Congressman Dan Kildee: No Congressional Recess Until Action on Flint Aid

Kildee, Speaking on House Floor, Says Congress Has ‘Moral Responsibility' to Act

Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) today spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives urging Congress to act on a federal aid package related to the Flint water crisis. Today is the last day of session in the House before a two-week recess. "I ask that we not leave this place, that we not recess, until we take up legislation to provide direct help to the city of Flint. It is something that I think is our moral responsibility and it is unconscionable that we would leave this body without acting," Congressman Kildee said in his floor speech. Last month, Congressman Kildee introduced The Families of Flint Act, a comprehensive piece of legislation that focuses on immediate and long-term investments for Flint. A video of Congressman Kildee's floor speech can be viewed here. A full transcript of his remarks are below: "The ongoing crisis in my hometown of Flint, Michigan, is a real tragedy. The failure of government has affected 100,000 people – adults and children – who, after months and months still do not have clean drinking water. "It is my view that the state of Michigan bears the principal responsibility for this crisis and should step up and do more. It was the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality that failed to a great extent. I know there are members who share my view that there is responsibility at every level of government. We could argue about how we apportion that responsibility, but in the meantime, people in Flint still cannot drink the water. And they need help. "They deserve help from the state and they deserve help from their federal government. They are citizens of Michigan, but they are also citizens of the United States who are facing a disaster, who are facing a crisis, and have every right to expect that their government will step in to help them. Especially when it is clear that it was the government that did this in the first place, that made the decisions that led to this crisis. "So I ask that we not leave this place, that we not recess, until we take up legislation to provide direct help to the city of Flint. It is something that I think is our moral responsibility and it is unconscionable that we would leave this body without acting."

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