2022-7-28 Khanna Opening Statement Letterhead Final Version

Hearing on “Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children” July 28, 2022 Thank you to our panel for being here, both in person and virtually. I am honored to welcome two residents of San Jose today, Maricela Lechuga and County of Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez. Maricela lives in East San Jose, blocks away from the Reid-Hillview airport. Her Mexican-American family has lived in the area for generations, and you will hear her powerful firsthand testimony about how leaded fuel impacts her family’s and her neighbors’ day-to-day lives. Supervisor Chavez is a powerhouse who has become a national leader in the fight to get lead out of aviation fuels. She is a fighter for the working class, and cares deeply about the most vulnerable in our community. I’m also happy to welcome Ranking Member Herrell to her first Subcommittee hearing as Ranking Member. I look forward to working together on robust environmental oversight. I’m holding this hearing today because I am outraged that our federal agencies have failed to prevent lead poisoning near small, “general aviation” airports. There are 20,000 such airports across the country, mostly sited in communities of color and low-wealth communities. Not only is this a historic injustice, but worse, still going on today. The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen a path of delay, holding up the approval of a lead-free alternative fuel for no stated reason. Worse, in similar tactics to those we’ve seen in our Committee’s investigation of climate delay and disinformation,…
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