The toughest living conditions I’ve seen

Report in the Arizona Republic on a Congressional visit to the Navajo reservation:

NAVAJO RESERVATION – Marie Keams, 49, humbly welcomed members of Congress into the two-room house south of Cameron where she raised seven children.

One room held two beds, two couches, dressers and a wood stove. The other room had a propane stove and an U.S. flag taped over the door.

No electricity. No running water. And the well outside is contaminated with oil, so Keams is forced to get her drinking water from the Cameron chapter house several miles away.

“I’ve been to 48 or 50 different countries, and that housing is comparable to the Third World,” said Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee on housing and community opportunity.

“Those are the toughest living conditions I’ve seen.”