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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12), a member of the House Budget Committee, today asked her colleagues to take one nonpartisan vote to meet a moral obligation to the people of Flint. She called on members of the committee to support an amendment she offered to the FY2017 budget resolution that would designate $457.5 million in emergency funding for Flint in 2016 to address the ongoing drinking water crisis and assist families affected by lead exposure. The amendment would require matching funds from the state. 

“I’m not interested in playing the blame game,” said Dingell. “Government at all levels failed the people of Flint and government at all levels has a moral obligation to fix this man-made problem. We need to come together and vote to give real hope to the 9,000 children who were impacted by this crisis and are going to require long-term health services, and the thousands of people who are still living this nightmare every day. The people of Flint need real help, not just nice words.”

To watch Dingell’s opening remarks on the amendment, please click here.

To watch her closing remarks, please click here.

Dingell’s amendment would have provided $170 million for water infrastructure projects and subsidized loans and grants for any state that receives an emergency declaration for lead exposures. It also would have provided wraparound health and education services for Flint families by providing $12.5 million in Community Development Block Grant funding; $225 million for expanded early childhood and other educational services; $40 million for a registry to monitor the health of residents in communities with lead contamination; and $10 million for grants to states to connect pregnant women and new mothers with healthcare and childhood development resources. 

Despite calls for bipartisanship, the Republican majority rejected the amendment by a vote of 22-14.