Mr. Speaker, today I rise to bring attention to issues that affect people worldwide: clean water and proper sanitation. Currently, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets, something that is hard for many of us here to even imagine.
Last September I met with India's Prime Minister Modi when I took part in the Global Citizen Festival, hosted by the Global Poverty Project. Prime Minister Modi spoke passionately about the great effort his country is making to ensure that all Indians have access to proper sanitation, made by famous by his “toilets before temples” campaign.
Increasing access to and usage of toilets will not only reduce the daily death toll of some 2,000 young lives worldwide caused by sanitation-related diseases, but will also make schools a more welcoming place for girls, many of whom do not attend for this very reason. For every dollar invested in safe drinking water and sanitation, there is about $4 saved in work time, productivity, and health care costs in developing countries.
Let us work together toward sustainable development goals for the health and safety of all people worldwide.