IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 266 
Expressing the sense of the Congress with regard to the world’s freshwater 
resources. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2007 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committees on Ways and Means and Financial Services, 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 regard to the 
world’s freshwater resources. 
Whereas the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environ-
ment and Development established March 22nd as World 
Water Day to promote the international observance of 
water as a human right; 
Whereas available freshwater represents less than one-half of 
1 percent of the world’s total water stock; 
Whereas global consumption of water is doubling every 20 
years, more than twice the rate of human population 
growth; 
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•HCON 266 IH 
Whereas 31 countries currently face water shortages with an-
other 17 likely to be added to this list by 2025; 
Whereas more than 1,000,000,000 people already lack ade-
quate access to safe drinking water; 2,500,000,000 peo-
ple have no access to proper sanitation and more than 
5,000,000 people, mostly children, die each year from 
water-related diseases; 
Whereas the 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; 
Whereas international trade agreements threaten sustainable 
and local management of water; 
Whereas the poorest pay the highest price to access water; 
Whereas civil society often have little say in water policy pri-
orities; 
Whereas the people of the United States have often expressed 
their compassionate desire to assist those in most need; 
Whereas international financial institutions, institutions that 
receive significant U.S. funds, focus on private sector 
management of water that has been deemed a failure in 
providing access to the poor; 
Whereas the Water for the Poor Act of 2005 calls on the 
United States Congress to significantly increase and 
prioritize water provision in United States international 
programs; 
Whereas countries around the world have ratified inter-
national human rights agreements and enacted national 
constitutional provisions and laws enshrining the human 
right to water; 
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•HCON 266 IH 
Whereas member States acting in human rights institutions 
of the United Nations have affirmed the human right to 
water calling upon all governments to take steps to en-
sure that a sufficient amount of good quality, affordable 
water be made available for all within a reasonable dis-
tance from a person’s home; 
Whereas the United Nations Human Development Report of 
2007 calls on all governments to recognize the human 
right to water, prioritize and fund water and sanitation 
in national budgets, provide international assistance for 
water projects and develop a strong global plan of action; 
and 
Whereas the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
forecasts increased difficulty in improving access to safe 
drinking water and additional costs to the water services 
sector from changing water levels and contamination: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) asserts that water management priorities 
should reflect the goals of safeguarding and sus-
taining water resources; 
(2) 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; 
(3) affirms that the United States Congress 
firmly commits itself to meet the Millennium Devel-
opment Goals, especially as they pertain to uni-
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•HCON 266 IH 
versal, sustainable access to safe and affordable 
water; 
(4) 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; 
(5) 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 or in other ways re-
strict affordable access to water; 
(6) 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; 
(7) 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 affordable access to water; 
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•HCON 266 IH 
(8) upholds the principle that governments 
should engage all members of society, including local 
civil society organizations, citizen associations, envi-
ronmental 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; 
(9) 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; 
(10) recognizes the need to fully fund the 
Water for the Poor Act of 2007 to ensure that all 
individuals, especially those in most need, have equi-
table access to safe and affordable water; and 
(11) recognizes the human right to water as 
fundamental for life and health, and sufficient and 
safe drinking water is a precondition for the realiza-
tion of all other human rights. 
Æ 
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