Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY), as designee of Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), offered an amendment to H.R. 7608, the State, Foreign Operations, Agriculture, Rural Development, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2021, which would block the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing the Trump Administration’s inadequate proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter, or soot. This proposed rule ignores the recommendations of scientists and agency experts, and it does not do enough to protect communities, particularly communities of color, from dangerous air pollution. Protecting vulnerable community members from the health impacts of air pollution is required under the Clean Air Act and is particularly pressing since COVID-19 is a respiratory pandemic disproportionately affecting communities of color. On July 24, the House approved the Tonko-Blunt Rochester amendment by a vote of 233-176 (House roll call vote 163). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The House passed H.R. 7608, including the Tonko-Blunt Rochester amendment, on July 24. The Tonko-Blunt Rochester amendment was not included in the FY21 appropriations bill (H.R. 133) that became law.