Congressman John D. Dingell

August 4, 2008

Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) joined Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) today at an Ann Arbor event celebrating the Governor’s signing of the Great Lakes Compact.  In 2000, the Congress directed the governors of the eight Great Lakes States to negotiate a water management agreement.  In 2005, the governors completed negotiations, which included coordination with the Canadian Premiers in Ontario and Quebec.  Since then, the State Legislatures in all eight states have agreed to the Compact, and the Governors have signed the legislation.

Last week, largely because of the leadership of Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), the Senate passed a Joint Resolution agreeing to the actions of the States.  Congressman Dingell is an original co-sponsor in the U.S. House of the companion legislation, which was marked up in the House Committee on the Judiciary.  An anticipated House vote in September is the last step before the legislation goes to the President for his signature.

The Compact will improve water management, conservation and public involvement, while also encouraging economic development. The Congressman made the following comments about the Compact:

“The Great Lakes are vital to the economic well being of Michigan. On the Great Lakes Compact, Governor Granholm along with the chief executives of seven other states have approved this pact and Senator Carl Levin and his colleagues have signed off in the Senate – now it’s up to us in the House to approve this important Compact. I promise to work with Chairman Conyers to provide the same kind of leadership we have gotten from Governor Granholm and Senator Levin.

“I was pleased to see the stories this weekend on the rising water levels in the Great Lakes. We are fortunate that the hard winters have left behind a benefit we are enjoying this summer. While we are grateful for the Lord’s good will, there are things that man can do to keep the Lakes strong and vibrant. For example, we still have an enormous threat from climate change, and I don’t want to wait until we have the water problems of our neighbors in the West and South to do something.   In addition, it is critically important that we move forward with a comprehensive restoration and protection strategy for the Lakes. They have that down in Florida for the Everglades and out east for the Chesapeake Bay. Why can’t we have that for the Great Lakes?  We have strong support for such a bill from Senator Obama, who also knows how important the Lakes are for his home state of Illinois and I look forward to working with an Administration that does more than pay lip service to this most precious resource.”