Mr. KUCINICH: Mr. Chairman, a few years ago I visited an elementary school in Cleveland at the start of the school year. The children celebrating the beginning of their school year had released hundreds and hundreds of butterflies into the air.

Now, a butterfly is a powerful symbol in our society. It is a symbol of transformation, transformation from a caterpillar into this beautiful winged being. Butterflies excite the imagination, they enthrall us with their possibilities. Yet, the butterfly may become the next casualty of our brave new world.

We are all familiar with the genetically altered crops where pesticides are engineered right into the crop. A recent study indicates that pollen from such crops may have the potential to kill off butterflies, including the majestic and beautiful Monarch butterfly.

Mr. Chairman, my intention with this amendment is to provide the Agricultural Research Service with $100,000 to study the effects of pollen from genetically modified crops on harmless insects, and to study the effect on other species, including animals and humans, that may come in contact with the pollen.

Corn that has been genetically engineered with the pesticide Bt has been approved and was introduced to farmers' fields in 1996. It now accounts for one-fourth of the Nation's corn crop. Bt is toxic to European and Southwestern corn borers, caterpillars that mine into corn stalks and destroy developing ears of corn.

According to a recent study conducted at Cornell University, it is also deadly to Monarch butterflies. The Cornell study found that after feeding a group of larvae, milkweed leaves dusted with Bt pollen, almost half died. The larvae that did survive were small and lethargic.

The implications of this are very clear. Pollen from Bt-exuding corn spreads to milkweed plants, which grow around the edges of cornfields. Monarch larvae feed exclusively on milkweed. Every year, Monarchs migrate from Mexico and southern States, and many of them grow from caterpillars into beautiful black, orange, and white butterflies in the United States corn belt during the time the corn pollination occurs.

I am sure that millions of Americans have had the experience of taking their children in hand and going into a pasture and watching for beautiful butterflies to come by and visiting an arboretum, a zoo, a park and watching the butterflies.

Well, now, if we read the Washington Post, it says that pollen from plants can blow onto nearby milkweed plants, the exclusive food upon which the Monarch larvae feed, and get eaten by the tiger-striped caterpillars.

At laboratory studies at Cornell, the engineered pollen killed nearly half of those young before they transformed into the brilliant orange, black, and white butterflies so well-known throughout North America. Several scientists expressed concern that if the new study results are correct, then monarchs, which already face ecological pressures, but so far have managed to hold their own, may soon find themselves on the Endangered Species list. Other butterflies may soon be at risk.

From the Friends of the Earth we hear, "The failure of Congress and the administration to ensure more careful control over genetically modified organisms has unleashed a frightening experiment on the people and environment of the United States. It is time to look more closely at the flawed review process of the three Federal agencies that regulate genetically modified products: EPA, FDA, and USDA.

"The implications of the Cornell University study go far beyond Monarch butterflies and point to the need for a revamping of our regulatory framework on biotechnology."

Monarchs have already lost much of their habitat when tall-grass prairies were converted to farmland. We now need to protect them and other species that are harmless to farmers' crops, that may be adversely affected by Bt pollen.

It is shocking that more extensive studies like the one performed at Cornell were not done before the crop was approved. It also makes one wonder what effects other genetically altered crops may have on other species, such as birds, bees, and even humans, and if adequate risk assessments are being done on bioengineered products before they are approved and released into the environment.

My fellow colleagues, more research obviously needs to be done on these transgenic crops. I ask my colleagues to support my amendment to protect Monarch butterflies from the harmful effects of genetically modified crops.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, last year I had the opportunity to visit Pelee Island in Canada, which is a migration point for the Monarch butterflies. There is nothing more beautiful than to see hundreds of thousands of these beautiful creatures moving in a migratory pattern. It is an awesome sight. And yet, because of a lack of foresight on the part of our government, there is the possibility that these beautiful creatures may in fact be doomed. That is why this amendment is important.

NEXT CONGRESSWOMAN KAPTUR SPOKE

Ms. KAPTUR: Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the amendment dealing with research by the Agricultural Research Service for the Monarch butterfly. Let me just say that the Committee on Agriculture, which the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen) chairs and of which I am the ranking member, is the chief ecosystem committee of this Congress, and I believe, of this country.

There is an expression: "You can't fool Mother Nature." There are some fundamental questions being raised here by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) that are very important to the future of botanical life and biological life in our country. Because we have never before had these genetically engineered crops, we really do not know their long-term impacts.

I know recent articles in Scientific American and many newspapers indicate that as a result of butterflies, which are essential to pollinating crops so we can produce fruit and corn, and representing the eastern part of the eastern corn belt, we know something about corn and soybeans, and these butterflies are essential to our future. After being impacted by this pollen, 40 percent of them died. 40 percent. This is a profound result. So I think the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) brings to us a very important and current finding that is well deserving of research.

I also would say to the gentleman, I thank him for doing this, because I know he represents the inner part of Cleveland, Ohio; and one of my greatest concerns as another American is that we have the first generation of Americans now that have no connection to the land. We have literally raised the first generation of people in the Nation's history who do not spend the majority of their time raising their food or with any connection to production at all, so they are divorced from the experiences that he is talking about.

I would just say, for someone from Cleveland, Ohio, a major city in this country, to bring this amendment to the floor, to me, in some ways is a modern-day miracle. So I want to thank the gentleman, and I look forward to supporting him.

Mr. KUCINICH: Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR: I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. KUCINICH: Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentlewoman's response. And it is an honor to serve with the gentlewoman in this Congress, serving the people of Ohio.

She raised an interesting point, and that is, what effect do these genetically engineered products have on our natural environment? I mean, sometime in the 20th century there was kind of a disconnection between humanity and the natural environment; and we will spend, I suppose, a good part of the next century trying to reconnect.

The disassociation from the land which the gentlewoman speaks about is a profound disconnection from nature. I think that is why schoolchildren, for example, find it so fascinating to study butterflies. Because in some ways, that primal human sympathy which Wordsworth talked about in his poetry flutters in the heart when we see something so beautiful. And I think that as the schoolchildren, who spend time with their parents and their grandparents going to parks and zoos and arboretums, have the knowledge that this very beautiful butterfly could be impacted by this bioengineering, I think that we are going to see a response nationally. And it would be healthy because this country needs to look for opportunities to reconnect with our natural state.

So I thank the gentlewoman. I would hope that the esteemed chairman, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen) would be able to respond.

Mr. SKEEN: Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR: I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico.

Mr. SKEEN: Mr. Chairman, I will tell the gentleman I am all aflutter. I would like to say that I understand the concern of the gentleman, and I will continue to work with him to address this situation, and I think he has got a good program.

Mr. KUCINICH: Mr. Chairman, if the gentlewoman would continue to yield, I would be more than happy to work with the chair. I need the help of the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) and I need the help of the Chair. We can work together to address this issue, bring it to the committee.

With that kind of assurance, I say to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen), I will withdraw the amendment, but look forward to working with both of my colleagues to find the appropriate venue within the committee so that we can start to get these agencies to be aware of this major concern of public policy.

I thank the gentleman again for his work on this matter and for his work on the agricultural bill. And again, my gratitude to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). It is an honor to be with her in this House.

Ms. KAPTUR: Mr. Chairman, I say to the gentleman from Cleveland, Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) that I thank him very much for bringing this to the Nation's attention. He is a leader on this issue, and I look forward to working with our chairman to find an answer to this as we move toward the conference.

Return to National web page