Recognizing National Pollinator Week

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of National Pollinator Week. I am honored to be the Representative of three cities each named a Monarch City U.S.A.: Oak Harbor, Port Clinton, and Sandusky, Ohio. They are bestowed this title for their citizenries' efforts to support the monarch butterfly, a noble and substantial pollinator, by planting milkweed and nectar plants.

With beekeepers having lost 40 percent of their bee colonies last year, it is imperative that Congress follow my constituents' lead to protect and support pollinator populations. The 2018 farm bill and the fiscal year 2020 Agriculture appropriations bill prioritized a commitment to the welfare of pollinators for the sake of human life. The farm bill authorized the Honey Bee and Pollinator Research Coordinator, and the Appropriations Committee funded the position to strengthen our research and protect pollinators from extinction.

In the spirit of National Pollinator Week and as an honored cosponsor of the Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2019, please join me in celebrating the beauty and utility and essential presence in our environment of one of nature's finest constructs: pollinators.

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