Duckworth Discusses Environmental Justice with Chicago’s People for Community Recovery

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with leaders from Chicago’s People for Community Recovery, the organization at the heart of the founding of the Environmental Justice movement. Duckworth spoke with People for Community Recovery Executive Director Cheryl Johnson and Deputy Director Courtney Hanson about how she, as a co-founder of the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus, can continue working with groups like People for Community Recovery to achieve health equity and climate justice for all, particularly for the Altgeld Gardens community and other underserved communities and communities of color in the state that have long been harmed by environmental injustices and the cumulative impacts of toxic pollutants. A photo from today’s meeting is available on the Senator’s website.

“I want to emphasize how simple this is: no one should have to drink brown water, breathe contaminated air or worry about pollution’s impact on their family’s health,” Duckworth said. “It was great to meet with Cheryl Johnson and People for Community Recovery again today to continue to discuss how, from the federal level, we can help bring Environmental Justice to the people and communities who have been overlooked for far too long, like Altgeld Gardens. I’ll keep pushing for Environmental Justice in Washington because all Americans deserve clean air, water and land regardless of their ZIP code, the size of their wallet or the color of their skin.”

Duckworth last met with Johnson, Hanson and People for Community Recovery in 2022 when she toured Altgeld Gardens—the birthplace of the Environmental Justice movement—on Chicago’s Southeast Side. People for Community Recovery is a non-profit founded by Hazel M. Johnson, “the mother of the Environmental Justice movement,” that focuses on enhancing the quality of life of residents living in communities affected by environmental pollution. The work of Hazel Johnson and the People for Community Recovery influenced President Bill Clinton to sign an Executive Order in 1994 which called for the Environmental Protection Agency to incorporate Environmental Justice principles into their work.

Duckworth is a fierce advocate for Environmental Justice. Last Congress, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022 which included several of Duckworth’s Environmental Justice provisions that would establish a federal advisory committee on Environmental Justice at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), reduce the cost share for restoration projects that benefit economically disadvantaged communities and enhance workforce development in STEM and water infrastructure with a focus on diversity and outreach in disadvantaged communities. In 2021, Duckworth’s bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA) was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help rebuild our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure.

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