Senate leaders announce $19.5B water infrastructure legislation News
russmac / Pixabay
Senate leaders announce $19.5B water infrastructure legislation

Bipartisan senators on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on Tuesday announced two pieces of legislation that would invest $19.5 billion into improving the country’s water infrastructure.

The America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (AWIA 2020) looks to provide improvements to the rivers and harbors of the US, to the conservation and development of water resources and to water pollution control activities. In doing so, the bill aims to increase water storage, offer flooding protection and repair irrigation systems. The Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 aims to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act in an attempt to better help communities drinking water needs.

Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) said the legislation would address critical water infrastructure on which everyone relies.

As drafted, these bills would improve projects’ resiliency to extreme weather events, increase the transparency and accountability of federally-funded projects and ensure that every community can benefit from federal funding and support – especially the smaller, rural and vulnerable communities that have been disregarded for far too long. By releasing these drafts, the committee will be able to gain critical insights and gather more feedback from stakeholders to improve the bills.

The legislation was introduced by Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Carper.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Egypt President Anwar Sadat visits Israel

On November 19, 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Israel, becoming the first leader of an Arab nation to officially visit. Two years later, President Sadat became the first Arab leader to recognize Israel by signing the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. Read President Sadat's address to the Israeli Knesset.

Jay Treaty signed

On November 19, 1794, US Chief Justice John Jay and British foreign secretary Lord Grenville signed a treaty in Philadelphia under which British forces pulled out of the disputed Northwest Territory. Review the Jay Treaty.