[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 96 (Thursday, June 19, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H5500-H5501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL POLLINATOR WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, Members of Congress come to the floor to 
take the opportunity to urge that we deal with the great issues of the 
day--the failure of the House of Representatives to deal with climate 
challenge and global warming; to reduce senseless gun violence; and the 
crying need to rebuild and renew America and pay for the rebuilding--
but there are also a range of other issues that don't, on the surface, 
appear to be quite that important, but play a critical part in the 
bigger picture.
  Today, I would like to address just one small part of the bigger 
picture because this is National Pollinator Week, where we recognize 
the importance of honeybees and over 250,000 other species that 
pollinate our food and which create $20 billion to $30 billion in 
agricultural production in the United States every year. Honeybees 
alone are responsible for pollinating one in every three bites of food 
we eat. Nearly 100 varieties of fruits depend on honeybee pollination.
  While significant media attention has been devoted in recent years to 
the decline of honeybees, there is evidence of wild pollinator 
declines. Native bees are especially important to a number of iconic 
northwest agricultural products--such as cherries, apples, berries, as 
well as seed crops like alfalfa, canola, and vegetable seed.
  I am proud that, in my community, we are home to the internationally-
renowned Xerces Society, a nonprofit in the forefront of pollinator 
protection and habitat conservation, which harnesses the knowledge of 
scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation 
programs worldwide.
  We saw in our community that businesses were stepping up to educate 
citizens and give pollinators a home. Last year, the rooftops of two 
local New Seasons Market grocery stores became home to several honeybee 
colonies--over 50,000 small pollinators--as part of the store's Bee 
Part of the Solution campaign.
  Last summer, the Overlook neighborhood in my district started a 
project to become Portland's first pesticide-free neighborhood. 
Hundreds of households have committed to landscaping without the use of 
toxic chemicals to protect the habitat for not just bees, but wildlife 
as well.
  These efforts are very important because the pollinator species and 
the livelihoods they support are suffering catastrophic loss, reaching 
an alarming 42 percent loss in recent studies.

                              {time}  1015

  American beekeepers have been consistently reporting severe colony 
losses of this magnitude for the last several years. The situation is 
serious and can have a devastating impact both on our food systems and 
the environment.
  A certain class of insecticides, neonicotinoids, have been linked to 
damaging effects on honeybees and other pollinators, such as impairing 
their foraging and feeding behavior, disorientation, failure to find 
their way back to the beehives, weakened immunity, and interrupting the 
reproductive process.
  A year ago, over 50,000 bumblebees died in Oregon as a direct result 
of an exposure to a neonicotinoid lawfully applied to trees for 
cosmetic purposes--the largest bumblebee kill on record.
  Citing the mounting threats from these pesticides that honeybees and 
other pollinators now face and the importance and the value of the 
pollination process, last year Congressman Conyers and I introduced 
H.R. 2692, Saving America's Pollinators Act. The bill would direct the 
Environmental Protection Agency to immediately suspend the use of the 
most bee-toxic neonicotinoids and review the impact

[[Page H5501]]

they have on pollinators and on the entire food chain and make a new 
determination about their proper application and safe use.
  I hope that during Pollinator Week my colleagues will consider 
joining the 65 bipartisan cosponsors in this effort. While lots of 
major issues tie Congress into partisan knots, being able to protect 
the pollination process and its impact on the environment is a small 
step to protect the environment and is one that can actually bring us 
together in a low-cost, high-impact way.
  I urge my colleagues to consider joining me in this effort.

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