The congressman from Flint, Mich., doesn’t believe there’s any moral justification for Republican senators to block a deal that would make hundreds of millions of dollars available to his town, which is dealing with a lead water crisis.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other Senate Republicans who have moved to block the aid package for Flint must have some tactical goal in mind.
“I don’t think they have a moral or financial justification because we have a negotiated agreement that’s paid for that would clearly provide relief to a community that’s in dire need of relief,” said Kildee.
Senators were hopeful Wednesday that a deal had been reached to make $100 million available to any state experiencing a drinking water emergency, $70 million to back secured loans to upgrade clean water and drinking infrastructure, and $50 million in funding for health programs to address and prevent the effects of lead exposure.
Kildee said his assumption is that the objections to the deal are tactical in nature, something that has been borne out in reports Thursday afternoon. Politico reported some Republican senators are worried about the precedent that might be set by the Flint deal when it comes to dealing with other crises, such as the Zika virus package that is being debated.
“I would shudder to think it had anything to do with whether we should help Flint because they’re going to get a real big argument if that’s the case,” Kildee said.
Kildee said he believes the Senate deal has “a decent shot” in the House, whenever it ends up making it way into the lower chamber.
Cruz and other Republicans placed holds on the package because they had disagreements with the deal. It now appears the package won’t come before the Senate for a floor vote until at least next week.
The hold complicates what could have been a simple passage of an otherwise bipartisan Energy Modernization Act.
The deal would have been written as an amendment to the energy package and then transferred to a House-passed bill dealing with Flint. Discussions about sending federal aid to Flint stalled the energy bill earlier this month and resulted in the Michigan Senate delegation entering into negotiations with Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.
Senators can block a piece of legislation from coming to the floor by placing a hold on a bill until their concerns about the legislation are worked out.
Flint residents currently can’t drink water from the city’s water supply because it is tainted with lead. Water from the Flint River is so acidic that it is causing lead to leach off the pipes and into the drinking water.
The city switched water sources in April 2014, and a state of emergency was declared by the state in January. The Michigan Legislature has approved $70 million in funding for the city.
