The congressman representing Flint, Mich., refuses to stop fighting for his hometown as it goes through a lead water crisis in the face of seemingly waning interest in the issue on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., sent a letter Thursday to House Speaker Paul Ryan requesting emergency aid for the city of 100,000 people where lead contamination has left the water undrinkable.
The letter comes one day after signs emerged from the Capitol that lawmakers’ interest in Flint’s crisis could be waning. A House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the crisis was sparsely attended Wednesday morning, and later that day news emerged that Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s comprehensive energy bill could be moving forward without any aid provisions for Flint.
Given the lack of political will to tackle the crisis in the Senate, Kildee turned to the top official in his chamber.
“In times of crisis, Congress has repeatedly acted, in a bipartisan fashion, to provide aid to Americans in need,” he wrote.
He added, “I respectfully request that Congress consider a Flint aid package, especially as we are set to consider other public health emergencies and humanitarian crises, including the opioid epidemic, the Zika virus or the fiscal situation in Puerto Rico. The federal government has a moral responsibility to ensure that all Americans, including Flint families, have access to safe drinking water.”
In April 2014, a state emergency manager appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed off on a symbolic vote from the Flint City Council to change the city’s water source. The move aimed to cut costs by requiring the city to take its water from the Flint River instead of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department while a new pipeline was built to connect the city to Lake Huron.
The Flint River water, however, was so acidic that it caused the lead pipes bringing water from the city’s cast iron mains into homes to corrode. Lead leached off the pipes and into the drinking water throughout the city.
The state and the federal government have declared a state of emergency, and Flint residents are not able to drink the water coming out of their taps.
A state report from last month put the blame for the crisis on state regulators at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
An aid package for Flint has been stuck in the Senate for weeks and appears to be falling behind as a comprehensive energy plan moves forward. Michigan Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow had agreed to give up a $250 million advanced vehicle fund to free up federal money for the beleaguered city.
However, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee put a hold on the package and on Wednesday reports emerged that the energy bill could go to the Senate floor next week without the Flint deal attached.
Kildee said it is irresponsible for Congress not to act.
“This is simply unacceptable,” he wrote. “The Congress has it within its capacity to help and must act to resolve this crisis.”
