Look forward to seeing you all Wednesday:
United
States House of Representatives
***Advisory***
For Planning Purposes only
Blumenauer, Leading NGOs Call
for Swift Passage of Water for the World, Push for International Sanitation
Improvement
WHAT: On Wednesday morning, the House Foreign
Affairs Committee will conduct its markup of H.R.
2901, the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act authored by
Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Ted Poe (R-TX). This is one of the final
steps in a long journey towards passage for this incredibly important, bipartisan bill. At noon, following the markup,
there will be a rally/press conference at the House Triangle.
The purpose of this Act is to strengthen and refine the
implementation of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act to ensure that
WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) programming is not only elevated in a way
that helps leverage the impact of other development assistance, but to ensure
that our WASH programming is targeted to help the world’s poorest, is more
effective, with long-term, sustainable impacts; and, to codify, with
strengthening revisions, the good work currently being done by USAID and State
on WASH.
And the legislation could not be more
timely. There are over 260 river basins that cross at least one
international border, making the management of this finite resource – without
conflict – one of our greatest national security challenges. Without
greater leadership from the U.S., these challenges will only grow more
acute. We need only look at the very recent history in Syria for proof,
where severe droughts played a key role in the initial uprisings.
Dirty water directly affects every area of
development, which is why water and sanitation are the best investments our
country can make. This legislation will positively affect the lives of
millions of the world’s poorest people, disproportionately women and children,
and represents a successful bipartisan effort from conception until now.
Nearly 800 million people lack access to clean water. Every day, women
and girls spend a combined 200 million hours collecting water, keeping them
from school.
In a stroke of luck, Wednesday is also World Toilet Day, and we will
have the opportunity to hear from experts in the NGO world about how the US can
better help the 2.5 billion people worldwide without access to proper
sanitation.
WHO: Rep.
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
WHERE: House Triangle, U.S. Capitol, southeast
side
WHEN: 12:00 pm, Wednesday, November 19, 2014
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