developing countries are well known. Nearly 800 million 
people lack clean water and more than 2 billion people are without 
basic sanitation. In a world of increasing water scarcity and climate 
unpredictability, the risks associated with an unstable water supply 
will only intensify. A wide assortment of global health and development 
challenges can be traced directly, or indirectly, to a lack of access 
to clean water and integrated water resource management.
  In recent years, the depth and pervasiveness of these problems have 
gained increasing attention. In 2000, the U.S. signed the Millennium 
Development Goals, one of which seeks to halve the number of people 
without access to clean water and basic sanitation by 2015. This 
attention has also led to the formation of international partnerships 
such as Water and Sanitation for All in 2012, of which the United 
States is an active member. As projections stand now, the MDG clean 
water target has already been met while there is still a long way to go 
in reaching the sanitation goal by 2015.
  The United States has long been a leader in supporting efforts to 
improve global access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and 
water resource management. The Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 
2005, a bill which I strongly supported, was the first major 
legislation enacted to make access to clean water and sanitation a U.S. 
foreign policy priority. Each year, as chairman of the Appropriations 
Subcommittee on the Department of State and Foreign Operations, I have 
included increasing amounts of funding to implement the Paul Simon Act.
  We should reflect on the legacy of the late Senator Simon and take a 
moment to recognize and appreciate his contributions to making clean 
water a development priority. His work is carried on through the 
programs and policies of the legislation that bears his name.
  On World Water Day, we should also recognize the indispensable work 
that has been done by governments, NGO's, and private companies to 
provide access to clean water and sanitation. I have visited Haiti 
three times in recent years to inspect the work of rebuilding crucial 
infrastructure, shattered by the earthquake. My wife Marcelle worked 
for many years as a registered nurse. In 2012 she saw, firsthand, some 
of these vital clean water and sanitation initiatives. A nonprofit 
organization, Pure Water for the World, based in Rutland, VT, 
implements a sustainable model for clean water programs in developing 
countries by building low-cost water filtration systems, installing 
latrines to improve sanitation, and providing hygiene education in 
local communities.
  We must also realize how much work is still left to do in this area 
of development, and understand that to tackle 21st century problems we 
need innovative solutions. The release of the U.S. Agency for 
International Development's new water strategy last year was an 
important step, especially with its focus on sustainability and 
enhanced monitoring and evaluation of projects.
  I will continue to support USAID's work to carry out its mission and 
the strategic objectives in the water strategy. More than $365 million 
was included for WASH programs in the 2014 omnibus appropriations bill 
that was signed into law on January 17. Congress should also pass the 
Water for the World Act, which would give USAID additional tools to 
address these critical issues.
  Lastly, I want to highlight the theme of this year's World Water Day, 
which is ``water and energy.'' The links between water and energy 
cannot be ignored. Nearly eight percent of all global energy is used to 
transport, pump, and treat water for a variety of consumers, while 
energy generation and transmission also requires massive water 
resources. With more than a billion people also lacking access to 
electricity, we need to address both these issues together.
  World Water Day reminds us how fortunate we are in the United States 
to be able to turn on a faucet and have clean water, because for many 
hundreds of millions of people this luxury is not close to a reality. 
While we have made progress in bringing clean water and sanitation to 
millions across the world, there is still much work to be done.

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