Congressional Leaders Fail to Deliver Immediate Funds to Flint Residents

Flint Rising released the following statement in response to the United States House of Representatives voting Wednesday evening to include funds for the on-going Flint Water Crisis in the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA). Congressional leaders will wait until after the November 8^th election, at least, to set the official funding level and vote on the final conference report. The statement can be attributed to Nayyirah Shariff, director of Flint Rising:

"It is positive to see congressional leaders finally act to send funds to Flint where families still have contaminated water flowing from their taps and are being forced to drink, bathe, and cook with bottled water. At the same time, it is disappointing that these funds - which are just a fraction of what's needed to fix the water crisis - still need final approval by a congressional conference committee, which will come after the November election at the earliest. Families in Flint have been waiting for access to clean, safe water for more than two years now. It's insulting that we can go to war faster than we can provide the basic human right of clean water to residents in this country. By waiting to approve funding for Flint, our elected leaders are gambling with the lives of Flint residents. Congress must pass adequate funding to begin fixing the water crisis in Flint now and they must find a way to deliver these funds immediately."

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Flint Rising is a coalition of community organizations and allies working to ensure that directly impacted people are building the organizing infrastructure and leadership necessary for this long-haul fight for justice and creating the future that Flint families need and deserve. For more information, please visit www.flintrising.com