Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of the Tlaib/Kildee/Slotkin/Cicilline/Moore amendment to help remove dangerous lead pipes in our communities.

Lead paint in housing and water infrastructure containing lead are the two primary, but not the sole, pathways for lead poisoning in our children.

HUD estimates that over 22 million homes (34 percent of the homes built before 1978) have significant lead-based paint hazards. Nationwide, estimates are that there are as many as 10 million lead service lines.

The pernicious impacts of lead poisoning are well known. These impacts are often lifelong and irreversible. Lead poisoning is a serious threat in the State of Wisconsin and particularly in the City of Milwaukee, which has the largest concentration of lead service lines in the state. And its not just my state. According to the Great Lakes Governor's and Premiers, the Great Lakes region contains the highest concentrations of lead service lines in the United States.

The good news is that lead poisoning is preventable, not inevitable, if we act. It is critical that we start taking steps to boost assistance, especially to localities with extremely high numbers of households served by lead lateral lines, who are least able to pay for the replacement of those lines.

That's what this amendment does.

This amendment would authorize $4.5 billion dollars per year for 5 years to help pay to fully replace lead service lines across the country with a priority given to low-income and other communities that suffer disproportionately from the harms posed by this threat.

A sustained substantial commitment to federal lead prevention and mitigation efforts is critical if our country is to make serious progress in protecting our nation's children. That's what this amendment does. It raises the federal investment and makes changes to ensure that more households can participate in comprehensive lead reduction projects that fully replace lead lines.

Unfortunately, the households most affected by this problem often have the fewest resources available to pay to replace lead pipes.

It reaffirms a federal commitment to helping get lead pipes out of the ground. Primary prevention--the removal of lead hazards from the environment before a child is exposed--is the most effective way to ensure that children do not experience the harmful effects of lead exposure. These funds will help to ensure that children can grow up healthy and safe while living in homes where they are protected from lead poisoning.

For this small investment, our communities reap great gains. The annual costs of lead poisoning have been estimated at over $50 billion. As noted in a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, ``In the absence of lead, hundreds of thousands of children would be more likely to realize their full potential thanks to higher GPAs, a better chance of earning high school diplomas and graduating.

This amendment gets us closer to riding our communities of lead service lines and to providing a healthier tomorrow for millions of children and their families. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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