mr. chairman , our communities are on the front lines in their attempts to meet the requirements of the clean water act . 
hundreds of billions of dollars are needed to meet real and pressing needs , and the federal government is not paying its fair share . 
as a former mayor and lifelong resident of paterson , nj , i can personally attest that our cities are struggling to make ends meet . 
the money to make any wastewater upgrades must come from somewhere , and the congress needs to step up to plate . 
the funding levels in this bill reflect almost a half billion dollars in cuts to the clean water state revolving fund over the past two years . 
my state of new jersey will have lost $ 20 million alone . 
epa 's state and tribal assistance grant program is also slashed by almost half a billion dollars . 
enacting these cuts and ignoring these needs undermines our ability to treat sewage , particularly during wet weather events . 
it is important that we have uniform clean water regulations across our nation . 
i do believe that our communities need a thoughtful blending policy . 
however , the november 2003 policy the epa has proposed is not the right one at this time . 
if the stupak amendment comes to a vote , i will support it . 
the epa can do better , and the congress should demand better . 
but all sides need to be pragmatic . 
it is imperative that common ground can be found to develop a solution we can all live with . 
a limiting amendment which stops work on the blending issue will not benefit our environment and it will not benefit the public health . 
it will certainly not benefit communities and public water utilities trying to do the best they can with the limited resources they have available . 
i would like to thank my friend from michigan for bringing this amendment to the house floor . 
he is truly a champion in our quest for clean water and should be commended for his work protecting the great lakes . 
i would also like to thank my chairman of the water resources subcommittee , mr. duncan . 
he is also a champion for clean water , and a leader in our quest to provide assistance to local communities for their treatment systems . 
