releases: https://mceachin.house.gov/media/press-releases/mceachin-leads-more-60-colleagues-bicameral-letter-congressional-leadership
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://mceachin.house.gov/media/press-releases/mceachin-leads-more-60-colleagues-bicameral-letter-congressional-leadership | McEachin Leads More than 60 Colleagues in Bicameral Letter to Congressional Leadership Urging Assistance for Environmental Justice Communities in COVID-19 Relief Package | 2020-12-08 | 2020 | 2020-12 | Democrat | Senate | VA | A. McEachin | M001200 | mceachin.house.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Representative A. Donald McEachin (VA-04), co-chair and co-founder of the United for Climate and Environmental Justice Task Force, today announced a bicameral letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to include robust assistance for environmental justice communities in forthcomingCOVID-19 relief legislation. In the letter, 10 U.S. Senators led bySenators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill)andCory Booker (D-NJ)and over 50 members of the House co-led byRepresentatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07),Nanette Diaz Barragn (CA-44),Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del-At Large),Bobby L. Rush (IL-01),Rashida Tlaib (MI -13), Raul Ruiz (CA-36)andRepresentative Ral M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, call for the next COVID-19 package to prioritize the needs and recovery of environmental justice communities and ensure that the principles of equity and justice are centered in this response. Specifically, the Senators and Representatives wrote that the next package must provide quality water and ensure drinking water services; increase access to and investment in energy assistance programs; accelerate the deployment of zero emissions transportation and goods movement; support programs that support workforce development and pollution reduction; and address health impacts and support programs that improve the health of environmental justice communities. The decades-old legacy of racism and environmental inequity has made environmental justice communities including low-income communities, communities of color and Tribal and indigenous communities in the U.S. and U.S. territories especially vulnerable to COVID-19,wrote the lawmakers.Research illustrates a clear link between higher levels of environmental risk, including exposure to air pollution and higher rates of coronavirus mortality. As a result, members of environmental justice communities and communities of color, who are more likely to reside in areas with higher levels of pollution or live on the fenceline' of industry and transportation corridors, are disproportionately impacted by the virus. The letter builds on calls from Members of Congress since the onset of the pandemic urging the passage of legislation to address the needs of environmental justice communities during the COVID-19 crisis, including aletterfrom Congressman McEachin, Chair Grijalva and more than 40 of their colleagues in March urging House and Senate leadership toconsider a number of provisions to ensure future relief bills address social equity and environmental health issues and aletterfrom Senator Duckworth, Senator Booker and 14 of their colleagues in April to Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer requesting assistance in the fourth COVID-19 relief package for environmental justice communities. Given the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental justice communities, it is critical that we work to pass legislation to address the needs of frontline and fenceline communities,the letter continued.Though we were pleased by the inclusion of several provisions within the House-passed Heroes Acts, including certain provisions outlined in the described letters, we reassert that any future COVID-19 relief legislation should incorporate the full measure of provisions to deliver relief to these communities. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |