I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5343 
To provide for the issuance of a commemorative postage stamp in honor 
of Hazel M. Johnson, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2019 
Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Oversight and Reform 
A BILL 
To provide for the issuance of a commemorative postage 
stamp in honor of Hazel M. Johnson, and for other purposes. 
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 Me-
morial Stamp Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Hazel Johnson fought for environmental 
justice in Chicago beginning in the 1970s and con-
tinuing through the rest of her life. 
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(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) Johnson discovered her community, Altgeld 
Gardens, 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. 
(7) The People for Community Recovery put 
pressure on the Chicago Housing Authority to re-
move asbestos from Altgeld Gardens. 
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(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. 
(13) In 2004, sociologist David Naguib Pellow 
credited Johnson and the People for Community Re-
covery with putting ‘‘the South Side of Chicago on 
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the radar screen for activists and policy makers 
around the United States who are concerned about 
environmental racism’’. 
(14) On January 12, 2011, the Illinois General 
Assembly, by way of a House Joint Resolution, des-
ignated ‘‘the portion of 130th Street from the 
Bishop Ford Freeway to State Street in Chicago as 
the ‘Hazel Johnson EJ Way’ ’’. 
(15) Johnson was a visionary, who was able to 
foresee the impacts of failing to address environ-
mental and social justice conditions. 
(16) Johnson’s work earned her the title of 
‘‘mother of the environmental justice movement’’. 
SEC. 3. HAZEL M. JOHNSON COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE 
STAMP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Postmaster General shall 
issue a commemorative postage stamp in honor of Hazel 
M. Johnson. 
(b) DENOMINATION; DESIGNS.—The commemorative 
postage stamp issued under this Act shall be issued in the 
denomination used for first class mail up to one ounce in 
weight and shall bear such designs as the Postmaster Gen-
eral shall determine. 
(c) ISSUANCE PERIOD.—The commemorative postage 
stamp issued under this Act shall be placed on sale as 
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soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this 
Act and shall be sold for such period thereafter as the 
Postmaster General shall determine. 
Æ 
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