Spending three days in Washington, D.C., last week, Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham and 23 other municipal leaders from the U.S. and Canada spoke to officials at the White House and members of Congress about the importance of fresh water and economic stability.
As part of a delegation from the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative that went to Washington for the organization’s Great Lakes Day, Cunningham said the mayors and other officials made a pitch for water resources funding and tariff relief, as well as other needs.
Both Cunningham and Benton Harbor, Michigan, Mayor Marcus Muhammad talked to members of Congress about renewal of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which provides low-cost financing for water quality infrastructure, including lead service line replacement.
“We had an excellent reception,” Cunningham said. “More important was how both sides of the aisle were talking about the Great Lakes Initiative’s projects to the president’s (staff) and to Congress. They are champions when it comes to issues about the Great Lakes.”
Cunningham and his colleagues worked to persuade both members of Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration of the importance of supporting fresh water and economic development in the Great Lakes region for three days last week.
Along with immediate concerns of renewal of the fund and tariff stability between Canada and the U.S., Jonathan Altenberg, the president and CEO of the initiative, said they talked to federal officials about the establishment of the Fresh Coast Economic Corridor.
Altenberg said the corridor is a 10-year economic development project designed to bring 500,000 new businesses to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River area, creating more than 18 million new jobs in both the U.S. and Canada.
“We want to protect our water and grow our economy,” Altenberg said. “We want to maintain our quality of life, grow our economy rapidly, and reduce our carbon footprint. Our region has the world’s third-largest economy.”
Extending from metropolitan Chicago to the southwest, through the five Great Lakes into the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario, the initiative’s boundaries’ easternmost point is the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at a news conference with the 24 mayors and other officials, that the region relies on the “Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway for our economic prosperity.” He wants to impress upon the governments of both countries the importance of the region.
“I’m proud that we’re using our collective voice in advocating for our two governments as we continue to work together on trade between both Canada and the United States, and for the return of a strong, stable and trust-based relationship between our two countries,” Johnson said.
At the White House, Cunningham said the group met with Danny Gustafson, the associate director of intergovernmental affairs. It was a joint meeting with a group devoted to the preservation of the Mississippi River.
“We talked about lead pipe service line replacement and invasive carp,” Cunningham said. “It went extremely well. He was exceptionally receptive. He seemed to understand the importance of the projects.”
Meeting with more than 20 members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, Cunningham said the congressman took time from a meeting of the House Committee on Ways and Means to meet with the group. They talked about lead service line replacement and other water-related issues, especially renewal of the fund.
“The safety of our residents is nonnegotiable,” Cunningham said. “In Waukegan, we are approaching lead service line replacement with a city-wide approach to ensure no neighborhood is left behind. Even small amounts (of lead) can accumulate in your body over time and cause irreversible damage to your brain’s function and overall health.”
Schneider said Monday he and his colleagues on the committee plan to support the effort to renew the fund. He said he makes a point of meeting with the leaders from the region each year in what remains a bipartisan effort.
“The Great Lakes are a bipartisan issue,” Schneider said. “There are Republicans from Ohio, Buffalo, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We are all committed to the Great Lakes.”
Tariffs are a major concern to members of the initiative, especially those from Canada, like Toronto Deputy Mayor Paul Ainslie. He said the group wants no further tariffs until the current review of the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), a trade pact between the three countries, is complete. Tariffs create uncertainty, he said.
“The USMCA review should be working to create new supply chains, not create new uncertainty,” Ainslie said at the news conference. “When tariffs rise, costs rise and investment pauses. When investment pauses, jobs and competitiveness are put at risk all across our communities. This is why stability matters.”
