Durbin Meets With Assistant Secretary Of State Wesley Brooks To Discuss The Senator’s Global Water And Sanitation Priorities

September 29, 2026 Durbin Meets With Assistant Secretary Of State Wesley Brooks To Discuss The Senator’s Global Water And Sanitation Priorities WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), Dr. Wesley Brooks, to discuss Durbin’s decades-long efforts to increase access to clean water and improved sanitation programs (WASH) for the world’s most poor. WASH programs were previously under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). After the Trump Administration largely gutted USAID, WASH programs are now under the State Department. “Having access to clean water is transformative for the poorest places in the world—it avoids conflicts between nations, keeps girls in schools, reduces infant mortality, and improves health and economic opportunity,” said Durbin. “With the dismantling of USAID and the Trump Administration’s cuts to global programs, I fear the poorest countries who look to the United States for help will be overlooked. I have made it a priority in Congress to deliver clean water to millions of people across the world, which has a six to one return in terms of health, economic, and educational returns, and I am hopeful Assistant Secretary Brooks prioritizes these lifesaving programs.” Durbin has been a longtime champion for WASH programs, following the lead of former Illinois Senator Paul Simon. Between 2008 and 2025, the U.S. provided 76 million people with first-time and improved access to safe drinking water and 59 million people with first-time and improved access to sanitation. This was the result of the enactment of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005; the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2014 , which was led by Durbin and former Senator Bob Corker, Republican from Tennessee; as well as strong annual appropriations Durbin secured through the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOP) on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. Photos of the meeting can be found here . -30- Print Email Share Tweet