Wastewater Infrastructure and WRDA

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss a crisis facing rural America: the deterioration of water and wastewater infrastructure in our rural communities.

As the House considers passage of the Water Resources Development Act, WRDA, millions of Americans in my district and across the country are facing a health and infrastructure emergency due to failing wastewater systems.

In Alabama's rural Black Belt, I have toured communities where a home's only sewage system is a straight pipe that carries untreated waste directly into their yards and property. Alabama is not alone in this issue. Reports by the EPA document that the same lack of wastewater infrastructure is all across rural America where rural and remote areas are not connected to a city or county water and sewer line.

Mr. Speaker, I introduced the bipartisan Rural Septic Tank Access Act with my Alabama Republican colleague, Congressman Mike Rogers, which takes a first step towards providing rural Americans with the resources they need to maintain stable, safe, and efficient water systems.

As the House continues to debate infrastructure investment, I urge this body to address the wastewater crisis facing our rural communities.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source