IV 
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 Com-
mittee 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 Environ-
mental 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 Chi-
cago, she was inspired to investigate the cancer rates, 
foul odors, and number of children with respiratory ill-
nesses in her own neighborhood, the community of 
Altgeld Gardens on the South Side of Chicago; 
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•HRES 79 IH 
Whereas Johnson discovered her community, Altgeld Gar-
dens, 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 asbes-
tos 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 commu-
nity; 
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 installa-
tion 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 cya-
nide 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 di-
rectly 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; 
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Whereas Johnson was given the 1992 President’s Environ-
ment 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 Assem-
bly, 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. John-
son Environmental Justice Month; 
(2) honors the work of Hazel M. Johnson and 
other environmental justice advocates; and 
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