releases: https://kaptur.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-congresswoman-kaptur-great-lakes-restoration-initiative
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://kaptur.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-congresswoman-kaptur-great-lakes-restoration-initiative | Statement by Congresswoman Kaptur on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Reauthorization | 2014-12-10 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Democrat | House | OH | Marcy Kaptur | K000009 | kaptur.house.gov | legacy | U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur's statement on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Reauthorization December 9, 2014 Since the creation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, our nation has made strides in reviving and protecting our nation's greatest freshwater treasureour Great Lakes. Under the GLRI, we have supported more than 2,000 projects, removed 42 health impairments from 17 contaminated sites, and delisted finished work at six toxic areas of concern. Still, for our many achievements, this summer we received a stark reminder of unfinished challengesas a toxic algal bloom shut off the fresh drinking water to over half a million people and businesses in Ohio and Michigan for three days across Lake Erie's Western basin, the largest watershed in the Great Lakes. The public, though shocked, was orderly and beneficent. We didn't have riots or civil disorder. During the three-day crisis, we learned communities along the lake were not equipped locally to test the water so vital to their survival. Two days were wasted sending and resending vials and samples five hours away and back. It's obvious that what we've done is far from what is necessary. Just four counties West of Lake Erie, Grand Lake St. Mary's is all but dead, steeped in a toxic brew of E. Coli and algae. Nothing tried to date has fixed it. The handwriting on the wall is clear. More procrastination is not a solution. Proper testing equipment is fundamental. Fundamental. The Lake Erie community needs its own water testing equipment and certified lab. Already local universities and health departments have assembled key components of necessary equipment for a certified lab. It is incumbent upon GLRI to provide the $147 million needed for the remaining equipmentit must deliver. To date, the lack of response from our federal agencies is astoundingthis is an emergency. Moreover, I see federal agencies diverting hundreds of millions of dollars for dams in Afghanistan, yet somehow the EPA can't identify the funds to protect the American people who live along Lake Erie and draw their life source from it. To date, the lackadaisical behavior of our federal agencies is astounding. When the crisis occurred, US EPA didn't even show up nor have personnel on the ground. Where was Homeland Security funding to help during and after the crisis? As far as I'm concerned, they were asleep at the wheel, and they still are. As we prepare for a new spring thaw and the rains that will come, GLRI presents an alternative to the agency dithering I have experienced throughout this harrowing environmental crisis. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |