Rep. Summer Lee Joins People’s Hearing in Pittsburgh To Set New Agenda for Change

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 21, 2025 - Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) joined Pittsburgh leaders and members of communities throughout Pennsylvania and beyond who gathered to testify as part of The People's Hearing Tour: Speak Easy, Speak Free-a national call for courage, care and collective action.

"I'm grateful to bear witness and carry these testimonies back to Congress to inform our work, including in the first-ever People's Environmental Justice Caucus, in the Environmental Justice for All Act, and beyond," said Congresswoman Summer Lee. "These legislative actions aim to amplify the voices of those most impacted by environmental racism and injustice-because Washington doesn't get to decide what's best for communities."

"It takes collective leadership to build power," said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. "Today, I feel like I'm in a room of peoplethat have influence."

The two-day event, which continues tomorrow at the Omni William Penn, is intended to build community and to forge a new policy agenda for the coming years to ensure the health of current and future generations. Those who testified spoke about coal mines, fracking, radioactive waste, data centers and housing insecurity, documenting trauma, grief and a wide range of health impacts from asthma to chemical burns.

"Air pollution is my biggest enemy," said Natalie Morris with 412 Justice, who testified about dust in the air in her community, and relies on oxygen. "I'm speaking for everyone who has a breathing problem - please help us."

Communities across the country have begun bearing witness to the real impacts of pollution, displacement and economic inequity, while lifting up solutions that heal our health, land and work. The People's Hearing Tour has already galvanized action in North Carolina and Arizona.

"Never let anybody tell you that you don't exist and that your reality is not reality," said Dr. Beverly Wright, of the People's Environmental Justice Advisory Council (PEJAC), who is the founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. PEJAC launched the tour together with nonprofit partners, and itself grew out of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council(WHEJAC).

"The power of the people is stronger than the people in power," said Kendra Brooks, Philadelphia City Council At-Large Member, "I feel the need to encourage you that there are elected officials who are willing to show up and hear what you have to say."

Likewise, Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, Allegheny County Council District 8 Representative, told those testifying, "Your voices make a difference," citing important improvements to the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper Rule that are helping ensure clean water for communities nationwide. "At this time, more than ever, it is so critically important for you to be talking to each other," she said. "These are the stories that matter. These are the stories that move policy change."

The hearing continues tomorrow as attendees share more individual experiences, and work together to establish priorities and share environmental justice solutions.

For more information on the event or to connect with its leaders or participants, please contact Anne Hawke, [email protected], or at (202) 329-1463.

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania's infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.