Hillary Clinton: ‘What happened in Flint is immoral’

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called for “action now” to combat the toxic water crisis here Sunday in a speech to a packed congregation, arguing that a wealthier city would never have let its children drink water that was “poisoned.”

“This has to be a national priority,” Clinton said at the House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church. “What happened in Flint is immoral. The children of Flint are just as precious as the children of any part of America.”

Clinton, who took a detour from campaigning in New Hampshire to visit the ailing city, said clean water is a basic right that is “not optional, my friends.” She called on Congress to pass a $200 million bill to replace Flint’s current water infrastructure.

Aside from her speech at the church, Clinton met with residents and toured neighborhoods with Mayor Karen Weaver. Both women received long standing ovations when they entered the church.

Clinton started her remarks the way she often does in a house of worship, with a psalm: “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it,” she said, quoting Psalm 118:24.

Clinton praised Mayor Weaver as “someone who is working every way she knows how to provide the help and support that all the people of Flint deserve to have.”

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