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Contact: 
Lindsey Bacigal, BacigalL@nwf.org, (734) 887-7113   
Jordan Lubetkin, Lubetkin@nwf.org, (734) 904-1589   

U.S. House Members Urge Biden to Support Great Lakes Funding 

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (December 21, 2021)—More than 30 U.S. House Democrats and Republicans sent a letter to President Biden yesterday, urging him to include in his 2023 budget at least $400 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program to clean up toxic pollution, restore fish and wildlife habitat, reduce runoff pollution, and combat invasive species.  

Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said: 

“We thank members of the Great Lakes congressional delegation for continuing to make Great Lakes restoration and protection a national priority. Federal investments to restore and protect the Great Lakes have been producing results in communities across the region, but urgent problems remain. We encourage the Biden Administration to show its support for Great Lakes restoration and protection by fully funding this important program. Now is not the time to falter, or the problems will only get worse and more expensive to solve.”   

Signatories to the House letter include: Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.), Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Bradley S. Schneider (D-Ill.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), Marie Newman (D-Ill.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).  

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition issued a letter recently, urging the Biden Administration to include in its 2023 proposed budget at least $400 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  

Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 170 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes. 

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The post U.S. House Members Urge Biden to Support Great Lakes Funding  appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.

Original Article

Healing Our Waters Coalition

Healing Our Waters Coalition

https://healthylakes.org/u-s-house-members-urge-biden-to-support-great-lakes-funding/

Lindsey Bacigal

We the People of Detroit – Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition

Contact: Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, lubetkin@nwf.org, (734) 904-1589

Groups Support Biden Administration Efforts to Combat Toxic Lead, Protect Health of Communities

DETROIT, MICH. (December 20, 2021)—We the People of Detroit and the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition are supporting the Biden Administration’s efforts to combat lead poisoning in communities. The administration released a plan late last week to accelerate the removal of toxic lead in water pipes that can harm families—especially children. It is estimated that more than 10 million people in in rural and urban communities in the United States are at risk for lead poisoning due to lead service lines.

“We applaud the efforts of the Biden Administration to confront this serious threat to our communities,” said Monica Lewis Patrick, president of We the People of Detroit. “The millions of people who are at risk for lead poisoning need help and relief to protect themselves and their families. We are glad to see President Biden and Vice President Harris taking the bull by the horns and taking action to help the people most impacted by this insidious pollution.”

The plight of residents in Flint, Mich., and more recently in Benton Harbor, Mich., who have not been able to safely drink their water due to lead poisoning, have shed a light on the national problem of lead-tainted pipes in millions of homes across the nation—many of them in older Midwestern cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Milwaukee and Chicago. Lead poisoning afflicts rural communities as well.

The Biden Administration has been a vocal supporter of increased efforts to address lead contamination, and federal funding to remove and replace lead pipes has been substantially increased through investments in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“Clean water is a basic need, but right now too many communities in the United States are dealing with health-threatening pollution,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We need to do all we can to ensure that every person has access to safe, clean and affordable water and are glad that the Biden Administration and U.S. Congress are ratcheting up investments to protect our communities from lead poisoning. As lead-abatement programs move forward, we need to ensure that funds are being targeted to the biggest problems and the people most in need. These investments will protect community health, safeguard our drinking water, and put local people to work.”

The Biden Administration has stated it will work to target government investment to help communities most impacted by pollution. Data from the EPA says some communities—especially low-income, Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities—are more likely to be dealing with serious health threats from pollution.

We the People of Detroit and the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes support efforts to ensure that the communities that have been harmed the most by pollution are prioritized when it comes to cleanup, and that the people who live in those communities have a voice in the solutions.

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The post Groups Support Biden Administration Efforts to Combat Toxic Lead, Protect Health of Communities appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.

Original Article

Healing Our Waters Coalition

Healing Our Waters Coalition

https://healthylakes.org/groups-support-biden-administration-efforts-to-combat-toxic-lead-protect-health-of-communities/

Lindsey Bacigal