Schakowsky Introduces Water for the World Resolution

SCHAKOWSKY INTRODUCES WATER FOR THE WORLD RESOLUTION

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today introduced the Water for the World Resolution to address the impending global water crisis. The resolution would express Congress' support for providing access to safe and clean water for all of the world's inhabitants.

"Every person on this planet should have access to clean water to meet their basic needs,... said U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky. "As the wealthiest nation in the world, the U.S. has a moral obligation to ensure that everyone, regardless of where they live or their economic status, has access to clean water. Improving access to clean water will help reduce water-related diseases, famine and spur economic development....

The Water for the World Resolution affirms that water is a global public good and should not be treated as a private commodity. It also recognizes that government policies should ensure that all individuals have equitable access to water to meet basic human needs and that no one is cut off from water due to economic constraints.

More than five million people around the world, most of them children, die each year from water-related diseases. These diseases are caused by the fact that more than a billion of the world's inhabitants lack adequate access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion have no proper sanitation. In a 2003 report, the United Nations' Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights stated that water is a fundamental human right, and that access to water can mean the difference between life or death, health or sickness, and economic development or cyclical poverty.