Blumenauer, Poe Call For Swift Passage Of Water For The World Act, Improved Global Sanitation

Washington, DC – Today, Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) and Ted Poe (TX-02) held a press conference to promote the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act, HR 2901, and to celebrate World Toilet Day.

Currently, nearly 800 million people lack access to clean water.  An astounding 2.5 billion people worldwide live without access to proper sanitation. Every day, women and girls spend a combined 200 million hours collecting water, keeping them from school, work, and family. Water for the World elevates water, sanitation, and hygiene programs and leverages the impact of other development assistance, ensuring that they are targeted to help the world’s poorest, and are more effective, with long-term, sustainable impacts.

“This is a truly bipartisan effort, supported by good people on all sides of the political spectrum,” said Blumenauer. “Congressman Poe and I have always said that politics stops at water, and we hope to prove that right over the coming weeks. The swift passage of this bill this Congress would be a signal that we can come together to improve America’s security, global health, and the lives of women and children without burdening taxpayers or making enemies abroad. We’re committed to working with House leadership to get this bill onto the floor and then through the Senate as soon as possible.”

“It is unacceptable that in the year 2014 there are women who are still forced to walk miles to fetch water from polluted rivers infected with waste, parasites and other insects,” said Poe. “This ought not to be. Water is key to just about every kind of development. If we don’t get water right, it doesn’t matter how many schools we build or vaccines we pass out. This bipartisan bill will make U.S. water aid more efficient and effective. We have it within our power to fix this and make water a priority in any development discussion- like it should be.”

"We are proud to support the Water for the World Act and work to increase access to water and sanitation around the world,” said Justine Lucas, U.S. Country Director of the Global Poverty Project. “Global Citizens across the United States have raised their voices calling on Congress to pass the Water for the World Act this year." 

“Water for the World is a critical opportunity to support poor communities to build their own resiliency, improve their health, and better prevent crises like the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa,” said Lisa Schechtman, director of policy and advocacy for WaterAid. “With all these benefits, it's no wonder the bill has such strong bipartisan support on the drive to the President's desk.”

“The lack of access to safe water and sanitation facilities and of appropriate hygiene impacts women and girls the most,” said Lisa Bos, senior policy advisor at WorldVision.  “We must and can do better and the Water for the World Act helps get us there.  Women and girls are the future in the developing world and the basics of water, sanitation and hygiene are essential to ensuring that future is realized.”

“The 2012 Intelligence Community Assessment on Global Water Security found that during the next 10 years, many countries important to the United States will experience water problems, and that the developing world will look to the U.S. to lead the global community toward the development and implementation of sound policies for managing water resources. The Water for World Act makes important strides in that direction,” said John Oldfield, CEO of WASH Advocates. “It's also important to recognize that thousands and thousands of Americans — churches, Rotarians, nonprofits, school kids — in all 50 states are working actively to get safe drinking water to people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. What you see here today on the steps of the Capitol is just the tip of the iceberg."

“The US has become a leader in helping poor people get access to safe drinking water and sanitation, but only in recent years,” said John Sparks, director of advocacy and communications at Millennium Water Alliance. “Before 2005, US tax dollars in this area did not have the priority and focus that were needed to make a big difference. Now, US aid is playing the role that Americans across the political spectrum, in poll after poll, say they want it to do. Safe water and sanitation are intuitively supported by the great majority of Americans, whatever their political identification, and Congress can recognize that priority when it passes the Water for the World Act.”