STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - September 27, 2008)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. CORKER, Mr. KERRY, and Mrs. MURRAY):
S. 3642. A bill to enhance the capacity of the United States Government to fully implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 and to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation throughout the world; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mr. DURBIN. My predecessor and friend, the late Senator Paul Simon, championed the cause of water for the poor. Ten years ago he wrote an important and foretelling book, Tapped Out, in which he described the world's looming clean water crisis.
Senator Simon was ahead of the curve. He identified this challenge long before many others, and urged the U.S. to lead on it. It is my privilege to carry forward his vision in the United States Senate today.
I take this responsibility seriously--not only to honor my friend and mentor from Illinois--but more importantly to further this country's leadership in making access to clean water and sanitation possible for people in every part of the world.
In 2005, Congress passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act to elevate the position of safe water and sanitation efforts in U.S. foreign assistance.
We have made progress since then. Last year alone, the U.S. helped provide nearly 2 million people with access to a better source of drinking water for the first time. And we helped more than 1.5 million people access better sanitation.
These are encouraging results, but our impact could be much greater. Our current efforts are hindered by limited resources and lack of overall strategy and coordination.
To strengthen U.S. leadership in this area, I am pleased to join with Senators Corker, Kerry and Murray, and Representatives Blumenauer and Payne to introduce new legislation that builds and improves upon the 2005 act.
The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Enhancement Act of 2008 will increase capacity at USAID and the State Department to implement clean water and sanitation efforts.
It will strengthen local capacity by adding a corps of water experts to USAID missions and by training local water and sanitation managers.
It will foster development of low-cost and sustainable clean water and sanitation technologies for use in priority countries.
In short, it will put the U.S. again at the forefront of assuring access to these most basic needs for millions around the world.
We will not be able to make a sustained difference on the ground with good intentions alone. We need to back up the lofty goals in this bill with resources--money and personnel.
We need to give our development experts the tools and support they need to get the job done well. That is why I've also led an effort in the Senate to increase the number of Foreign Service Officers and to urge the placement of water experts in USAID missions around the world.
This kind of development assistance, helping to build infrastructure and alleviate poverty, is a crucial to our ability to lead and influence other countries.
America's strength resonates not only from its military power but from the power of American ideas and values, from our generosity and diplomacy.
I fear we have lost a measure of that influence in recent years. Our smart power has waned as we've focused our resources and attention elsewhere.
Real leadership from the United States on water and sanitation will help stave off one of the world's looming crises. It will reassert our standing as a leader in the fight against global poverty.
And, once again, Paul Simon was ahead of his time. What element of international development assistance could be more fundamental than ensuring access to clean water and basic sanitation?
We often take water for granted in this country. Turn on the tap, and out it comes--clean, inexpensive and plentiful. Occasionally we hear of water shortages in a handful of states during times of drought. But for the most part, we think little about this crucial resource.
Yet for many people in the world, access to clean water and sanitation are out of reach--and the problem may only get worse.
In the past 20 years, 2 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water and 600 million have gained access to basic sanitation services. This is encouraging progress.
Yet nearly 900 million people still live without clean water, and nearly 2 in 5 do not have access to proper sanitation.
In the past century, global demand for water has tripled, and is now doubling every two decades. Rapid population growth, urbanization, pollution and climate change will add even greater pressures to an already strained system.
This scenario is troubling for a lot of reasons.
First, unsafe water is a serious threat to global health. The World Health Organization estimates that water-related diseases account for about one-tenth of the global disease burden. We lose nearly 5,000 children each day to these diseases, and over 2 million people each year.
We recently expanded our efforts to fight global AIDS--an effort I support--but antiretroviral therapy taken with unsafe water may do more harm than good.
Lack of safe water threatens economic development and political stability. A developing economy cannot grow if its population is too sick to work or if its members are engaged in conflict over water resources, as in Darfur, for example, or in parts of the Middle East.
Nor can an economy grow if its women and girls have to spend many hours each day gathering water rather than engaging in more productive pursuits. The UN estimates that women lose 40 billion working hours each year to carrying water. The economic repercussions are clear.
Water scarcity has a serious impact on the environment, as well. The strain on natural resources will continue as global warming causes glaciers to melt and climate patterns to shift. We can expect key sources of clean water to be altered or eliminated in the process.
So, this is a big problem. But the U.S. is in a position to make a big difference in the lives of the world's poor with strong leadership and investment in global safe water.
U.S. leadership can and will make a difference in this most fundamental development challenge. I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this effort to refocus our global clean water activities.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Kerry, and Mrs. Murray):
S. 3643. A bill to enhance the capacity of the United States to undertake global development activities, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mr. DURBIN. Events of the last decade are stark reminders that security in the U.S. is closely linked to the stability of far-flung places beyond our borders. From food riots to failed states, we have become more aware of how important it is to help the poorest around the world live healthier, more productive, and stable lives.
Foreign assistance for development is not only the right thing to do; it's in our national interest. In the U.S., the responsibility for such development falls largely to the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
USAID was founded by the Kennedy administration in 1961. It became the first U.S. foreign assistance organization whose primary emphasis was on long term economic and social development efforts overseas.
During its first decade, it had more than 5,000 dedicated Foreign Service Officers serving all over the world, often in the most difficult of conditions. They helped build clinics in Nepal, provide clean water in Honduras, and boost the agricultural and industrial sectors of Pakistan.
Today, when the U.S. needs to show its leadership overseas more than ever, USAID operates with just 1,000 Foreign Service Officers.
Many people on both sides of the aisle agree that USAID is no longer equipped to do its job effectively. We simply are not meeting the international development goals of the United States.
USAID has not received adequate funding, staffing, or political support--and America's efforts abroad have suffered as a result.
It is time to make a change.
We should be sending bright, talented public servants to help improve child and maternal health, treat those with AIDS, TB and malaria, provide clean water and sanitation for the world's poor, help farmers and women start or improve their business, and assist reformers and civic leaders to build stronger democratic institutions.
Today, along with Senator Kerry and Senator Murray, I am introducing the Increasing America's Global Development Capacity Act of 2008 to take the first step toward putting the Agency for International Development on firmer footing.
The bill would authorize USAID to hire an additional 700 Foreign Service Officers. This would basically double the current number of development officers available to work in targeted countries. This is fundamental to rebuilding the agency's capacity.
Senator Leahy, Chair of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, shares a commitment to rebuilding USAID. I am heartened by the Subcommittee's recommended increase in funding for USAID's operating expenses for fiscal year 2009. This was a priority for me in the bill, and Chairman Leahy has been very supportive.
My bill also would establish a goal of hiring an additional 1,300 Foreign Service Officers by 2011.
After three years, USAID would have more than 3,000 of talented, committed Americans serving in the world's most difficult locations helping to improve the lives of others. It won't be the 5,000 experts of the 1960s, but it will be a big improvement from today.
Foreign development assistance is as important a foreign policy tool as diplomacy and defense. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is perhaps the most persuasive advocate for rebuilding our civilian development capacity. He argues that we need to engage in nonmilitary ways to pursue global development goals.
The civilian instruments of national security--diplomacy, development assistance, sharing expertise on civil society--are becoming more and more important. Secretary Gates argues that these tools are good for the world's poor, our national security, and our country.
I agree.
Let us take one concrete step to rebuild that important civilian capacity, which would help improve our ability to help the world's poorest countries and people.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT