The House Democrat from Flint, Mich., and dozens of others are pushing House Speaker Paul Ryan to pass a bill to help the city recover before Congress adjourns for its summer recess.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., represents Flint, the city of about 100,000 people in eastern Michigan where people cannot drink tap water, unless it’s filtered, due to lead contamination. Kildee has been pushing for the House to do something about the crisis for months now, but no financial relief has made it through Congress.
On Wednesday, Kildee and 136 other lawmakers urged Ryan in a letter to provide that relief.
“While nothing can be done to reverse lead’s effects on the body, Congress can act to provide resources to Flint and minimize lead’s impact on the victims,” Kildee wrote. “Each day that passes that we fail to take action is a day that the children of Flint cannot get back.”
Kildee wants Ryan to bring up his Families of Flint Act, introduced in February. The bill would require infrastructure repair to replace lead pipes, increase services for families and children exposed to leaded water such as healthcare and early childhood education, boost economic development assistance programs for Flint businesses and establish a center to monitor the long-term effects of the crisis.
The total amount of funding requested in the bill is $760 million, all of which must be matched by the state of Michigan, Kildee said.
“The federal government must also step up to provide the necessary help,” Kildee wrote, adding the bill has the support of 172 members of Congress. “The Families of Flint Act would provide the emergency and long-term resources needed for Flint while sharing responsibility.”
It’s unlikely the House will be able to move on Kildee’s bill before Thursday, when it’s scheduled to adjourn for the summer break that lasts until after Labor Day in early September.
The House was debating two bills Wednesday afternoon and was expected to spend much of the night on amendments to a funding bill for the Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not have the bill on the House’s weekly schedule posted on his website.
Flint switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure at the behest, and approval, of state officials in April 2014. Since then, the more corrosive Flint River water ate away at lead pipes leading from city water mains to people’s homes, causing lead to leach into their drinking water.
A state investigation found the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality was ultimately responsible for the crisis. Two agency employees have been criminally charged in the case.
The EPA announced last month that the water is now safe to drink if it is filtered.
