US Water Privatization Moves Ahead The US Senate, led by Florida's Bob Graham and Oregon's Gordon Smith, is moving to muscle local water providers into selling out to private corporations. Graham, the leader in the government's 911 investigation, is also the man who told us in October that the US would "start" using torture, family kidnappings and drug lords in the War on Terror, and the co-sponser of Oregon Senator Ron Wyden's plan to create a centralized database in D.C. for all "terrorism related" information. by CMC thecmc Posted: 5.17.02 The Water Investment Act of 2002, a Senate Bill co-sponsored by Oregon Senator Gordon Smith and six other senators, has been approved by the Committee on the Environment and Public Works and will be sent ahead for a full Senate vote soon. Deceptively subtitled, “A bill to improve financial and environmental sustainability of the water programs of the United States,” the bill would require local water providers to “consider” selling their facilities to private corporations before they receive any more federal aid for improvements or maintenance of their water supply systems. The bill is receiving strong support from industry groups anxious to consolidate control over life’s basic necessities. With the failure of technology stocks and the widespread collapse of clean water supplies, investment advisors are calling water the world’s number one opportunity for profit. From Canada to England to nations throughout the Global South, water privatization has meant increased unemployment, water prices skyrocketing out of many peoples’ reach, increased service cut-offs and decreased quality leading to disease outbreaks. In a move that appears intended to prevent potential opponents of the bill from coming together, the US bill also increases federal money spent on water treatment facilities on Indian reservations. The bill’s progress may be delayed because its primary author, Florida’s Bob Graham, is also in charge of the government’s investigation into the FBI and CIA activities around 911. Editor’s note: Privatization of water has been responded to in other countries by huge riots and highway blockades. The mainstream left in the U.S. has barely made a peep about this government’s efforts to sell off control of this basic part of life, further demonstrating how alienated and meek their shallow efforts really are. Sources: Thomas Legislative Guide, Vandana Shiva's "Water Wars" South End Press 2002 Cascadia Media Collective thecmc P.O. Box 703, Eugene, OR 97440