WEF Commends Passage of Historic Drinking Water and Sanitation Bill

Alexandria, VA – The Water Environment Federation (WEF) commends the passage of The Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (H.R.1973) by the U.S. Senate late yesterday afternoon. This historic legislation, first introduced by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), had been overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives on November 7 and marks the first time that one of United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals has been established as a U.S. law.

“WEF is pleased by the passage of this historic legislation that brings attention to and, more importantly, action on the vital issue of widespread accessibility to clean, safe drinking water and sanitation services around the world,” said WEF President Michael Read. “We wish to express our sincere gratitude to Congressman Blumenauer for his dedication to this issue and to the memory of his friend, the late Senator Paul Simon, as well as commend him and Senator Frist for working together to ensure that this critical bill was signed into law.”

Named for the late Senator Paul Simon (IL), an outstanding advocate for global drinking water and sanitation issues, the Act aims to make access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries a major objective of U.S. foreign assistance by recognizing the direct link between poverty and the availability of clean drinking water and sanitation. Blumenauer and Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who introduced comparable legislation in the Senate (S.492) earlier this year, worked across party lines to ensure the passage of the bill which supports the U.N. Millennium Goal of ensuring environmental sustainability (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.html).

“Water quality plays a vital role in public health, the economy and environment,” continued Read. “Recognizing the direct link between poverty, illness and the availability of clean drinking water and sanitation is the first step in confronting this very surmountable challenge.”

About WEF
Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. The WEF network includes water quality professionals from 76 Member Associations in 30 countries. www.wef.org