[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1574-S1577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FLINT, MICHIGAN, WATER CRISIS

  Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I wish to talk about an issue my 
colleague Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and I have been working 
on for 2 months. It is an issue that is sad and has been absolutely 
catastrophic for people who live in our State, in the city of Flint.
  In fact, today we had hundreds of folks from Flint come to 
Washington, DC, to attend a House hearing that was held to talk about 
what had happened in Flint and to get answers from the EPA 
Administrator, as well as the Governor of Michigan. The folks came to 
make sure their voices were heard in this tragedy, to make sure people 
would see them as human beings who are being afflicted by this horrible 
tragedy. They are in a situation where they can't turn on their 
tapwater and have clean water, water free from lead.
  I think many folks are aware of what happened. We had a situation 
where an unelected emergency manager was appointed by the Governor to 
save dollars, to save money, and in the process contaminated a water 
system.
  The decision was made to move away from clean Detroit water from the 
Detroit water system--water that comes from Lake Huron in the Great 
Lakes--and move on a temporary basis until a new system could be put up 
and running that drew water from the Flint River. The Flint River was 
known to be water that was very corrosive. In fact, General Motors had 
an engine plant along the Flint River and used Flint River water in 
their manufacturing process but found that the water was so corrosive 
that it was damaging engine blocks. So they stopped using this water 
because of the damage it was doing to the manufacturing process, but, 
unfortunately, the unelected emergency manager and the State government 
decided to use that water for the people of Flint as a source of 
drinking water, and they did not put in the proper corrosion control 
chemicals that may have mitigated this disaster. As a result, this 
highly corrosive water was going through the pipes, damaging the pipes, 
and released very large amounts of lead that has led to the 
contamination of an entire water system.
  This should have never happened. This is a disaster that was clearly 
manmade. It was a result of negligence on the part of those folks who 
were given the trust to run the system properly. Now we are left with 
an absolute catastrophe in the city.
  Although every resident is hurt, there is no question that it is 
primarily the children of Flint who have been impacted as a result. 
That is what is so insidious about lead poisoning. Even though it will 
eventually be flushed out of your body, if you are ingesting this when 
you are young while your brain is still developing, it can have 
permanent brain damage. That damage can be mitigated, but it is going 
to require the use of wraparound education services. It is going to 
make sure those children have proper nutrition and make sure they have 
health coverage, but certainly this is every resident in Flint, not 
just children but also the elderly and everybody who is a resident of 
that city.
  What has been so frustrating about this effort is that certainly we 
know this is the State's responsibility. The State broke it. They need 
to fix it. The State needs to put substantial resources in place. The 
Governor was here today talking about some of those efforts. He needs 
to do a whole lot more. Everybody agrees the State has to do a whole 
lot more, and taking responsibility means making sure the resources are 
there to provide the services that are going to be necessary--not just 
now but for what will likely be many decades in the future.
  What I am concerned about, what the residents of the city of Flint 
are concerned about, is that although right now this issue has received 
national attention and the eyes of the country are focused on Flint, 
they know that sooner or later the TV cameras will go, that the lights 
will not be shining on Flint, and people may forget what happened in 
Flint. However, the people of Flint will be left dealing with this 
problem for decades to come. We cannot let that happen. These people 
cannot be forgotten. Certainly Senator Stabenow and I have been working 
aggressively to hopefully force the Governor to create a future fund 
that will provide resources for years to come for the people who have 
been impacted by this horrible crisis.
  Even though this is a State responsibility and the State needs to 
step up and do more, there is also a role for the Federal Government. 
Wherever there has been a disaster anywhere in the country, the Federal 
Government has stepped up and helped those folks who have been the 
victims of disaster. Some argue this is a manmade disaster, the Federal 
Government shouldn't be involved in it, and we only deal with natural 
disasters, but I would just say ask the people of Flint: Does it matter 
who actually caused this problem? Can we be there to help folks? They 
don't care. They don't really care where it came from. They just know 
their children have been poisoned. They have ingested lead. They know 
they can't use the water. Even now, although they have filters, a lot 
of them can't use the water. They are living on bottled water.
  Today I had a woman named Gladys who came up to me. She traveled to 
Washington to tell her story. She brought a bag with hair in it. She is 
losing her hair as a result of using some of this water. She can't use 
her home. She was in tears as she talked about the lost value of her 
home, her entire life's savings in this house. Now she doesn't know 
what that house is worth because she is not sure whether the water is 
safe to drink.
  Folks in Flint don't care who caused this problem, they just need 
help. In the past, the Federal Government and this body, the Senate, 
have always stepped up to help those in need. That is the right thing 
to do. That is what the American people expect us to do. The American 
people look to make sure that they are always in a position to help 
those in need. It is our values. It is who we are as a country. It is 
who we are as a people. Yet it has been extremely difficult to get that 
help out of this body.
  I am pleased to say that in the last 2 months we have made some 
progress. Senator Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma 
have been great in working with Senator Stabenow and me. We have been 
able to build a list of cosponsors who are also helping us in this 
effort: Senator Burr, Senator Capito, Senator Kirk, and Senator 
Portman. A number of Senators have come together on both sides of the 
aisle to say: Here is a solution we can get behind.
  The proposal Senator Stabenow and I have worked on will provide money 
through the Safe Drinking Water Fund. It will provide grants for any 
community that has an emergency. Any community, not just Flint, that 
finds itself in an emergency of this kind could reaccess these 
resources. Although Flint is the only community right now that would 
qualify, we believe there are other communities that will likely 
qualify in the future. In fact, there may be some in a relatively short 
period of time.

  It also creates a loan fund of potentially up to $700 million--
perhaps even more--that every single community can access. This is an 
issue every community in our country may potentially face. With aging 
infrastructure, we know there are incredible infrastructure needs that 
have to be met, and the legislation we have worked on helps every 
community of every single State deal with this very important issue.
  It also addresses some of the health issues I mentioned earlier in my 
talk--issues that help the children and the residents who have been 
poisoned by lead--by plussing up public health programs for lead 
abatement and helping the CDC do its great work to help folks.

[[Page S1575]]

  This is a commonsense proposal that addresses some of the pressing 
needs in the city of Flint, while also addressing some of the pressing 
needs we face as a country to make sure we are investing in water 
infrastructure so that a citizen, no matter where they live or who they 
are, can turn on their tap and have clean drinking water come out of 
it.
  We have also worked hard to address some of the concerns we heard 
from the other side of the aisle, in addition to the fact that this is 
open to all communities, not just Flint. We also heard that folks 
wanted it paid for, and certainly Senator Stabenow and I believe that 
as well. So we are fiscally responsible. We found a pay-for in a 
program that deals with vehicle technology but one we thought was 
important to use to help the people of Flint and help water 
infrastructure projects across the country.
  The important thing about this, in addition to dealing with the 
problem and in addition to its being completely paid for, is that it 
also reduces the deficit. It will actually generate more money than is 
necessary to pay for this bill and will reduce the deficit.
  In the past, when we have had a national disaster such as the one we 
have seen in Flint, normally we see emergency funds being used, as we 
have done with bridge collapses and oil refinery fires and water main 
breaks. Even though that is probably the best source to fund this--if 
you treat the people of Flint like we treat other folks all around the 
country, we would use emergency funds--we went the extra distance to 
take a fund and make sure it would completely pay for this program, 
while at the same time reducing the deficit.
  We have done backflips and have worked with our colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle and have built support, and I believe if this bill 
went to the floor, it would pass. I think it would pass by a good 
margin. We believe we have very strong support for it. Yet here we are 
today, about ready to break for 2 weeks, and we are going to break 
without addressing this issue that has such strong bipartisan support. 
This has been a work in progress for over 2 months. It is ready to be 
voted on, yet we are going to leave without that vote.
  We are going to leave because there is basically one Senator out 
there who doesn't want to see it move forward--one Senator who doesn't 
really like this proposal. I am not going to speak for that individual, 
but they have their issues and they continually want more and more. The 
folks who are suffering right now are the people of Flint. I wish that 
one Senator who has the hold would have met with the people I met with 
this morning and that Senator Stabenow and some of our other colleagues 
met with this morning. I wish that Senator would have heard their 
stories, heard their anguish, and saw the tears in their eyes as they 
talked about what they are dealing with. Yet this Senator continues to 
have a hold.
  Now, I understand the Senator may have a problem with a particular 
piece of legislation. That happens. We are not going to agree on 
everything. I would just ask that we allow this legislation to come to 
the floor and the one Senator who has the hold--if he doesn't like the 
legislation, that is fine--can vote no if he likes. That is certainly 
his prerogative as an elected Member of this body--to vote no. But 
please let the other 99 Senators in this body have a say. That is all 
we are asking for. Put it on the floor and let this body make the final 
decision as to whether or not this is an appropriate response to an 
absolutely catastrophic disaster that has hit a community in this 
country of ours. I don't think that is asking a lot.
  Now, I am a new Member here. I am new, but I cannot imagine that 
folks here in the Senate will not allow legislation that is so 
important for people who have been impacted in such an extreme way to 
come to the Senate Floor. What would our Founding Fathers think if they 
were to look upon the Senate? They were concerned about factions and 
political parties and a body that would be paralyzed to really work on 
the tough issues that our country was going to face. I can't imagine 
looking in the eyes of our Founders and saying: The Senate--the 
deliberative body, the body that is supposed to take up the really 
tough issues facing us as a country--refuses to act and refuses to even 
put it on the floor so it can be debated and voted upon.
  So I will close and pass this on to my colleague, the senior Senator 
from Michigan, Ms. Stabenow, and let her continue. I am certainly 
disappointed, and I would ask all of my colleagues to please join with 
us to work to get this to the floor so we can have a vote. The people 
of Flint cannot wait any longer. The rest of the country is looking at 
the Senate and they are shaking their heads wondering why the Senate is 
incapable of putting this issue on the floor and having a simple up-or-
down vote.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, first I want to thank my partner and 
colleague, Senator Peters, for his wonderful friendship and commitment 
to the people of Flint. We both share this. This has really become a 
second full-time job for us, given what has happened in Flint, in 
reaching out on behalf of the 9,000 children who are under the age of 6 
who have been exposed and the homes that have exposure of lead that is 
higher than a toxic waste dump.
  As a mom and now as a grandmother, I can't imagine what that must 
feel like for the moms and dads and the grandpas and grandmas and the 
fear and horror they feel, as well as for the adults and the seniors 
who are exposed and everyone who is paying a price. Certainly, the 
business community is concerned now about people coming and doing 
business and going to restaurants in the city of Flint, despite the 
fact that there is wonderful work going on downtown in rebuilding this 
community. There are wonderful, exciting things happening, and now they 
have really been knocked off their feet because of what has happened.
  Across the way in the other Chamber today, there are hearings going 
on. There is a lot of effort back and forth in talking about who is to 
blame for what happened. We certainly understand what happened, coming 
from Michigan, but I have to tell you that we are laser-focused on the 
folks who had nothing to do with what happened--nothing to do with what 
happened. These are the people of Flint, who assumed, like each one of 
us does, that when you get up in the morning and turn on the faucet, 
when you take a shower or you feed your children, clean water is going 
to come out of the pipes. We all assume that. That is pretty much a 
basic human right, certainly in America. It may not be in other 
countries, but it certainly is in America, where we assume that is the 
case.
  In America, when a community is struck by this kind of catastrophe--a 
catastrophe they did not cause--we come together as Americans. That is 
what we do. We pitch in. We do what we can to help. That is what 
Senator Peters and I have been hoping to accomplish on behalf of the 
people of Flint.
  Since we have started debating these issues, we have found other 
communities as well that have challenges--none to the extent we are 
seeing in Flint, where 100,000 people and the entire city have been 
exposed to lead poisoning and the whole water system is in shambles. 
But there are other communities that have challenges, and we believe it 
is important to help them as well. So we have come up with something, 
as Senator Peters said.
  We have been working hard for the last 8 weeks to find a bipartisan 
plan--a compromise--that is not only fully paid for but out of 
something that I authored in the 2007 Energy bill, by the way. Because 
of the importance of this to the people of Flint, I said: OK, we will 
give something we care about here. We will restructure it. We will 
shorten the time of the program, and we will pay for it out of that.
  Senator Peters, when he was in the House, was the champion for this 
particular advanced manufacturing loan program. We are saying: OK, we 
are willing to have that end in order to be able to pay for what is 
happening in Flint. On top of a fully paid-for program out of a program 
that Republican colleagues don't like--so we are going to be ending 
something that folks would like to end--tens of millions of dollars in 
deficit reduction come along with this for the score. So it doesn't get 
any better than this.

[[Page S1576]]

  We were told to find something that is a pay-for that is not going to 
infringe with what other people care about. We did that. We were told 
no earmarks. We did that. We were told no new programs built on current 
programs. We did that. And we added deficit reduction. Yet the children 
of Flint are still waiting. The children of Flint--for the last 8 
weeks--and their families are still waiting.
  As Senator Peters said, we met some of these people this morning, and 
it just breaks your heart. People are looking at us and saying: OK, you 
have been working on this and you have this bipartisan group; isn't 
that great. But what is happening? The children of Flint are waiting.
  So we are at a point where this has to stop. We need a vote. We need 
a vote. We have a bipartisan bill, and we need a vote. We are at a 
point where we need to have a vote and stop this ability of one person 
to just hold things up.
  First, I want to thank our Republican colleagues as well as 
Democratic colleagues who have been working with us. First of all, our 
main Republican sponsor, the chairman of the Environment and Public 
Works Committee, Senator Inhofe, has been a true champion for 
supporting water infrastructure investments nationally. I am so 
grateful he came forward and offered the idea of not only being able to 
support Flint but to activate a financing program set up in the last 
water resources bill that would address communities across the country 
as well. That is terrific. If we can help other communities, along with 
what we need to do to support the families of Flint, that is great. So 
we thank him for his diligence. He has really stepped up, and we are so 
grateful.
  I want to thank the chair of the Energy and Natural Resources 
Committee and the ranking member, Senator Murkowski and Senator 
Cantwell, who have been stellar. I can't count how many hours we have 
talked on the phone, we have had meetings, and we have talked on the 
floor, and the lengths to which both of them have been willing to go to 
support us in solving this problem. They have been wonderful--even as 
late as a couple of hours ago in talking to us to figure out how we 
could move forward both to address this water infrastructure bill to 
help Flint and other communities and also to move forward on the Energy 
bill. So we need to be doing both, and we are at a point where that 
needs to get done.
  We have 10 cosponsors of the bill, and I want to thank Senator 
Portman and Senator Brown, Senator Kirk, Senator Reed of Rhode Island, 
Senator Burr, Senator Durbin, Senator Boxer, Senator Mikulski, Senator 
Capito, and Senator Baldwin. People from both parties have come 
together to do something that will make things better for the families 
and the communities that we represent. There are a number of other 
Members and staff who have been working behind the scenes. We are so 
grateful for their kind words and encouragement and for the people who 
have offered their support for what we are doing.
  I particularly want to thank our appropriations leaders, Senator 
Cochran and Senator Mikulski, for going the extra mile to figure out 
some strategy that would satisfy the Senator from Utah to get beyond 
this hold and to come together.
  Unfortunately, despite strong bipartisan support and our best 
efforts, we find ourselves still in a spot, even though we have had 
conversations today--and I appreciate that, and folks say they still 
want to work together, but it seems like we go round and round and 
round and round. We need to stop and have a vote at this point in time. 
At one point, we thought we had agreement. As I said, we met again 
today. It would make sense in moving forward to offer the Senator the 
opportunity to have a second-degree amendment to our proposal. He has a 
different idea on structuring that. We are willing to make the case, 
let him make the case, and decide. That is what the Senate is about--
have a vote, decide.
  The children of Flint need our help. Somehow this procedural stuff--
talking to folks about holds and cloture and all this--is not going to 
turn on the water in Flint. It is not going to help the children who 
have already been exposed and their families. We need the sense of 
urgency they have.
  When we look around the country--and, believe me, our focus is on 
Flint. Even though there are certainly other communities in Michigan 
with water issues, others around the country, we are laser-focused on 
the place where the water has been destroyed and the people have been 
poisoned because of a whole range of what happened, and people have not 
been able to take a bath or cook with water out of a tap or to be able 
to care for their children or themselves for almost 2 years.
  It is also true that when we talk to colleagues in putting together 
this bill, there are drinking water infrastructure needs around the 
country to be addressed. Utah will require $3.7 billion in drinking 
water infrastructure over the next 20 years to meet minimum human 
health and safety requirements. In Jackson, MS, last month--after 
random samples showed lead levels above Federal action levels--the 
mayor issued a warning to pregnant women and children 5 years of age 
and younger to stay away from tapwater. The mayor also said: This is 
not Flint because we are telling people about it and we are taking 
action, which, unfortunately, did not happen to protect the health and 
safety of the people in Flint.
  Last month in Crystal City, TX, there was black sludge water coming 
out of the faucet, and residents were warned to boil tapwater before 
drinking it--in Texas. According to a recent survey by EPA, Texas will 
require nearly $34 billion in upgrades to its drinking water 
infrastructure over the next 20 years to comply with minimum safety 
standards.
  Last month in Ohio, 13 water systems were under lead advisories. In 
Sebring, OH, lab tests last August found unsafe levels of lead in 
drinking water--and it took 5 months before the city told pregnant 
women and children not to drink the water and to shut down the taps and 
fountains in schools.
  Just today, the USA TODAY network published a report that identified 
nearly 2,000 water systems where excessive lead levels have been 
detected in the last 4 years, and they serve 6 million people.
  Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards recently again sounded the alarm 
about lead pipes in Washington. In Cleveland, children have high levels 
due to exposure to lead in household paints. We could go on and on. 
Pennsylvania, high lead levels.
  The reason I am saying this is because while the catastrophe has 
happened in Flint--for many reasons beyond the control of anybody in 
Flint--there are other communities now that need help as well, which is 
why the proposal we have is one that has broad bipartisan support to be 
able to activate a wider infrastructure-financing mechanism that allows 
communities around the country to be able to solve problems before they 
get to what happened in Flint on the early end to solve the problems so 
people don't get lead poisoning. That is in this bill. We step up, 
because these are Americans in Flint, MI, and say: We hear you. We see 
you. We care about you, and because you have a Federal emergency 
declaration we will provide the opportunity to get some help. In 
addition to accountability and responsibility of the State, the Federal 
Government, because of the EPA's role in this, will be a part of the 
solution in fixing these pipes.
  We also address public health issues: the Centers for Disease Control 
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund, HUD's Healthy Homes Program 
for lead both in water and in paint, and we address the opportunity to 
reach out and deal with the public health issues for children.
  Needless to say, we are extremely disappointed--putting it mildly--in 
how we feel about coming to a point today, despite best efforts on many 
people's parts, frankly, despite our patience working with people, 
accepting them at their word, working, trying to get things done, 
looking at various alternatives to get beyond the roadblocks, despite a 
lot of effort. Again, we are grateful for those who have stood with us 
and worked so hard on our behalf. It is incredibly disappointing and 
frustrating and, frankly, maddening that we are here as the Senate is 
leaving for the next 2 weeks and we do not have action on Flint and on 
water systems across this country.
  Again, I can tell you that for the people of Flint who have not 
gotten help

[[Page S1577]]

for so long, for the people of Flint who were told the water was OK and 
it wasn't--and I have now been watching coverups and slow-walking for 
going on 2 years--this is just one more time when they are watching 
inaction and we could be stepping up and doing something to help.
  So that is what we are asking for; that when we come back, the 
children of Flint be a priority for action; that we work together, as 
we have done across the aisle, to put forward something that will 
address water infrastructures to help the people of Flint, to help 
people around the country so they don't find themselves in a situation 
like the people of Flint; and that we do that together; that we pass 
that bill; that we pass an energy bill; and that we move forward after 
weeks and weeks and weeks of good-faith efforts to get something done.
  All we are asking for is a vote. That is all we are asking for, after 
all this effort, is the opportunity to vote. If someone believes it is 
not the right thing to do, they have the opportunity that we all have, 
to vote no, but the children of Flint deserve a vote. The children in 
Jackson, MS, and the people around the country are worried they might 
become the crisis, the catastrophe in Flint, and are asking us simply 
to vote.
  Lead poisoning is a frightening thing. It gets in your body and never 
leaves. It goes from your blood to your bones. When a woman gets 
pregnant, it goes into the fetus. It is a frightening form of poison. 
If that is not a national emergency worthy of action by the Senate and 
the House--the Congress of this country--I don't know what is.
  Frankly, there are a whole lot of people who have lost faith in the 
government right now of Flint, who are asking us to see them, to care 
about them, and to help.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.

                          ____________________