Transcripts For CSPAN3 Washington Journal 20160212

Is one who is able to fix the economy and be good for us to live in. Congressman brenda lawrence, democrat of michigan, welcome to our table. Thank you for being here. The first time here to talk about whats happening with the water situation in flint, gn beg michigan. As it stands today, is the water safe to drink . No. The residents are still using filters for bathing. Its not good for cooking, for drinking. So it has not been given the allclear yet. What is the process for giving the allclear . What are they doing right now to try to solve the problem . Well, because they did not treat the water, the lead has the lead in the pipes has been exposed. And until they can secure that with treatment or with liners, or replacing the pipes, theres still lead in the water. So, and it takes a time and a process in order for it to reseal or coat the pipes. So thats what theyre waiting for. Theyre continuously testing and the testing is not at a point where its safe to drink. What is the role of the state and local government and the federal government here to fix the problem permanently . To replace the infrastructure and make sure this doesnt happen again . So theres a lot of discussion. Some will say we just need to recoat the pipes like we did in the past. I can tell you the people of flint, they do not receive that as a fix. I can tell you talking to the people of flint and the mayor, they want the pipes replaced. And so there is a cost to that. Theres some there is the plastic liners you can put in the pipes, so thats an alternative as well. The governor is coming out with funding to address it. The federal government has been asked by numerous members of congress including in the senate with our two senators, peters and stabenow, and also dan killdy and others here in the house, so we are debating that, but the pipes must be fixed. So the price tag is, what, 155 million . Yes. To do this . Yes. I saw a report on cnn this morning at the vacancy level of households in flint is quite high. Right now, see, theres so many levels of this crisis. First, theres a human element. The lead poisoning. Children are affected the most. The elderly. But then there is the economy. Think of theres restaurants that are closing now. Whos going to go to a restaurant in flint . Then there is the housing piece. If i did not own my home or if im renting, i would choose another place and then if im living there, whos going to buy my house . So the trust of the people, its going to take a long time. Thats why replacing the pipes as far as the economy makes a lot of sense because then the trust will be restored and people will feel safe again. Senator john cornyn, republican of texas, part of the leadership over on the senate side, has had this to say. While we all have sympathy for whats happened in flint, responsibility primarily lies with state and local governments in michigan. Given that we have a 19 trillion in debt, i think its fair to ask, do we want to have the federal government replacing all the infrastructure put in place by cities and states all across the country . I really want to elevate this conversation. I was a mayor prior to coming in congress, and served with the u. S. Conference of mayors where we fought for infrastructure investment. This lead issue, washington, d. C. , a few years ago had a lead water issue. Members of congress all over the country are talking about the water infrastructure, and there is a concept that i really want to debate and that is affordable, safe water in america. And so were going to have to invest in our infrastructure. There are still places where we have lead pipes where we have found how to coat those pipes or to treat it with chemicals that will seal the lead so it doesnt leech into our water. Eventually we have to stop kicking the can down the road and start investing. I Want Congress to have that conversation. I want them to fix flint but i want us to Start Talking about what is safe and affordable water in america . Its a human need. Its a basic need. And its one that our government through our epa, through our clean water initiative, have made a promise to the people of america and we need to keep that promise. How much is the price tag for replacing the infrastructure across the country . I mean, its not as you said, its not just flint where people have old homes with lead pipes. Thats where leadership comes in. So am i going to say, im never going to fix any infrastructure because it costs a lot of money . You plan. You say, this is the cost, and places and i would say prioritize those areas where you have children with lead in their youre testing the children, you see high levels of lead, invest in their communities first. But we must infrastructure with our railroads, our bridges, our streets. We cant just keep saying it costs too much. Youre going to have to plan, and were going to have to invest or were going to look like a thirdworld country with our infrastructure. And its its past the point of discussing the costs. Plan it out. It may take us 50 years, but lets start doing what we must do. Well, we want to get michigan residents involved in this conversation as well. Yes. Fourth line for all of you folks, 2027488003. Republicans, 20274881 001. Democrats 2027 48 80 00. Lets go to beau in ohio. Youre up first. Go ahead. Caller good morning. Im under the understanding this problem in michigan had started to save money for the government and my question is when is our government going to put more importance on exccuse me human life than they are money . To me i would think human life is more important than money. So when does the money thing stop and the money people thing start . When do we care more about people than money . Thats my question. Thank you for your call. Unfortunately, it is true. It was a financial decision that was made to switch from a source of water that came through the city of detroit that had serviced that Community Without lead in it, clean, safe water, to an alternative water system, the flint water system, that was not treated. The decision that was made was based on a financial decision. The failure came when they switched the water and did not treat the water. And when that water came in and the it was not treated, then the lead in the pipes started leeching into the water. And the other failure of our government was notifying the residents and letting them know to stop drinking the water. So those were the failures. Right now there is an absolute need for acceptance of responsibility from the federal government, from the state of michigan. The state of michigan made this decision. Understand, we have laws that says that federal dollars goes toward Natural Disasters. This is a manmade disaster. So the state of michigan, the governor has announced that he is investing funds into fixing the pipes and other things. Its not enough to fix the problem. And so theres a lot of discussion going on here in the federal government. How much should the federal government contribute to this . We cant sit back and say we wont contribute anything. The president did step up and submitted an approval for funds, but he could not release the amount of funds that would have gone for a Natural Disaster because its manmade. So the state of michigan is going to have the brunt there is a surplus in our state budget. And that money must go toward flint. On the federal level, from the detroit news, the two senators from michigan, Democratic Senators gary peters and debbie stabenow, theyve offered an amendment yes. To the Bipartisan Energy policy bill with the goal of jumpstarting repairing or replacing the lead service lines, contributing to the contamination. The amendment would provide 400 million in federal emergency funding to the epa to help fix flints water supply. They face an uphill battle in the republicancontrolled senate. Pressured by conservative constituents to rein in the growing national debt. The emergency money provided through the Drinking Water Revolving Loan fund program would have to be matched dollar by dollar by the state of michigan, whether its 50 million or 400 million. Yes. Does michigan have that money . Michigan doesnt have a lot of choices here. The governor is going to have to look at that budget. I absolutely know theres 50 million there. And were going to have to prioritize the investment. You know, theres pipes. Then theres the treatment for the children. Early education. Were going to have to invest in mandatory Early Childhood development. Because the only way that you can counteract the poison and the damage that lead does to a childs developing brain, nutrition. Early childhood development. They need counselors. They need nurses. And so these are things that are not optional. You have a whole city, think about this, a teacher in a classroom with a whole city of children who have been affected with lead poisoning. It comes out in behavior, it comes out in challenges in learning. Some people call it special ed. Its going to be and then the psychological effects of that. And theres all kind of study on lead poisoning. If you go into a prison, youll see a large number of the prisoners have lead poisoning. Theres been discussion about mr. Gray who was shot had lead poisoning. So we its so many discussions happening here, so the infrastructure is only part of the issue of the funds we have to address. By the way, heres what the latest from Governor Snyder on this. He sent out a tweet late last night sayi ining he never order the deq to withhold information about lead in flint schools. Whats your response to that . They did not release the information. This is a delicate balance here. And some have asked, why are you, you know, finger pointing . We failed as a government. I sit on oversight. Thats my job in congress. And im the Ranking Member of the interior. Epa, clean water. This should never happen in the united states. We failed. We need to know every step. Who made decisions, who made who did not perform their job, who was notified, when did you react so we can fix this. Weve already, yesterday, im so proud of congress, yesterday hr4470 that says once epa becomes aware of contaminants or lead in water that they must inform the residents. Because what happened in flint is that, yes, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality was aware there was lead in the water. And epa tested the water, said, wait a minute, michigan, your water levels are not correct. Then the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said that they were treating the water. Epa tested again. Wait a minute, if youre treating the water, somethings wrong because elevations are even going higher. All this time, theyre talking to each other, the residents are drinking the water. Thats unacceptable. And collectively as a congress, we voted to change that to say whenever epa tests the water, they must and its not safe for drinking whether the primacy which in this case michigan had primacy. I mean, they have the responsibility for treating, for informing the residents, that epa must overstep them and notify the residents so they can stop drinking it. Governor also saying this, my Budget Proposal invests an additional 195 million to help flint families. Lets hear from robert in brooklyn, a republican. Hi, robert, youre on the air. Caller hi. Good morning. Everything youre saying sounds good so far, but a question id like to ask, where was the stop gap in the naacp . Where was the black caucus, thousands of people, children and babies was going to get affected by that . Where was those organization to step up, what they need to do to ensure that public is as safe as its supposed to be . Thank you for that question. We did not know. Understand that this was an inside baseball until that pediatrician, dr. Monatisa, who is what were calling a civil hero, start screaming that these children that im treating in flint, their lead levels are too high. Understand what happened in flint. You had an emergency manager drinking the water and saying, citizens of flint, calm down, this water is safe. The citizens were being told by professionals and those who were in charge of their government and the emergency manager is a person who comes into a city, take away all local home rule, and they are in charge of all of the decisions in the city and they report directly to the governor. This person was telling the community that the water was safe. It was a pediatrician who continuously treated these tested these children, said, wait a minute, this is not normal. And she and a parent and a scientist collectively, the three of them, screamed loud enough that we got acknowledgement from the professionals in the city of flint that, yes, the water is not safe to drink, and thats when everyone started coming in. I would have to say the naacp, the Congressional Black Caucus, we have been very loud on this issue because we found out about it. So like the people of flint, it breaks my heart. This city is majority minority. This city has 40 poverty. So were looking across this country where its places where people are poor, places where theres large populations of minorities that you see what were calling environmental injustice. Now, its not acceptable anywhere, but this case of flint has just made this just a glaring example of what happens when your government fails, what happens when something thats happened that i as a member of congress and on oversight never want to happen again in america because these children will never, ever be able to remove the lead thats in their brain. Well go to michigan. Twin lake. Jim is calling from there. An independent. Jim, good morning. Caller hi. I really think its time that Democratic Party representative, a candidate for the democratic president ial nomination, finally admits that local government failed in flint as it did in detroit, benton harbor, and many other michigan cities. And its not republican governor that ran it into the ground, its a democratic regimes that just dont know how to run local government. You want to blame it on the republicans, youre wrong. Youve been a mayor. You are wrong. Lets get a response. Thank you so much for your call. I want to be very clear. I was a mayor for 14 years, and i never had a deficit. I never had to have any situation where financially my city did not survive and i have a very vibrant city that i transition on to congress. There are a number of Strong Cities that are led by democrats. Now lets talk about what happened. Local government. The city of detroit. Yes, it went under a financial situation, bankruptcy, had an emergency manager, but at any time were the people in the city of detroit poisoned with lead in their water . Understand if you want to have the conversation about cities that are failing, theyre failing all over the country. But look deeply at were talking about. Were talking about a basic human right, Drinking Water. And a financial decision was made by the State Government because in this situation, whoever you want to say, the democrats, im not sure who all, their political affiliation in flint. However, in the city of flint, a financial decision was made. It was made to say we will save money if we stop using this water system and use a different one, which was not a big issue. But the fact of the matter that that happened and they did not treat the water and actually poisoned people with lead is unacceptable. Whether youre a democrat, a republican, or an independent. Never again in america should that happen. Congresswoman, youre supporting Hillary Clinton for president. Yes, i am. She took time off the campaign trail ahead of the New Hampshire primary, went to flint, michigan, met with residents there. She called it immoral. The Congressional Black Caucus is endorsing her today. Are the two related . What she said there how did the cbc come to that decision . The cbc is endorsing Hillary Clinton today. Understand, this is bigger than flint. This is a candidate that if you look at her resume and her experience, no one whos running for congress i mean, for president today can touch it. You cannot find a Better Qualified person that if you get the call in the middle of the night or has to negotiate and use diplomacy to help this country as we navigate through so many threats, through so many changing dynamics in our economy. Shes the best qualified. Now, the other thing that i want to point out, why did she go to flint . Its because thats the person that she is. She believes, fundamentally, that those without a voice, those who have been trusting in our government, and we failed them, someone has to go and fix it. Shes been there. She came to listen to the people of flint. And she is actually engaged in the Childrens Fund of new york to ask them to go and help flint. She came with resources. And this thats why i want her to be my president. I dont want someone that does not understand the needs of the people in america, especially when it comes to those with the smallest voice because theyre not rich and powerful. They are people who normally are minorities that people dont hear. I want her to protect everyone from wall street to the homeless person on the street, and Hillary Clinton i see a person that has the ability to do that and the desire and passion. All right. Michael moore who has endorsed bernie sanders, hes been very vocal about what happened in flint, michigan. He tweets out, this is a racial killing. Flint, michigan, is 60 black. When you knowingly poison a black city, you are committing a version of genocide. Well go to randy in iowa. A democrat. Hi, randy. Caller hi, greta. My head is just spinning because this is such a simple equation. It has happened over a long period of time. And brenda is letting herself down and misleading herself if she thinks that Hillary Clinton is going to be the salvation to flint, michigan, because bill clinton brought us nafta, and nafta brought us the big in other words, the evacuation of manufacturing from michigan, the auto industry. And since free trade has become so prevalent and tax cuts by mr. Cornyn who refuses to pay for his own corporate welfare that he gets, when 2 trillion is sitting offshore because they wont bring it back because theyre tax dodgers. So the thing that is, there is a cycle here, brenda, and it all evolves around free trade. And that is when deficits started becoming relevant, that is that is the problem. Okay, randy. Hear your point. Congresswoman . So, thank you for calling in. Im with you. I represent the city of detroit. Im very clear on what happened with nafta and im against it and i voted against tpa and will vote against tpp unless we address our currency issue. If i can make one statement, im voting for Hillary Clinton, not bill clinton. Hillary clinton is the person that im looking at her resume. I have sat down and talked with her. Know her issue, she is not supporting tpp, either. Well have to move on. The reality is she is married to bill clinton, but bill clinton is not on the ballot. Hillary clinton is, and im looking at her record, where she stands on issues, and i expect for her to move forward when elected as president to address these issues that i agree on. Lansing, michigan. Shirley is a republican. And you are on the air. Caller miss brenda, i thought that we were talking about the flint water crisis, not drawing up publicity for the hillary campaign. My question gets back to a statement that youve made. Was the governor of the state of michigan on the board in flint, michigan, that made the decision to change the source of their water . Was the governor of the state of michigan the one who decided not to treat it . Several weeks ago, i heard representative kildee jr. Who represents flint say the problem has been evolving for years. Lead pipes, water pipes, theyre ancient. Did the governor of the state of michigan make those decisions . Miss brenda, the truth will set us free. We have a horrible situation in the city of flint, and all over the country, i believe. But lets get to the truth. Stop the campaign for hillary this morning and get back to your subject. Thank you, miss brenda. Goodbye. Thank you for that. I was asked the question. I came here to talk about flint. I was asked the question. Im glad to get back to the issue. Thank you for calling. Be clear about when we talk about did the governor make the decision . When you are as a mayor, if something happens in my city, i have the responsibility to know the decisions that are made. So lets talk about this. When you have an emergency manager, if you live in michigan, you should be pretty clear on what emergency manager means. It means the city is in financial situation. The governor sends in a person that governor approves to go in, take away all the home rules so the mayor, the council, can make no decisions. They cannot approve contracts. They cant they are deemed at that point when the emergency manager comes in totally power legislation. So a decision was made, financial decision was made, to switch the water. Again, that was a financial decision. That would not have been the problem. The problem came when their water that they start using was not treated, and then there was a coverup. So some will say, well, the governor didnt decide not to treat the water, the governor didnt sit there and switch the switch, but the governor has said that i will take over a city, and the person, this is the power that i want you to understand. The emergency manager does not report to the people. The emergency manager only reports to the governor. So when the people come in and say, we dont want you to switch our water, it doesnt mean anything because its only the decision the only person an emergency manager reports to is the governor. And so the question becomes in all those levels, during this period of time where there was a coverup, at what point did who become aware . I know the governor. I would not say that the governor sat there and intentionally harmed anyone. I would never say that. But the reality is, a decision was made and, you know, some people say this is pointing fingers. I would not say im pointing a finger. Im trying to get the facts. Give us the information so that we can fix this. So those who did make that decision can be held accountable. But we cant just say, dont talk about what happened anymore. Lets just fix it. It could happen again in america. And thats why im proud to say that in congress, we have started fixing this. I stood on the floor and asked my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support 4470 to ensure that epa, our federal responsibility, that this will never happen again in america, that if epa is aware that water is undrinkable that they path over states, cities or whomever and stop the water from being distributed to human beings so they wont be harmed. This is the safe Drinking Water bill . Yes. That has passed. That passed the house, yes. Do you know if the senate will take it up . Will the president sign it . Im sure, yes. Yes. This is a headline, by the way, from thinkprogress. Org, that the governor, rick snyder, may be recalled over his unconstitutional takeover of schools that apparently by the board of education says that the Governors Office to the governors decision to close schools, turn traditional Public Schools, charter schools, replace school staff, that snyders executive order to bring the office to reform schools under the control of the States Department of technology, management and budget, that that violates the state constitution which does not provide the governor with direct control of the schools. So not related to the flint, michigan, situation, but about how power was consolidated in the state of michigan. This whole Emergency Management issue in michigan, which ironically it was put on the ballot and the people of michigan voted it down, and then it was signed into law attaching appropriations to it so we couldnt vote on it. So this is something the people of michigan did not want. Secondly, the same emergency manager that was in flint was given a promotion and sent to be over detroit Public Schools. Emergency manager has been over detroit Public Schools and you talk about enough blame to go around, have been over detroit Public Schools since 2009, and the schools have failed miserably. It is sad because you only get one chance to educate a child and if a child doesnt have an education, we know the statistics and what happened. That child is not going to be successful because in america without education, you dont have a lot of choices. Labor jobs are disappearing. The whole process of finding employment, being uneducated, is slim to none. So here we are with the same concept of authority that the governor only is the reporting authority, that were failing. So, you know, we cant have this conversation without talking about that emergency manager process. Im, again, being a mayor, a city, people paying their taxes, they absolutely should expect their government to work. And the state stepping in to say were going to fix the finance of that, if i could have my input, i would say an emergency manager should be financial only and that the home rule and the people who are elected should still be in place to be accountable but have an emergency manager that just deals with the finance to get the city back on track financially. Well go to michigan again. Oak park, michigan. Dorothy is watching there. A democrat. Hi, dorothy. Caller hi. How you doing . Good morning. Go ahead with your question or comment for the congresswoman. Caller mrs. Lawrence, i would like to thank you for continuing to work on the water crisis in flint and to let you know we appreciate you here and what you do in congress. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well go on to matt in concord, New Hampshire, independent. Caller yes, hello. Good morning, representative. Good morning, greta. Good morning. Good morning. Caller i watched this closely, in fact, im filing an amicus brief for a family of flint. The city of detroit had no problem giving the Detroit Red Wings 243 million for a new arena. It seems like they should have money for water pipes. I happened to watch the hearing and it was a single mother who the epa tested her home yes. Caller three times. I dont remember her name. The epa reported she had 43,000 parts per million of lead in her water. That is compatible to nuclear waste. Thats considered toxic waste. Its so far above levels, unimaginable, and i am a licensed lead abator. I also want to mention that i have a stepchild whos 19 years old who is drastically affected by lead when he was a child. Hes educated toul[ly the leveln eighth grader. Can barely write, cant drive, will never be employable. People need to realize what lead does. We have all the money in the world for pro sports teams but dont seem to have the money to help the industry cities that built this country. Matt, let me bounce this headline off you, front page of the washington post, flint victims flock to courts but face high hurdles. Caller yes, very high hurdle in the federal court system, but im fortunate, im one of the very few private individuals who have ever argued a case in front of the supreme court, not as an attorney, but as a private individual, and i won two of the three times ive done this. I do have legal knowledge and legal background, a wife whos a paralegal, so they face very high hurdles, but there are certain points ive been picking up out of case law that they have a pretty substantial case for longterm indentture. And i have a friend in New Hampshire whose sister lives in flint, and i was asked to write an amicus. Okay. I dont know what happened to matt. Sorry about that. Congresswoman, why dont you jump in . You know, its so sad when you you know, i wanted to paint this picture and i want people to understand how critical the situation is. If i was a mother and i was breastfeeding my child, im told to really hydrate and drink a lot of water. So when im feeding my child, i was feeding my child the lead that i was ingesting, if i was fixing formula for my baby. So you have infants. Then you have these small children going to school, Drinking Water, and in cases bathing in the water. Theres been cases of rash. This is just horrible. And the effect of lead on a developing brain, we are going to have to invest in these children at least ten years out to try to mediate it with nutrition, with counseling, with Early Childhood development. We still dont know how its going to play out. What about epa and the safe Drinking Water act that was passed decades ago . Epa, where they are in the rulewriting process when it comes to lead pipes. There is anticorrosion i call them chemicals that you can put in water that will seal pipes or coat them so that the lead will not leech out into the water. Thats the system were using. We had this conversation earlier. Where are we in america with replacing these lead pipes that we know are all over the country . Thats where i want to take this conversation. Because people have this conversation about affordable water and decisions are made all the time. Im asking, when will we know if this water is safe . Im told theres never been a situation in america that we can document where water was switched from one source to another and allowed the lead to leech into the water. So this this is something were learning firsthand, but epa, when we talk about the clean water, they have been treating the water so that it hasnt been an issue. This is the first time people or government did not treat the water. So epa has rules and regulations yes. In place and the rest of the states and the cities across country are following those rules and flint, michigan, did not . Yes. Is there a violation there . Thats a good question. In oversight, thats why we need answers. You know, ive been criticized for calling i i put out[  saying from the governor all the way down, we need to get the information because there is a federal investigation at the justice department, the fbi is investigating. On the state level, theres investigations. My issue and my responsibility on oversight is to make sure epa and our clean water act is Strong Enough so this doesnt happen again. Its going to be in court, theres numerous lawsuits filed. And so whether theres criminal accountability, there absolutely must be accountability for the situation. Whats happening next on this situation . What are you expecting . The funding issue is going to be discussed and debated. The state of michigan must step up because this is a man made disaster. The amount of money thats going to take to fix this is that moving number. We must solidify that number. How much money do we need to address this . The investment in the children long term, because this is not going to be a one time fix. Can you fix a pipe, these children are going to need treatment for their life. And then theres lawsuits and theres you know, all the accountability and the failure of our government. All of this is going to have to be resolved. The primary thing right now is taking care of the people of flint. I think theres enough investigation with the fbi, the justice department, the state attorney general has called for investigation. Were doing our investigation in oversight. And so with that, if a decision is made other than that, we havent had that conversation. I understand january was when everything really came to light. So what more can congress do legislatively you just passed this law. What else can congress do . We must start investing in infrastructure. We must decide as a government that were going to fix our infrastructure so this will never happen again. We cannot continue to just kick the can down the road. We kick the can down the road with infrastructure to finally, the transportation bill. We finally funded ten years out, a transportation bill people used to ask me, what keeps you awake at night . You flush the toilet and dont think about it. That keeps me awake at night. We had a huge power outage that took out part of the northeast part of the country. We ran to put portable batteries on the water lifts and the filters and the water systems, if we lose power our water becomes contaminated because we dont have the infrastructure. Immediately we have to go address the water. This country must wake up and know our government, were going to have to have a plan for this. I saw one figure at 1. 5 billion. Was that just to replace pipes in all of michigan . Right now people on capitol hill are talking about 550 million to replaced pipes in flint, michig michigan. Right now theres a lot of passion, lets approve this, within this it should be enough money thats what i want happening right now, get our hands around, get data, the officials out there, so we can put the proper amount of dollars around this i dont want democrats or republicans voting down funding because theyre saying its too much. But if we give them the data just like we passed this bill for the epa, i feel we can all put our arms around. Congressman chaffis and conners. They have been working together, im so proud of the leadership there. You know, congressman cummings has been such a champion of this. And chaffis choked up during the hearing. He said my daughter is moving to michigan. Im very concerned about this. Its appalling, theres not a member of congress who says, what if this was my children, if this was my community. This is america, this isnt a third world country. And so im strongly optimistic. When we get the real numbers and data that were going to move forward and take care of the people of flint like we should. Lets get in more calls. Lauren in alexandria, minnesota, a republican. Caller good morning. My question, lead poisoning from the pipes or from the river . If its from the river, the Car Manufacturing Companies probably credited for getting the lead in the river. For our environment. Where is that river running to were worried about cleaning up that river so the water doesnt run into other resources. Nobodys water should have lead in it. These car manufacturers, the president bailed them out with tax free money. Shouldnt they be responsible for taking care of this. We do have the responsibility to protect our water, i want to give you another scenario that is so telling. There was an automotive factory in flint that stopped using the water before it was told to the citizens of flint. Because it was too corrosive for their metal for them to make cars. Just think about how bad this water was. Theres another telling thing. There was ator brought to the state department Drinking Water, they wanted to make sure that the state employees had alternative water. We have a responsibility to fix our water, i will tell you, michigan has the largest supply of fresh water with our five great lakes, but all of our water, we must treat it before we drink it because of pollutants in the air that washes down from rain. Because of the pollutions that we are finding and tracking and monitoring, whos putting chemicals in our water . Were con stan thely on that. When you hear us finding these companies, its because of that. Any water that we drink must be treated to ensure its safe for our consumption. Wanda in michigan, a democrat. Caller hello . Wanda, youre on the air with your question or comment, go ahead. In michigan, in here in flint. I consider this the governors problem. Hes the one that pointed the emergency manager and he also said in his state of the state that the buck stops with him. He has really messed with the people of michigan, the seniors, hes done so much harm and he boasts about being such a businessman and he can make deals and do all kinds of things, this is what happens when money becomes more important than people. We have a governer who has lots of money he should be criminally charged and this money come out of his own pocket. He needs to be jailed. Im going to leave wandas comments. Getting terry. Terry in stevensville, a democrat, hi, terry. Caller how are you doing . The lady before me, i think she read my mind. I want to make a comment when snyder was elected. The first thing he did was cut taxes for the wealthy of 2 billion. How is he going to replace that money . Dont worry about it, well get it. Our roads are horrible, the taxes, the pennsylvanias. One caller that was talking to the lady on whatever republican, thats the attitude you get. Just a really arrogant attitude. I think they have amnesia. Thank you very much. I want to make the comment the governor said it best. He said he apologized but the buck stops with him, this is extremely important, that as we in michigan look at this emergency manager form of government, it is not working. And it is not it has in our School System in detroit, i will tell you, it has not worked, it has failed. In the city of flint, there was a failure that now has impacted the lives of those citizens. That must be fixed in michigan. And the governor said it, the buck stops with him. Brenda lawrence, the ranking democrat, top democrat on the subcommittee on the interior, thank you for answering questions this morning. Hope you come back again. I will. Okay. Thank you. Next, health and Human Services secretary Sylvia Burwell testifies at the Senate Hearing on her departments 2017 budget request. Then mike pompeiio of kansas on the Hillary Clinton administrati administration. Now, health and Human Services secretary Sylvia Burwell tests before the Senate Finance committee on capitol hill. She encouraged congress to fight the ebola and