I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5340 
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Hazel M. Johnson, 
in recognition of her achievements and contributions to the environmental 
justice movement. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2019 
Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, 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 
A BILL 
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Hazel 
M. Johnson, in recognition of her achievements and con-
tributions to the environmental justice movement. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hazel M. Johnson 
Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Hazel Johnson fought for environmental 
justice in Chicago beginning in the 1970s and con-
tinuing through the rest of her life. 
(2) When Johnson discovered that the South 
Side of Chicago had the highest cancer rate of any 
area in Chicago, she was inspired to investigate the 
cancer rates, foul odors, and number of children 
with respiratory illnesses in her own neighborhood, 
the community of Altgeld Gardens on the South 
Side of Chicago. 
(3) She 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. 
(4) Additionally, the Altgeld Gardens homes 
had asbestos and elevated lead levels. 
(5) This discovery inspired Johnson to create 
the People for Community Recovery, an organization 
which fights for a safer environment. 
(6) Johnson and the People for Community Re-
covery 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 community. 
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(7) The People for Community Recovery put 
pressure on the Chicago Housing Authority to re-
move asbestos from Altgeld Gardens. 
(8) Johnson’s fight for clean water led to the 
installation of water and sewer lines by city health 
officials in the far South Side neighborhood of Mary-
land Manor, where the existing well water was con-
taminated with cyanide and other toxins. 
(9) 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 directly impact communities inhab-
ited by people of color. 
(10) Johnson also strove to hold both busi-
nesses and the government responsible for how their 
actions impact the environment. 
(11) Johnson was given the 1992 President’s 
Environment and Conservation Challenge Award in 
recognition of her environmental justice work. 
(12) Notably, Johnson was instrumental in 
pressuring President Bill Clinton to sign the Envi-
ronmental Justice Executive Order, which holds the 
Federal Government accountable for urban commu-
nities exposed to pollution. 
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