Rashida Tlaib: “I would like to begin by thanking Chairman Grijalva, Congresswoman DeGette, and the committee staff for working with me…”

“I would like to begin by thanking Chairman Grijalva, Congresswoman DeGette, and the committee staff for working with me on this amendment and for the continued leadership on this bill. The amendment incorporates environmental justice communities like mine into this space. It would require a report on permits by providers serving environmental justice communities. This measure, first introduced last Congress by the soon-to-be first Native American Cabinet Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior, Congresswoman Haaland, is an important step in identifying and removing barriers to access our public lands. Communities of color, low-income communities, indigenous communities, and those most impacted by pollution and climate change often have the least access to our national parks and Federal lands. My 13th District Strong is an environmental justice community, an area that the State calls the epicenter of the asthma burden due to corporate polluters. Folks in my district deserve the same opportunity to enjoy clean air and public lands as anyone else so they don't grow up like me, thinking that sulfur dioxide and rotten eggs was just how the air smelled. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to please support this amendment.”