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Waldorf & Sons Excavating crew foreman Brian Damon unhooks a lead service line - the first removed in Flint - in this 2016 Flint Journal file photo.

(Flint Journal file photo)



(This story has been updated to correct the number of votes cast against the amendment.)



The city of Flint is in line to received $170 million in federal funds to help fix its water system following a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday, Sept. 28.

House members approved an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, put forward by U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., and John Moolenaar, R-Midland.

The vote was 284-141.

Agreement on the amendment came after Congressional Democrats threatened to pull support for a separate matter --- a continuing resolution to keep the federal government running past this week.

The U.S. Senate passed its version of the WRDA earlier this month, including $220 million for Flint and other cities dealing with significant lead contamination.

Prior to Wednesday, the House had left out help for Flint in its version, prompting Democrats to include the issue in the continuing resolution for funding the federal government past Sept. 30.

Kildee spoke briefly on the Flint amendment Wednesday on the House floor, saying residents in the city had waited long enough for help in repairing its water infrastructure, including the removal of lead service lines, which have leached lead into tap water.

"It broke my heart when this whole episode began ... I'm grateful for the help from both sides of the isle," he said.

Kildee said before the vote that the process that produced the amendment went late into the night Tuesday, Sept. 27, and involved meetings with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The congressman said he wanted more than a verbal assurance that the final WRDA bill would include money for Flint, which still has thousands of lead service lines underground.

The service lines, lead solder in home plumbing and old home faucet fixtures caused lead levels in Flint water to spike while the city used the Flint River as its water source for parts of 2014 and 2015.

Wednesday's approval of the House amendment for Flint means both House and Senate versions will be addressed in conference committee to work out differences between the two bills.

Moolenaar called the water crisis "a tragedy at a national level" and said the amendment represented "something concrete Congress can do."

Kildee has said he will still oppose the continuing resolution for federal funding, which the Senate approved Wednesday.