The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the in the Senate section section on page S6672 on Nov. 14.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Booker, Ms.
Duckworth, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Warren, and Mr.
Merkley):
S. 5081. A bill to establish an Office of Environmental Justice within the Department of Justice, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Empowering and Enforcing Environmental Justice Act to improve efforts at the Department of Justice to hold polluters accountable and to build capacity at State, local, and Tribal governments to do the same.
The Empowering and Enforcing Environmental Justice Act builds on the recent announcement by the Department of Justice to launch a new Office of Environmental Justice. My bill would make this new office permanent and authorize $50 million in grant funding to assist State, local, and Tribal governments with their own environmental enforcement efforts. It would also create a new Section for Environmental Justice within the Environment and Natural Resources Division to bring cases for violations of environmental laws in low-income communities and communities of color burdened by pollution.
Environmental hazards like air, water, and land pollution disproportionately affect communities that have been historically marginalized, such as Tribal communities, low-income populations, and communities of color. Many of these communities have been further neglected by decades of underinvestment in housing, transportation, water and wastewater infrastructure, and healthcare. The codification of a permanent Office of Environmental Justice will ensure that DOJ coordinates with Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies to advance environmental justice and will give communities a seat at the table where decisions impacting their communities are being made. Further, a permanent Environmental Justice Section will help ensure that environmental justice is at the forefront of DOJ's enforcement work while improving enforcement of title VI of the Civil Rights Act to investigate civil rights complaints related to environmental justice.
Finally, the new grant program this legislation would establish would improve the capacity of State, local, and Tribal agencies to launch their own environmental enforcement efforts--which is necessary for a whole-of-government approach to reversing environmental injustice.
Enforcement of our Nation's bedrock environmental laws cannot be something that ebbs and flows between administrations but must be a constant commitment from the Federal Government to protecting the communities most over-exposed to pollution. Enacting this legislation will guarantee a long-term commitment by the Federal Government to advancing environmental justice and to building healthier, cleaner communities.
I am grateful to Representative Barragan for leading this effort in the House of Representatives, and I am thankful that the Department of Justice is willing to prioritize defending environmental justice. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this bill as quickly as possible.
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