[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[August 6, 1996]
[Pages 1262-1263]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996
August 6, 1996

    The President. Thank you. I'd like to begin by thanking Diana Neidle 
for her years of work in this cause and all the other environmental and 
community workers who are here who have also labored in this vineyard. I 
want to thank Secretary Browner and the others at the EPA who have done 
such good work on this legislation, and the Members of Congress who are 
here and those who are not here who were active. Senator Warner and 
Senator Kempthorne, thank you especially for your efforts in this. I 
know how long and hard you worked on it. Representatives Boehlert and 
Borski and Oberstar and Waxman and Norton who did such good work, and 
the others who were mentioned by Carol Browner who are not here.
    I thank Governor Voinovich and the mayors and the commissioner and 
the State senator who have come here today because their constituents 
will be affected by it, and the way they govern will be, I believe, 
eased and improved as a result of this legislation.
    This legislation represents a real triumph because it demonstrates 
what we can achieve here in Washington and in our country when we turn 
away from partisanship and embrace shared values. Last week I was proud 
to sign the Food Quality Protection Act, which passed with full 
bipartisan support. I said then and I'd like to repeat today that I 
think a fundamental promise we must make to our people is that the food 
they eat and the water they drink are safe. American families, after 
all, have enough to worry about without having to worry about whether 
that glass of water Diana talked about that you might offer to a child 
or a grandchild will be contaminated.
    Today we come together in that same spirit of bipartisanship to 
celebrate another cornerstone in the foundation of security for American 
families. The Safe Drinking Water Act is terribly important. I know that 
many of us take safe drinking water for granted. Unfortunately, it's not 
always so. I came into office determined to change this. In 1993, I 
asked Congress to strengthen our drinking water laws to meet the 
challenges we face today and the ones we will face in the future. I am 
proud to say that the proposals I made then were at the heart of the law 
I will sign today.
    Americans do have a right to know what's in their drinking water and 
where it comes from before they turn on their taps. Under the new law, 
water authorities will be required to tell them. Americans have a right 
to trust that every precaution is being taken to protect their families 
from dangerous and sometimes even deadly contaminants like 
cryptosporidium. The new law sets high standards that consider the 
special needs of children, the elderly, people living with AIDS and weak 
immune systems. Americans have the right to believe that Government is

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doing everything it can to keep water systems safe. The new law requires 
it to act. It protects the sources of our drinking water from pollution. 
Even more important, it authorizes nearly $10 billion in loan funds to 
help communities all across our Nation upgrade their drinking water 
systems.
    I hope that Congress, and I believe that Congress, will now take the 
steps necessary to release all of the available monies to communities as 
quickly as possible. As some of you know, just by chance, the law passed 
a few hours too late to access money that had been set aside. But the 
law passed with such strong and passionate support I believe it will be 
forthcoming.
    Today we help to ensure that every family in America will have safe, 
clean drinking water to drink every time they turn on a faucet or stop 
at a public water fountain. From now on our water will be safer, and our 
country will be healthier for it.
    Again, let me say there are environmental and consumer and public 
health groups represented here who worked so hard to make this happen, 
and it wouldn't have happened without you. Again, let me say that 
Congress performed so very well in this endeavor, coming together, 
working together, securing our future together.
    This has been a good couple of weeks for positive achievement: these 
environmental laws, a higher minimum wage, incentives for small 
businesses, health reform, meaningful welfare reform. This is what 
Government should do and how we should work together.
    Now, let me just say one other thing in passing. You know the First 
Lady's had the chance to represent our country around the world on a 
couple of occasions, talking to women and mothers and grandmothers 
around the world. The absence of safe drinking water is the single 
biggest health threat to poor children all over the world, to tens of 
millions of them. The number of children that die in other countries 
from the absence of safe drinking water is absolutely staggering. I have 
always hoped that our country would be able to do more to help to 
alleviate this problem, which can be done without great expense compared 
to the conditions which exist in other nations. But when I became 
President and I realized how much more we had to do here, I thought at 
the time that before we can attempt to do all we might do for poor 
children everywhere else in the world, we ought to take care of all the 
children in this country who are entitled to safe drinking water so we 
can set the proper example. That's what we're doing today. I am very 
grateful to every one of you who had a role in this.
    And now I'd like to ask the children to come up and stand around me 
as I sign this law, because, after all, they're what the law's all 
about. I'd like to invite the Members of Congress who are here. And 
Governor, I'd like to ask you to come up as well to represent the State 
and local officials that are here and what they have at stake. So if you 
all come up, we'll sign the law.

[At this point, the President signed the legislation.]

    The President. Thank you all very much.

Note: The President spoke at 3:20 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to safe drinking water advocate Diana 
Neidle and Gov. George V. Voinovich of Ohio. S. 1316, approved August 6, 
was assigned Public Law No. 104-182.