earl blumenauer was one of the sponsors of the bill. >> what we're attempting to do with this legislation is blow a whistle. stop moving forward with the products within the next 6 months that has this potential exceedingly damaging effect and prohibit their use until we're able to follow through on the research to prove that they're safe. >> but congressional action is unlikely any time soon. in 2014, neonics were banned by the cities of eugene, oregon and spokane, washington on municipal property. the u.s. fish and wildlife service announced plans to ban neonics from all wildlife refuges by 2016. and the white house launched an initiative to strengthen federal action to improve pollinator research and to protect pollinator habitat. >> there are things that we can't control or not easily regulate, things like climate change, even habitat loss are things that we can't control. but things like pesticides we can. >> well, nature is pretty good at fixing itself. but then that assumes that you're going to remove the pressures that we're putting on it now. >> we depend on all these things. we