[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        DRINKING WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT OF 2021

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam Prescient, this week, the Senate has the 
opportunity to take a major step on an issue that affects all 
Americans: infrastructure.
  Senator Duckworth, my friend and fellow Illinois Senator, is leading 
a bipartisan effort to finance critical water infrastructure 
improvements across the country.
  The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act authorizes $35 
billion in funding to improve access to safe drinking water, fortify 
our water infrastructure against extreme weather, lower the cost of 
utility bills, and rebuild aging water systems across America.
  More than 40 percent of authorized funds will go to small, rural, and 
disadvantaged communities, many of which have not seen water 
infrastructure improvements in decades. And believe me, our water 
infrastructure is in desperate need of improvement.
  My home State of Illinois has the most lead service lines of any 
State. Recent reports indicate that 8 in 10 Illinoisans live in a 
community where lead has been found in the drinking water in the last 6 
years. Chicago alone has more than 380,000 lead service lines, the most 
of any city in the country. My hometown of Springfield has more than 
10,000 lead service lines. These numbers are tragic and unacceptable. 
Every day, millions of my constituents risk exposure to lead, which can 
impair brain development in children and harm pregnant mothers. The 
people of Illinois, like many others across the country, sorely need 
these pipes replaced.
  Thankfully, this bipartisan bill would begin to tackle the epidemic 
of lead in our Nation's drinking water. It would authorize $100 million 
per year for lead service line removal and a further $40 million per 
year for lead testing in schools. Just imagine what that kind of 
funding could do to protect vulnerable people and children in Chicago, 
Springfield, and across our country.
  But unfortunately, lead is not the only water infrastructure problem 
facing our communities. A few weeks ago, I visited a small, rural town 
in Illinois called Centreville. Near my birthplace of East St. Louis, I 
have known this community all my life. Centreville's population is 
mostly elderly, Black, lifelong residents. They have faced chronic 
wastewater and storm water issues for decades. Ordinary rainfall can 
overflow the town's broken sewer systems and flood residents' basements 
and lawns with raw sewage. No one risks taking a sip of water from the 
tap.
  I have heard from residents about the horror of stepping out of their 
front door in the morning to discover pools of sewage seeping up 
through the grass in their front yards. This is a tragic and dangerous 
situation and one that deserves significant Federal attention. And yet 
the problem has persisted for decades. Why?
  Centreville is one of the poorest towns in Illinois and has struggled 
to attract financial help. The town cannot meet the cost-share 
requirements of grant programs or qualify for the loans it so 
desperately needs.
  Well, the residents of Centreville have spoken up, they are fed up 
with officials looking the other way. They have every right to feel 
frustrated. They have every right to demand more of us. For decades our 
water policy has overlooked their needs and left them to fend for 
themselves. This cannot continue.
  That is why I am glad this bill offers towns like Centreville a 
chance to fix their broken pumps, shore up their drainage ditches, and 
begin addressing water issues that have been overlooked for far too 
long. The bill would waive many of the cost-share requirements for 
small, rural towns like Centreville, giving them a path to the funding 
they deserve. It also would give on-the-ground technical assistance to 
disadvantaged communities struggling with their water systems, and 
provide grants for repairing broken and outdated water infrastructure.
  To help ensure that this expertise reaches places like Centreville, I 
offered an amendment to the bill to focus it even further. I want to 
thank the EPW Committee for including my amendment to require the EPA 
to prioritize distressed communities like Centreville, that have 
struggled to attract funds and face the cumulative burden of wastewater 
and storm water issues. Flooding, lead, drinking water access--none of 
these problems are new.
  My colleagues on both sides of the aisle have spent years decrying 
the state of American infrastructure, and our water is no exception. 
Despite all the complaining, we have struggled to sit down together and 
actually address these issues. But for the first time in many years, we 
not only have a President willing to pursue bold and necessary 
infrastructure policy, but a majority in the Senate willing to work 
with him to get it done.
  While President Biden's American Jobs Plan includes billions more in 
funding to replace the Nation's lead pipes, this bill is a good-faith, 
down payment on the President's plan, and importantly, it has 
bipartisan support. The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure 
Act is the first step towards new, meaningful infrastructure policy.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting this bill, so we 
can put a bipartisan down payment on the infrastructure every American 
needs.

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