[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5299]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              LEAD POISONING IN DRINKING WATER IN SCHOOLS

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, we have a situation that is getting very 
serious in this Nation, and it is the issue of drinking water in 
schools.
  I hail from the 10th Congressional District of the State of New 
Jersey, and after traveling to Flint, Michigan, on March 4 to listen to 
the people of that community talk about what had happened in their 
community around their drinking water and how their children have been 
poisoned--a potential of 9,000 children having issues with lead--I came 
back to Newark, New Jersey, my home, knowing that Newark is the third 
oldest city in the Nation.
  I took action. I spoke to several mayors in my community, and I said: 
``You need to pay attention to what is going on with drinking water. 
There is a problem.''
  Lo and behold, 3 days later, in 30 schools in Newark, New Jersey, 
elevated levels of lead were found. So I took action, and I have 
introduced the TEST for Lead Act in schools. This will help States that 
get Federal dollars from the Federal Government test the water in 
schools for lead.
  This is not only a cities issue. In several communities around 
Newark, this issue has also been found in the suburbs. It is coming to 
a community near you. So I ask my colleagues to support the TEST for 
Lead Act.

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