Tlaib Leads Get the Lead Out Caucus in Doubling Support for $1.5B Appropriations Request for Lead Abatement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Co-Chairs of the Get the Lead Out Caucus, announced a $1.5 billion appropriations request for lead service line replacement for Fiscal Year 2026 to keep the country on track to remove all lead pipes in the next decade. Tlaib more than doubled Congressional support to 65 signers this year.
“We write in support of ensuring that all Americans have access to safe drinking water. Specifically, we ask you to take critical additional steps through FY26 appropriations that will further reduce the nationwide threat of lead contaminated drinking water,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Despite being banned in 1986, millions of lead pipes still supply drinking water in districts throughout all 50 states and territories. The wide distribution of lead service lines raises concerns about the health and safety of our constituents and underscores our resolve to eliminate this hazard as quickly as possible,” the lawmakers continued.
There is no safe level of lead exposure. Recent data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that large populations of people across our nation are still drinking water with significant lead levels. It’s estimated that removing all the nation’s lead service lines will require at least $45 billion over the next decade, but the health and economic benefits of getting the lead out exceed the costs by at least tenfold.
“Lead-contaminated tap water threatens the health of tens of millions of people. No one I know wants to hand a child a glass of lead-tainted water. That’s why it’s so important that scores of members of Congress are calling for more federal investment in removing lead pipes,” said Erik D. Olson, Senior Strategic Director for Health, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “We’re hoping all of Congress will heed this call, and that the Trump Administration will support this funding and defend in court the EPA’s rules requiring these lead pipes to be removed over the next decade. The time has come to finally rid the nation of the scourge of lead-contaminated water.”
The letter was signed by Reps. Gabe Amo, Nanette Barragán, Julia Brownley, Janelle Bynum, André Carson, Troy Carter, Greg Casar, Sean Casten, Yvette Clarke, Emanuel Cleaver, Joe Courtney, Jasmine Crockett, Danny Davis, Mark DeSaulnier, Debbie Dingell, Sarah Elfreth, Cleo Fields, Shomari Figures, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Josh Gottheimer, Al Green, Jonathan Jackson, Sara Jacobs, Pramila Jayapal, Robin Kelly, Timothy Kennedy, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Greg Landsman, Summer Lee, Stephen Lynch, Seth Magaziner, John Mannion, Lucy McBath, Jennifer McClellan, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Morgan McGarvey, LaMonica McIver, Gwen Moore, Kevin Mullin, Jerry Nadler, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ilhan Omar, Stacey Plaskett, Nellie Pou, Delia Ramirez, Pat Ryan, Linda Sánchez, Mary Gay Scanlon, Jan Schakowsky, Brad Schneider, David Scott, Robert Scott, Eric Sorensen, Darren Soto, Haley Stevens, Tom Suozzi, Shri Thanedar, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres, and Lori Trahan.
You can read the full text of the letter here.
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