Dems to highlight Flint crisis during convention

Democrats will highlight the Flint, Mich., water crisis during the third night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. 

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver will address the convention during Wednesday’s session and talk about the lead contamination problems that have hit her city since the Michigan government directed it to switch drinking water sources in 2014. 

{mosads}Weaver also appears in a video highlighting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s trip to the city in February.

“When you have somebody like that fighting for you and supporting you and saying ‘I’ve got your back,’ you can’t ask for much more,” Weaver says in the video.

Clinton has called for a $200 million injection of federal money to help fix the corroded drinking water infrastructure in Flint, though Congress has yet to act on an aid package for the city and others with water problems. During her trip there, Clinton called the crisis “not merely unacceptable or wrong, though it is both. What happened in Flint is immoral.”

“For me, this is a personal commitment,” she said during the trip, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“I will stand with you every step of the way. I will not for one minute forget about you. I will do everything I can to help you get back up, get your strength and resilience flowing through this community again.”

Flint’s water crisis earned national attention late last year when the extent of the lead problems there came to light. 

President Obama visited the city, and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) testified before Congress on the matter. Clinton, her chief opponent for the nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and others have called on Snyder to resign over the matter.