Congress Stepping up Support for Global Safe Drinking Water
by Catherine LaineJuly 26th, 2007
Our colleague, John Sauer at Water Advocates, sent us over this press release which I’m posting in part.
U.S. Congress Works to Increase Support for Global Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation Crisis
Washington DC, July 23, 2007—Senate and House appropriators from both parties are recommending a significant increase in funding for safe drinking water to implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act. If the final bill passes as currently drafted by the U.S. Senate, $300 million would be appropriated to implement the Act for the coming year. Water Advocates commends the leadership of Senators Leahy, Durbin, McConnell, and Brownback and Representatives Obey, Lowey, Jackson Jr., Knollenberg, Payne, and Smith. “The U.S. government can have a tremendous positive impact on the global safe drinking water and sanitation problem. What we need now is for Americans to write their Representatives and Senators to ask them to pass the Senate version and fund the Water for the Poor Act for 2008,” said John Oldfield, director of partnership development at Water Advocates.
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“Countries and communities without safe drinking water and sanitation are stuck back in the 1800s, a dangerous time when waterborne diseases unnecessarily killed our great-great grandparents,” continued John Oldfield. “We’ve guaranteed safe drinking water and sanitation for ourselves, and we’ve known for a long time how to solve these problems. We can and we should do more to stop this preventable death and disease.”
For more information:
Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 2005 (State Department Site)
July 29th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Catherine,
Thank you much for posting this release. We need your readers’ help in bringing this crisis to the attention of the U.S. Congress before it reconvenes to address the funding of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act this September. Unsafe water kills 5x as many children as does HIV, and twice as many as malaria - yet water remains under-recognized as a global public health challenge. Check out www.wateradvocates.org for ideas. Thanks.
We also need your readers’ help in supporting US nonprofits working to address the world’s largest (but most solvable) public health crisis here: http://wateradvocates.org/donate.htm
John Oldfield
August 4th, 2007 at 1:29 am
Asking for donations on another non-profit’s blog? Cheeky.