IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 468 
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the world’s freshwater 
resources. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2004 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BELL, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 
WEXLER, Mr. STARK, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 
RENZI, Mr. KIND, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CONYERS, 
Mr. PAYNE, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. LEE, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, 
Mr. TOWNS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. CARSON 
of Indiana, Ms. WATERS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, 
Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. EMANUEL, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDON-
ALD, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. JACKSON
of Illinois, and Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to 
the Committees on Financial Services and Ways and Means, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the 
world’s freshwater resources. 
Whereas freshwater is fundamental for life, a finite natural 
resource, and belongs to the earth and all species for all 
time; 
Whereas available freshwater represents less than one-half of 
one-percent of the world’s total water stock;
•HCON 468 IH 
Whereas global consumption of water is doubling every 20 
years, more than twice the rate of human population 
growth; 
Whereas 31 countries currently face water shortages with an-
other 17 likely to be added to this list by 2025; 
Whereas more than one billion people lack adequate access to 
safe drinking water; 2.5 billion people have no access to 
proper sanitation and more than five million people, 
mostly children, die each year from water-related dis-
eases; 
Whereas unsustainable practices lead to depletion of aquifers, 
falling water tables, and ground and surface water pollu-
tion; 
Whereas indigenous peoples have had the waters on which 
they depend dangerously polluted and exploited; 
Whereas current United Nations’ Millennium Development 
Goals call for reducing by one-half the number of those 
without safe drinking water and sanitation by the year 
2015; and 
Whereas the United Nations’ Committee on Economic, Social 
and Cultural Rights has adopted the General Comment 
on the right to water, which states that the human right 
to drinking water is fundamental for life and health, and 
sufficient and safe drinking water is a precondition for 
the realization of all other human rights: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That this resolution may be cited as the 
‘‘Water for the World Resolution’’. 
SEC. 2. The Congress—
•HCON 468 IH 
(1) affirms water as a public trust and global 
public good that should not be treated as a private 
commodity where this would limit or deny public ac-
cess to freshwater resources; 
(2) recognizes that government policies should 
ensure that all individuals have equitable access to 
water to meet basic human needs and that no one 
is cut off from water for survival due to economic 
constraints; 
(3) upholds the principle that governments 
should engage all members of society, including local 
civil society organizations, citizens’ associations, en-
vironmental groups, indigenous peoples, farmers, 
women, workers and others, in direct and meaning-
ful participation in overseeing decisions about the 
conservation, distribution, use, and management of 
water in their communities, localities, and regions; 
(4) asserts that water management priorities 
should reflect the goals of safeguarding and sus-
taining water resources; 
(5) recognizes that more sustainable agricul-
tural practices are necessary to protect water re-
sources; 
(6) affirms that the United States Congress 
firmly commits itself to meet the Millennium Devel-
•HCON 468 IH 
opment Goals, especially as they pertain to universal 
access to water and sanitation; 
(7) recommends that international, regional, 
and bilateral trade agreements, should not include 
conditions related to the provision of water for 
human use that would result in reduced access to 
water; 
(8) affirms that access to international loans 
and debt reduction programs should not be condi-
tioned on implementing increased cost recovery poli-
cies when those policies would result in significantly 
increased water rates that reduce access to safe 
drinking water and sanitation; 
(9) asserts that the United States’ Executive 
Directors of International Financial Institutions 
should not approve loans that require increased cost 
recovery, or water privatization or public/private 
partnerships that would result in significant in-
creases in consumer water fees that would restrict 
access to water; 
(10) deems that federal funding not be condi-
tioned on the consideration of public/private partner-
ships or other forms of privatization that would re-
strict access to water; and
•HCON 468 IH 
(11) asserts that Federal policies should ensure 
that in the United States direct and indirect sources 
of water pollution, including factories, refineries, 
commercial agriculture, and wastewater treatment 
plants, are adequately regulated and those respon-
sible held accountable for the pollution they cause. 
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