Environmental Justice matters.

Earth Day has been a catalyst for the enactment of some of our nation's most important laws.

We must begin to eliminate the mentality that our nation's poorest communities can be used as dumping grounds for our industrial achievements.

It is not a question of whether we can afford to protect the environment, rather it is a question of whether we can afford not to.

In closing, I leave you with this thought, it is not a question of whether we can afford to protect the environment, rather it is a question of whether we can afford not to.

Environmental Justice matters. We must begin to eliminate the mentality that our nation's poorest communities can be used as dumping grounds for our industrial achievements.

I would like to call to your attention the importance of volunteerism to our Nation.

Instead, a greater importance must be placed on volunteerism as a means of helping people.

I would like to personally congratulate the Retired Senior Volunteers Program on their upcoming 25th anniversary.

For the past twenty-five years, Prologue, Inc. has provided an invaluable service to thousands of Chicago residents.

This community-based organization is improving the quality of life for thousands by helping to deliver a brighter future to those in need.

Prologue, Inc. has also established an intergenerational alternative education program, and has provided community-based educational, counseling, and referral services for low-income juvenile offenders.

Through its high school diploma program, Prologue, Inc. has assisted hundreds of out-of-school youths and older adults to receive their high school diplomas or their GED.

Furthermore, more than 200 low-income families will have an opportunity to participate in Prologue's citywide welfare-to-work initiative.

I rise before you today to commend two of my constituents from Springfield, Illinois, John and Virginia Gaffney, for their tireless work on a volunteer mission with the International Executive Service Corps in Egypt.

This kind of personalized foreign assistance is vital to accelerating the development of free enterprise and democracy around the globe.

I am joining with Chairman Talent, Ranking Member Velazquez and the Small Business Committee in support of the Disaster Mitigation Coordination Act.

I am hopeful that our fellow members on both sides of the aisle will stand with us by cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.