Clean Air and Healthy Parks Go Hand in Hand

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEXTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as someone who cherishes both the breathtaking beauty of our national parks and the fundamental right to clean air.

When one asks what sets the United States apart, our national parks top the list, yet, increasingly, so does our dirty and polluted air. That should alarm us all.

The Washington Post recently reported on what too many of us already know: Air pollution and climate change are choking even the most treasured corners of our country.

Wildfire smoke now blankets our parks each summer. Haze clouds once- clear views. The places we go to breathe deep and reconnect with nature are being smothered by our inaction.

At Look Rock in the Great Smoky Mountains, I saw how long-term air quality monitoring helps us track these threats, but data alone isn't enough. We must have the courage to act.

As a physician and mother, I know what is at stake. Every child deserves to explore our parks without wheezing from smoke or smog.

Clean air and healthy parks go hand in hand, and they are worth fighting for.

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