Congressman Dan Kildee Calls on Congress to Act on Flint Aid at Press Conference

Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) today spoke at a press event in front of the U.S. Capitol urging Congress to act on federal aid for Flint in the wake of the city’s water crisis. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senator Gary Peters, Mayor Karen Weaver and Flint residents also spoke at the event. Below is a transcript of Congressman Kildee’s remarks, as delivered: “Thank you Senator Peters, Senator Stabenow, I mean I just can’t say enough how much it means to me to have two friends and allies to work with on this issue. I’m a Flint kid, and born and raised in Flint. When I fly home from here every Friday, I fly home to Flint, but I almost always see Debbie or Gary, our senators, in Flint because they know that representing the whole state of Michigan means representing the people who are in the greatest need, and they have been incredible in their effort, and have gotten us to this point today where we have a chance to get something done, and perhaps move that on to the house for further action. “It shocks the conscience that a year after this story became public and more than two years after this crisis really began that people in Flint still can’t drink their water. It’s unacceptable in the United States of America that condition would continue, so it’s right that Congress acts. It’s the right thing. One of the first votes I cast when I came to Congress, I was elected in 2012, came here in 2013, and one of the first votes I cast was to provide relief to the people of the Eastern Seaboard, who were suffering because of the storm Hurricane Sandy. I was proud of that vote. It didn’t affect my district, it didn’t help anybody in my hometown, but I was proud to represent these people who are with me here today in reaching out and saying as a nation we have come together to help people when they’re facing a crisis they themselves don’t have the capacity to solve. “That’s what happening in Flint. Through no fault of the people from Flint, due to careless and thoughtless decisions made by state officials, this crisis continues. Sadly, the circumstances that lead to the crisis in the first place feel a lot like the response that we received from the state of Michigan, a sort of dismissiveness. So while it is absolutely right, and I am grateful for the work that our senators have done to get us to this point where were on the precipice of passing legislation that would provide help for Flint, we’ve got two big tasks ahead of us. One is to complete that work by getting this legislation through the House in whatever form it takes. You can put it in the Water Resource Bills, you can put it in the Spending Bills, as far as I’m concerned you could put it in the Morning Prayer, I don’t care. We just need to get it to the President's desk and we know he will sign it, this President has been great for the folks of Flint, he has stood up for us. We need to send him legislation to get this fixed. “But the other point, and Senator Peters and Senator Stabenow have made this point repeatedly, but I want to underscore it. We know how this happened. The reason the federal government should act, and is acting because the people in Flint have a right to have their federal government respond, but we know how this happened. We need to hold the state of Michigan and those officials accountable to step up to their level of responsibility for this, and they have not done that. So, that's really our task. Lastly you know, I’m from Flint, folks from Flint are tough. We have been through, before this water crisis, let me tell you, we have been through a lot. We have been through some struggles. We have never given up on ourselves, but we’re not about to do that right now, but there does come a time when we need extra help. We need help from outside, and this is that moment. We’ll get this right. We just need the help. Just get us around the corner on this, the folks of Flint will be fine, the kids from Flint will be fine. “We have a great ally in the mayor of the city of Flint, of course she graduated from the best high school. We've known one another for quite a while, haven't worked together until recently like this, but I got to tell you we’re fortunate to have a tenacious fighter as our mayor, and I am really fortunate to be able to work with her on a regular basis, and I want to call up now for her comments. The great mayor of the city of Flint, Karen Weaver.”

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