Wednesday, February 18, 2015 — There are U.S. residents who can't afford to pay for clean running water in their homes. A Congressional briefing on Thursday, February 26, will focus on the affordability of water for the nation's low-income and most vulnerable people, set in the context of soaring costs of water to consumers nationally and the related challenges facing U.S. urban and rural water and wastewater services.
WHAT
International Human Rights Organization the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
In collaboration with
Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.-3), Debbie Dingell (D- Mich.-12), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich. - 14), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas-18) and Charles Rangel (D-New York)
Invite you to
A Briefing on Water Affordability and Accessibility in the United States
And implications of the human right to water
The briefing is scheduled with a backdrop of water rates that have increased threefold in some cities over the past decade, mass water shutoffs in Detroit, low-income residents across the country struggling to pay their bills, and municipal and regional challenges to maintain water quality and rebuild the nation's decaying water infrastructure.
Proceedings are open to media, who are invited to remain for a post-event question and answer session with presenters.
WHEN
Thursday, February 26
2:00–3:30 p.m.
Media question and answer session:
3:30–4:00 p.m.
WHERE
Hearing Room 2226
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
WHO
Briefing Moderator:
Michael Shank
Journalist and Director of Media Strategy for Climate Nexus
Presentations:
The View from Detroit
Alice Jennings, Esquire — Edwards and Jennings, P.C.
Lead lawyer in a federal class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of community organizations and Detroit residents affected by the city's mass water shutoffs
The Economics of Affordability
Roger Colton, Economist — Fisher, Sheehan & Colton: Public Finance and General Economics
Developer of the original Detroit Water and Sewer Affordability Plan and its subsequent updates and expert witness in the city’s 2014 bankruptcy case
National Trends in Affordability
David Gatton, Director, Council on Metro Economies and the New American City — U.S. Conference of Mayors
Represents views of the nation's mayors on environmental policy to Congress and the administration
National Trends in Shutoffs and Legislative Remedies
Patricia Jones, JD, LlM, PhD
Senior Program Leader for Environmental Justice
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
International expert on the human right to water and coordinator of the 2011 and 2014 United Nations missions to Detroit, Mich., of the special rapporteur on the human right to water
Press kit available: uusc.org/presskit.
Media may sign up at the event media desk and are encouraged to RSVP to Jan Dragin, Dragin Communications, jandragin@gmail.com, phone: 774-553-5470, cell phone: 339-236-0679. Press packets available at the briefing. Video, audio and photo opportunities available during the briefing and post-event media session. One-on-one interviews on request.