Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff pressed the Trump Administration’s EPA Administrator on the cancellation of a health clinic for Thomasville, Georgia.
Today, in a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies hearing, Sen. Ossoff pressed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin on why the Trump Administration canceled a Federal grant for the City of Thomasville to open a new health clinic and upgrade wastewater infrastructure.
According to local officials, the grant would have helped open a new health clinic near childcare centers in a community that struggles with air pollution.
Thomasville Mayor Todd Mobley told Sen. Ossoff’s office the award represented a “transformative opportunity to make vital health and safety improvements.” Earl Williams, who leads the Thomasville Community Development Corporation, called the grant a “game changer.”
After the grant was canceled, Williams told WTXL Tallahassee, “We all worked so hard for this, and we won. And then, all of a sudden, one day, it’s gone. And it was just a great sense of disappointment. It was almost like I lost a good friend.”
“Oftentimes, these rural communities don’t get the love and attention of the Federal government. They can be forgotten. In Georgia, big cities tend to get a lot of the Federal support. So there was great news for the good people of Thomasville last year when they won an EPA grant to help build a new health clinic, rehabbing the gym and the school to build a new Federally qualified health center near three daycare centers, as well as to upgrade wastewater infrastructure,” Sen. Ossoff said in the hearing. “But Administrator, you canceled the grant, and I’d like to know why.”
Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s line of questioning.
Please find a transcript of Sen. Ossoff’s remarks and questioning below:
SEN. OSSOFF: “Administrator, good to see you and welcome.
ADMIN ZELDIN: “Thanks.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Administrator, are you familiar with Thomasville, Georgia?
ADMIN ZELDIN: “I don’t know. I’ve been a lot of parts of Georgia. I was just in Georgia about a week and a half ago.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Thomasville’s in Southwest Georgia. It is a great town known for southern hospitality. Great people, Mayor Mobley, Pastor Rich. There’s a lot of agricultural activity around there, there’s also history, a legacy, of heavy industry that has led to significant air pollution, and there remains significant concerns about air pollution, specifically Particulate Matter 2.5 and reported high levels of leukemia and pneumonia in and around Thomasville.
“And as you know, oftentimes these rural communities don’t get the love and attention of the Federal government. They can be forgotten. In Georgia, big cities tend to get a lot of the Federal support. So, there was great news for the good people of Thomasville last year when they won an EPA grant to help build a new health clinic, rehabbing the gym and the school to build a new Federally qualified health center, near three daycare centers, as well as to upgrade wastewater infrastructure.
“Earl Williams, who leads the Thomasville Community Development Corporation called the grant a ‘game changer.’
“Mayor Mobley said the award represented a quote, ‘transformative opportunity to make vital health and safety improvements.’
“But Administrator, you canceled the grant, and I’d like to know why.”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “So I’m looking at… This was part of the environmental and climate justice block grant program?”
SEN. OSSOFF: “That’s right.”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “So, the… and this gets to an earlier interaction that we had, and Senator Rounds got at it as well. When Congress appropriates a block of funding, an Administration is going to apply their policy priorities to how that money is going to get spent. A new Administration comes in, we still have to spend the appropriated funding unless something changes with congress….”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Administrator with respect, I understand the appropriations process. My question is why you canceled this grant? What is it about building a new health clinic and upgrading wastewater infrastructure for my constituents in Thomasville, Georgia, that’s inconsistent with the administration policy?”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “So, I don’t have the full grant in front of me. I only have a top line which program it came out of. So, when a new Administration comes in and they apply their policy priorities, President Trump…”
SEN. OSSOFF: “You’re repeating yourself. My question is why you canceled this grant?”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “So, when a new Administration comes in, in this case, President Trump, put out executive orders as it relates to environmental justice, with regards to DEI, I would imagine that, if we look at more details…”
SEN. OSSOFF: “What does this have to do… is a new health clinic for Thomasville, Georgia, woke?”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “As I imagine, as we look through the details of the particular program, there must be some aspects of this applying the last Administration’s priorities on environmental justice, or DEI…”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Here’s a community, here’s a community that suffered from air pollution, has a high disease burden as a result. Finally, the Federal government comes. They’re going to help build a health clinic and upgrade some infrastructure. You canceled the grant, devastating for the community.
“Here’s what the head of the Community Development Corporation said about your decision to cancel this grant, denying my constituents a new health clinic and new wastewater infrastructure, a decision you made, that hurts my constituents in Thomasville. Here’s what he said, quote, ‘we all worked so hard for this and we won. And then all of a sudden, one day, it’s gone. And it was just a great sense of disappointment. It was almost like, I lost a good friend.’
“He sent me another letter said, quote, ‘our community is devastated.’
“You hurt my constituents, and I don’t need a civics lesson on the appropriations process or a broad critique of this program. I want to know why you canceled this grant.”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “Senator, so you’re … when you go back to them and ask, ‘Well, did you find out why the grant got canceled?’
SEN. OSSOFF: “Well, do you know why? I’m asking you, you canceled the grant.”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “You can say…”
SEN. OSSOFF: “I don’t need to ask them why the grant got canceled, because it was your decision. So tell me why you canceled the grant.
ADMIN ZELDIN: “So you could say, I asked the question and then decided to spend the entire five minutes cutting him off eight times in the middle of his first answer, so I was unable to get a full response.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Why don’t you answer the question specifically and directly? Why did you cancel this grant? Why are you denying my constituents a new health clinic and new wastewater infrastructure?”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “Do you want me to repeat anything that I said in the past?”
SEN. OSSOFF: “I want you to actually answer the question with specificity and not give a broad critique of this overall program or a lesson on how the appropriations process works.”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “If you were listening to anything that I said, Senator…”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Okay you don’t have an answer.”
ADMIN ZELDIN: “Say whatever you want, Senator.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Thank you, Madam Chair.”
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