Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, I rise to speak today on S. 1689, which passed last night.
Yesterday, this body unanimously voted to pass my legislation that could give States greater flexibility in how they use Federal funding for water projects. This bill is a tool to help communities in New Jersey and other States remove lead from their drinking water.
We have a national crisis. It is a crisis we are seeing all over the country.
I first wrote this legislation after a study was released last year that found lead leaching into the drinking water of my home city, Newark, NJ. Since then, I have been trying to get our State the Federal resources it needs to upgrade our aging water infrastructure.
After it wasn't included in last year's end-of-the-year spending bill, I introduced it as a stand-alone bill and pushed its passage through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, with bipartisan support, earlier this summer.
While the bill has been waiting to pass here in the Senate, the residents of my city, my neighbors, my family, and others have had to deal with additional concerns of exposure to lead in our drinking water.
Local, State, and Federal officials have been working almost literally around the clock to bring residents answers they deserve, answers they demand. I have repeatedly pushed the Federal Government, and the EPA in particular, to provide more resources to Newark in every way I can. I have been making calls and writing letters, hosting meetings. When I spoke with Administrator Wheeler and then personally met with EPA in Newark, I reminded them of our shared responsibility in bringing safe, clean drinking water to residents. This is not just a national emergency; this is an urgency.
We are waiting for more sampling results right now to better understand how to address the situation in Newark as quickly as possible. This legislation will allow Newark, NJ, and all of New Jersey to have access to upward of $100 million in Federal funds for pressing drinking water projects.
For the last month, thousands of residents haven't been able to drink the city's water. As I was handing out bottled water to my neighbors, I heard how significantly this was affecting the daily routines of my neighbors and friends and undermining the well-being of my community, of my city.
Again, I say this is a national urgency, a national emergency, because the residents of my city are not alone. This crisis is affecting communities all over the country. In fact, as Reuters reported, there are over 3,000 jurisdictions where children in America have more than twice the blood lead levels of Flint, MI.
These results across our country demonstrate yet again how we have failed to adequately invest in our Nation's aging infrastructure. In a Nation as wealthy as ours, clean drinking water should be a basic human right, and we must act to make that our reality.
The majority of those impacted are low-income, economically vulnerable people. They are like the neighbors in my community. They cannot face this health crisis alone. The Federal Government must act.
I am so grateful for the success we have had to help Newark and the bill we passed together last night, but clearly our work is not done, and I will not stop until every American has access to clean drinking water. Clean water and clean air must be an American right.
I want to thank my partner on this legislation, Senator Bob Menendez. I also want to thank my Senate colleagues, especially Leader Schumer, Ranking Member Carper, and the chairman of EPW, Chairman Barrasso. I also want to thank others who are advocating for this critical legislation and urge the House to take it up immediately--not only to help New Jersey but communities nationwide.
I am happy that finally the legislation I wrote has now passed this body, and I am grateful it was done with 100 Senators in accord. We still have work to do, but this, for me, was affirmation that now people in the State of New Jersey will have more of the Federal resources they need to address the crisis. I am encouraged that this bill was able to be passed and that there is more hope on the horizon for my city and others like it in New Jersey.
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