[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 92 (Friday, June 24, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HIGHWAYS BETTERING THE ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT ACT OF 2011

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 24, 2011

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Highways Bettering the Economy and Environment Act with my Co-Chairman 
of the Congressional Pollinator Protection Caucus, Representative Tim 
Johnson. This bi-partisan bill provides much-needed aid for the birds, 
bats, bees and butterflies that pollinate our food.
  The Highways BEE Act seeks no new monies and involves a limited 
federal role. It has received widespread endorsement from a diverse 
group of scientists, researchers and members of the business and 
environmental communities including the National Audubon Society, 
Lafarge Construction, National Farmers Union, the Isaac Walton League, 
American Farmland Trust, Waste Management, and Defenders of Wildlife.
  This bill provides for existing authorities and funding sources to 
incorporate integrated vegetation management practices along America's 
highways, which includes things like reduced mowing and replacing 
invasive plant species with native forbs and grasses. This kind of 
roadside vegetation management provides much-needed habitat for 
pollinators and other small nesting animals.
  The Association of American State Highway and Transportation 
Officials Vegetation Management Guidelines released in March advances 
integrated vegetation management principles and recommendations 
consistent with the objectives of this legislation. A number of states, 
including Minnesota, are already doing this and reporting maintenance 
cost savings of 20 to 25 percent from reduced mowing alone.
  Mr. Speaker, there are around 17 million acres of land where 
significant reductions in mowing and maintenance can reduce costs for 
cash-strapped states. The millions of acres of agriculture and wildlife 
ecosystems adjacent to these roadways will benefit from the increased 
pollinator habitat resulting from integrated vegetation management 
practices.
  To understand how worried we should be about declining pollinator 
populations, consider that rising global food prices are the primary 
topic of discussion at the G-20 meetings in Paris right now. This is 
the first time that agriculture has had the top spot at a meeting and 
is indicative of how serious the issue is. Food prices have already led 
to global riots overseas and a declining pollinator population will 
only make the situation worse. Seventy-five percent of all flowering 
plant species rely on creatures like birds, bats, bees and butterflies 
for fertilization. One out of every three bites of food that we eat, as 
well as $20 billion of products in the United States alone, derive from 
pollinators.
  If we don't solve these problems soon, we won't have any bees. 
Without bees, we won't have any food. The benefit to cost balance in 
the case of this bill, Mr. Speaker, is an easy choice.

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