[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HUMAN HEALTH IN THE WORLD

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, yesterday we heard the new president 
of Liberia, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, discuss the challenge 
her country faces from the greatest threat to human health in the 
world. It wasn't AIDS, tuberculosis, even the people shot and bombed in 
armed conflict. It was the needless death from water-borne disease. It 
is why one half the people who are sick today are ill. It has claimed 
more lives than all the wars in human history.
  Today we start the World Water Forum in Mexico City. Currently, the 
State Department is at work preparing a plan for the United States to 
meet its commitment to safe drinking water and sanitation around the 
world. I hope our Congress reflects upon our responsibility to prevent 
this needless death, and that we step up to adequately fund these 
important programs in our foreign aid budget.

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