We Must Put Water on Our List of Priorities (Rep. John Linder)

In 1978, I wrote an article that predicted that one of the two major challenges for our country in the next century would be providing enough fresh water for our booming population, and yet, since that time, America still does not have an integrated or comprehensive water policy, even with thousands of Federal, State, local and private sector employees working to solve water problems. That is why I introduced legislation (H.R. 135) in the 107th, 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses to create the 21st Century Water Commission. This bill is specifically designed to consider and address the issue from a comprehensive viewpoint, not a piecemeal approach.

Since reintroducing the bill in the 110th Congress, H.R. 135 was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee by unanimous consent on October 10, 2007, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing on the legislation on November 8, 2007. Additionally, in the 109th and 108th Congresses, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) submitted written testimony in clear support of H.R. 135, but he has not yet discharged the bill from the Committee in the 110th Congress. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee needs to bring H.R. 135 to the floor expeditiously. Providing all Americans with fresh water is a matter of life and death, and I encourage my colleagues to support my objective by offering support for the bill’s passage on the floor, or in the form of offering amendments to H.R. 135.