[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 79 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 79

Urging the people of the United States to observe the month of April of 
       each year as Hazel M. Johnson Environmental Justice Month.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2021

Mr. Rush submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Urging the people of the United States to observe the month of April of 
       each year as Hazel M. Johnson Environmental Justice Month.

Whereas Hazel Johnson fought for environmental justice in Chicago beginning in 
        the 1970s and continuing through the rest of her life;
Whereas when Johnson discovered that the South Side of Chicago had the highest 
        cancer rate of any area in Chicago, she was inspired to investigate the 
        cancer rates, foul odors, and number of children with respiratory 
        illnesses in her own neighborhood, the community of Altgeld Gardens on 
        the South Side of Chicago;
Whereas Johnson discovered her community, Altgeld Gardens, which is a public 
        housing project, was built on a landfill surrounded by toxicity, which 
        polluted the air, water, and land;
Whereas additionally, the Altgeld Gardens homes had asbestos and elevated lead 
        levels;
Whereas this discovery inspired Johnson to create the People for Community 
        Recovery, an organization which fights for a safer environment;
Whereas Johnson and the People for Community Recovery fought to educate and 
        empower the residents of Altgeld Gardens, including providing workshops 
        and trainings, conducting health surveys, rallying residents to protest 
        contamination, and working with youth in the community;
Whereas the People for Community Recovery put pressure on the Chicago Housing 
        Authority to remove asbestos from Altgeld Gardens;
Whereas Johnson's fight for clean water led to the installation of water and 
        sewer lines by city health officials in the far South Side neighborhood 
        of Maryland Manor, where the existing well water was contaminated with 
        cyanide and other toxins;
Whereas Johnson used her vigilance and activism to give low-income minority 
        communities a voice and a stake in the environmental justice fight by 
        bringing the conversation to personal, immediate, and urgent concerns 
        which directly impact communities inhabited by people of color;
Whereas Johnson also strove to hold both businesses and the government 
        responsible for how their actions impact the environment;
Whereas Johnson was given the 1992 President's Environment and Conservation 
        Challenge Award in recognition of her environmental justice work;
Whereas notably, Johnson was instrumental in pressuring President Bill Clinton 
        to sign the Environmental Justice Executive Order, which holds the 
        Federal Government accountable for urban communities exposed to 
        pollution;
Whereas in 2004, sociologist David Naguib Pellow credited Johnson and the People 
        for Community Recovery with putting ``the South Side of Chicago on the 
        radar screen for activists and policy makers around the United States 
        who are concerned about environmental racism'';
Whereas, on January 12, 2011, the Illinois General Assembly, by way of a House 
        Joint Resolution, designated ``the portion of 130th Street from the 
        Bishop Ford Freeway to State Street in Chicago as the `Hazel Johnson EJ 
        Way''';
Whereas Johnson was a visionary, who was able to foresee the impacts of failing 
        to address environmental and social justice conditions; and
Whereas Johnson's work earned her the title of ``mother of the environmental 
        justice movement'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the designation of Hazel M. Johnson 
        Environmental Justice Month;
            (2) honors the work of Hazel M. Johnson and other 
        environmental justice advocates; and
            (3) calls upon the people of the United States to observe 
        Hazel M. Johnson Environmental Justice Month.
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