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GSA TODAY | DECEMBER 2015 2014–2015 GSA-USGS Congressional
Science Fellow Final Report
A Legislative
Win and Final
Thoughts
Susanna Whitman Blair
My GSA-USGS Congressional Fellowship year has come to an
end. Over the past year I have learned an incredible amount and
feel deeply indebted to this experience. As a wrap-up, I want to
discuss a piece of legislation that I worked on.
One of my projects in Senator Gillibrand’s (D-NY) office was to
assist in researching and developing legislation as it pertains to
pollinator protection. Pollinators, such as honey bees, native bees,
butterflies, and other insects, are essential to many of the specialty with the BEE Act language, passed the Senate on 30 July 2015.
crops, such as apples and cucumbers, in New York. Globally, polli-
nation is necessary for at least 35% of the world’s crops and
upward of 90% of wild plants. This past spring, the President
released the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees
and Other Pollinators, highlighting the national problem of
declining bee populations and laying out a number of initiatives
to reduce the impacts of stressors on pollinator health. Beekeepers
throughout the U.S. have noticed an unusually high overwin-
tering mortality among honey bee colonies, known as colony
collapse disorder (CCD). Researchers investigating CCD and the
overall general population decline are finding that there is no one
single culprit, but a combination of stressors, including pesticides,
disease, parasites, changes to habitat quality, and habitat loss.
From a legislative perspective it is difficult to craft (and get
passed) one encompassing bill that would help alleviate the
problem of pollinator population decline. Beekeepers have stated
that one beneficial step would be to increase the natural foraging
landscape so that it is free from pesticides and contains a diversity
of vegetation. The Highways Bettering the Economy and the
Environment (BEE) Act attempts to do this. The bill proposes
integrated vegetation management practices, such as reduced
mowing and increased planting of pollinator-friendly native vege-
tation along highway right-of-ways. The bill has the potential to
create 17 million acres of natural pollinator habitat throughout
the country. This type of vegetation management has already been
implemented in many states and is shown to save nearly 20% in
right-of-way maintenance costs. It was first introduced in the
House by Representatives Denham (R-CA) and Hastings (D-FL).
I worked with my office to create a Senate companion bill.
The nation’s current surface transportation legislation will
expire at the end of October. This past summer the Environment
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and Public Works Committee (EPW) began the process of reau-
thorizing this legislation, which must first pass out of committee
before it can be voted on by the whole Senate. To move the BEE
Act forward, we worked with EPW staff to include the bill
language in the original base transportation bill that was first
voted on in EPW. Getting language in the bill requires approval by
the committee members who are drafting the bill, and in this case
was agreed upon by both parties due to the bipartisan importance
of getting this legislation reauthorized. By comparison, if the
pollinator legislation was introduced as an amendment or even a
stand-alone bill, it would require a separate individual vote,
which, given the climate of the Hill and the other legislation that
necessitates votes, it probably would not have gotten a chance. By
including the language in the base bill it nearly ensures that it will
become law (if the bill passes).
The six-year transportation reauthorization, The DRIVE Act,
Unfortunately, the committee did not accept the entire bill
language, but only included portions that encourage the use of
pollinator friendly vegetation, and excluded the portions that hold
states accountable or require reporting, leaving little to no teeth or
actionable items in the effort. I think this was a great piece of
legislation that could easily have been supported by both parties,
namely because it would save money—not a common occurrence.
I was pretty disappointed at the end result, but have accepted this
small success as a bee-sized step in the right direction for polli-
nator protection. This whole process was really instructive,
because I was able to follow an idea through to becoming law
(almost). Even with this seemingly non-divisive legislation, it
truly was a nuanced process.
I am very grateful to GSA and the USGS for funding this fellow-
ship, and I leave with determination and focus. I will remain in
D.C. and have accepted a position working for the EPA. My posi-
tion will be to translate and communicate chemical safety
research to further the mission of the agency to protect human
health and the environment. It is without a doubt that my experi-
ence over the past year helped me define the role of science in the
political process and my commitment to it. I encourage anyone
interested in this process to consider this fellowship, and if you
have any questions, please contact me at susanna.blair@gmail.
com. I want to welcome the 2015–2016 GSA-USGS Congressional
Science Fellow Karen Paczkowski, who will undoubtedly do a
great job over the next year.
The manuscript is submitted for publication by Susanna W. Blair,
2014–2015 GSA-USGS Congressional Science Fellow, with the
understanding that the U.S. government is authorized to reproduce
and distribute reprints for governmental use. The one-year fellow-
ship is supported by GSA and the U.S. Geological Survey, Department
of the Interior, under Assistance Award No. G14AP00161. The
views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the
author and should not be interpreted as representing the official
policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. government.