congressional_record: CREC-2017-03-16-pt1-PgH2089
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-2017-03-16-pt1-PgH2089 | 2017-03-16 | 115 | 1 | RECOGNIZING RESIGNATION OF MUSTAFA ALI | HOUSE | HOUSE | RECOGNIZING | H2089 | H2089 | [{"name": "A. Donald McEachin", "role": "speaking"}] | 163 Cong. Rec. H2089 | Congressional Record, Volume 163 Issue 46 (Thursday, March 16, 2017) [Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 46 (Thursday, March 16, 2017)] [House] [Page H2089] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] RECOGNIZING RESIGNATION OF MUSTAFA ALI The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. McEachin) for 5 minutes. Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Mr. Mustafa Ali's 24 years of service to the health and wellness of the American people. On March 7, Mr. Ali sent his resignation to Administrator Scott Pruitt. He resigned from his post as the leader of the Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Justice program. For more than 2 decades, Mr. Ali led our Nation's leaders on environmental justice in their search for equalizing the playing field for vulnerable communities that have been victims of actions that threaten their public health and the quality of their air, water, and land. In his letter, Mr. Ali said, in part: Communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous populations are still struggling to receive equal protections before the law. These communities, both rural and urban, often live in areas with toxic levels of air pollution, crumbling or nonexistent water and sewer infrastructure, lead in their drinking water, brownfields from vacant former industrial and commercial sites, Superfund and other hazardous waste sites, as well as other sources of exposures to pollutants. Despite the many challenges we face regarding the impacts of pollution and a changing climate, we have just as many effective tools and programs, with long track records of assisting vulnerable communities in meeting their goals of improving public health and enhancing the environmental quality of their local communities. Mr. Ali's resignation is a signal for me. In my eyes, a longtime soldier in the fight to level the playing field for all Americans to live in a clean environment left the Environmental Protection Agency because it was no longer welcoming for individuals who want to work with facts. As we await the President's fiscal year 2018 budget, we need to remember how impactful Environmental Justice programs are to our constituents' health. Flint is one of the most salient examples of what can happen when environmental justice watchdogs are not empowered to do their good work. ____________________ |