Sen. Peters’ Remarks on Senate Passage of Aid for Flint

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) spoke on the Senate Floor this evening to applaud Senate passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA), which includes aid for the people of Flint, by a vote of 95-3. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery. Click here for the video. 

“I rise to applaud the Senate for passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2016, better known as WRDA.

“It’s important to pause for a moment and appreciate the fact that we were able to come together in such a bipartisan way on such an important and substantive matter – today, WRDA passed by the overwhelming margin of 95 to 3.

“We took a critical step towards making real investments in our nation’s waterways, ports, harbors, ecosystems, and the infrastructure that we rely on for drinking water. We also made a statement that when a group of people are suffering, our country must pull together to help.

“Delivering assistance to Flint and other communities suffering from poor drinking water quality is – frankly – way overdue.

“We should have provided funding to fix Flint’s water infrastructure long ago, but today we’ve taken a meaningful step toward a future where the people of Flint – and communities across America – can turn on the taps and trust that it is safe to use the water.

“We can’t forget – right now, the people of Flint are still living through a crisis. People are still depending on bottled water and filters for their everyday water needs. The health effects will last for decades to come.

“Over the past year, I have regularly heard from Flint families about their ongoing struggles. Just this week, I heard from Flint residents who came to Washington – they came here to share their stories and to keep up the fight for the federal support their community needs. 

“These Americans continue to endure unimaginable circumstances with grace and dignity. The breadth and severity of the hardships these families have faced is breathtaking, but I continue to hear new stories that should shock all of us in this chamber and push Congress to finish our work and get this package signed into law.

“This week I heard from one Flint mother that told me a story about her 10 year old daughter with aching bones and teeth. Lead and calcium compete for the same locations in the body and are stored in bone tissue – this is one of many reasons why lead exposure is especially devastating to growing children.

“Try to imagine the horror of seeing your daughter’s teeth crumble while biting into a sandwich. This is what is what the people of Flint are living through.

“The girl’s blood lead levels, even recently, were up and down, and she takes a large supplement to improve bone strength.  

“These Flint residents continue to tell their story. They refuse to let their reality fade from the minds of the nation.

“We – as a nation – are better than this. We take care of our own.

“As we pause to recognize the weight of our actions here today, we must recognize and remember the people that have been fighting for so long.

“I would like to recognize Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, Dr. Marc Edwards, and Miguel Del Toral for their tireless work to identify and shine a light on the crisis in Flint last year – also, for all their advocacy and work since.

“I’d also like to recognize the grassroots leaders in Flint that realized there was a serious problem way before anyone else. LeeAnne Walters, Melissa Mays, the Concerned Pastors of Flint, and many, many others. Despite being repeatedly dismissed and ignored, they kept talking and marching and battling to let the world know about this injustice.

“Senator Stabenow and her team have worked tirelessly to lead this effort and advance our package helping Flint and other communities with infrastructure problems. She and I underwent weeks of negotiations to carefully craft a bipartisan agreement, and we had a number of Senators that were willing to work with us and truly wanted to find a solution.

“Senator Stabenow’s staff, particularly Matt VanKuiken and Aaron Suntag, deserves a lot of credit for a lot of late nights drafting legislative language and making calls to negotiate a deal.

“Senators Inhofe and Boxer deserve special gratitude for their creative ideas and determination.

“I would also like to thank the Environment and Public Works Committee staff, including Alex Herrgott, Jason Albritton, Bettina Poirier, and Susan Bodine, among others. Your long hours and commitment were critical to the bill’s passage.

“I should also recognize the cosponsors of our bipartisan legislation—Senators Brown, Portman, Kirk, Reed, Burr, Durbin, Mikulski, Capito, and Baldwin.

“I’d like to recognize Senators Murkowski and Cantwell and their staff, who worked for weeks to find us a path forward on the bipartisan energy bill. While this did not come to fruition, we kept working hard to find a path forward.

“We didn’t let one roadblock stand in our way and we kept on fighting for Flint—just like the families in Flint keep fighting.

“So while I am pleased the Senate finally passed this bipartisan, fully paid-for legislation to provide much-needed support for Flint families, we now need to redouble our efforts to get it across the finish line.

“I urge my colleagues in the House to swiftly pass similar assistance to help Flint and other communities across the country. This bill is the best way for us to help them make critical investments in their aging water infrastructure.

“I thank my colleague Congressman Kildee, who has been Flint’s most steadfast champion in the U.S. House. He has worked with Senator Stabenow and I to help secure federal resources for Flint families, and I know he’s working hard with his House colleagues to pass legislation to aid Flint.

“Local elected officials -- like state Senator Jim Ananich, state Representative Sheldon Neeley, and Mayor Karen Weaver -- continue to battle for their constituents, secure resources to fix problems, and shine a light on all the many positive aspects of the city of Flint.

“I know other members of the Michigan delegation and other states are committed, but now is the time to step up to the plate and show that we follow through on our responsibilities as representatives of the people.

“Finally, if we are to solve this crisis, the State of Michigan must step up with sustained, long-term support of the people of Flint and help them fully recover.

“This disaster happened on their watch and it is an immense failure on the part of the State of Michigan to protect the health and safety of the City’s residents.

“Despite the grim facts of this tragedy, someday in the future I hope we can look back at today and say it was a milestone and a turning point. I am optimistic that we will.

“This is not the end of our efforts for Flint, this is the beginning of making things right.

“Mr. President, we won’t stop fighting for what’s best for Flint families. I urge all of my colleagues to continue working to invest in critical water infrastructure so that we never see another crisis like this again.”