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FILE – Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are seen in the House of Representatives Chamber of the US Capitol after Pope Francis’ address Sept. 24, 2015. (Reuters OMX)
Washington, DC, Sept. 27 — Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a bill to temporarily fund the federal government after Republicans refused to include funds in it to deal with the drinking water crisis in the city of Flint, Michigan.
The senators voted 55-45 against a resolution proposed by the conservatives that would have funded the government until Dec. 9.
If Democrats and Republicans do not strike a deal on the matter before Oct. 1, it would result in a partial shutdown of the government due to lack of funds, as occurred in the autumn of 2013.
Sens. Joe Donnelly (Indiana), Joe Manchin (West Virginia), Bill Nelson (Florida) and Jon Tester (Montana) were the only Democrats to support the funding resolution, while 13 Republicans also voted against the proposal.
The Democrats are insisting that funds to deal with the Flint crisis also be attached to the funding bill, which includes emergency aid for flood victims in Louisiana, Maryland and West Virginia.
For opposition lawmakers, the law should include aid for all communities – without exception – that are facing emergency situations.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not close the door to the possibility of eliminating aid for flood victims in the draft of the bill.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest at his daily press briefing on Tuesday defended the Democrats’ demands, saying that President Barack Obama has made clear for months that Congress must act to provide funds for Flint, adding that the President believes lawmakers should do the same for other communities facing emergencies.
The aquifer from which Flint draws its drinking water is contaminated with high levels of lead, a situation that has created significant nationwide controversy. Obama visited the community last May to highlight the problem, which is rooted in the fact that the water lines there were installed more than a century ago, as in many other cities around the country, with lead piping, which is now known to have significant adverse health consequences.
Independent reviews have found that 15 percent of the homes in Flint still have unfiltered water with lead levels above the Environmental Protection Agency‘s safety threshold, and between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed to the dangerously high metal concentrations. EFE
