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A bumblebee is now on the en-
dangered species list for the first
time in a “race against extinc-
tion,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service announced Tuesday.
The agency placed the rusty
patched bumblebee on the list be-
cause of a dramatic population
decline over the past 20 years.
Since the late 1990s, the popula-
tion of the species has plummet-
ed 87%.
Named because of the rust-col-
ored marks on its back, the bee
once was common and abundant
across 28 states from Connecti-
cut to South Dakota. Today, the
bee is only found in small, scat-
tered populations in 13 states.
“Our top priority is to act
quickly to prevent extinction of
the rusty patched bumblebee,”
wildlife service Midwest regional
director Tom Melius said in a
statement. “Listing the bee as en-
dangered will help us mobilize
partners and focus resources on
finding ways right now to stop the
decline.”Bees are responsible for polli-
nating most of the plants that re-
quire insect pollination to
produce fruits, seeds and nuts.
Like other bees, rusty patched
bumblebees pollinate important
crops such as tomatoes, cranber-
ries and peppers.
It’s not just the rusty patched
bumblebee that is struggling in
the U.S. Other species have expe-
rienced dramatic declines in re-
cent decades. The reduction is
believed to be caused by a combi-
nation of habitat loss, disease,
pesticide use, climate change and
an extremely small populationsize.
The endangered designation is
made by the U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service under the Endan-
gered Species Act for species at
risk of becoming extinct through-
out all or a portion of their range.
Environmental groups praised
the designation, including the
group that originally petitioned
for the listing in 2013, the Xerces
Society for Invertebrate
Conservation: “We are very
pleased to see one of North
America’s most imperiled species
receive the protection it needs,”
said Sarina Jepsen, director of en-dangered species for the group.
Environment America’s Chris-
ty Leavitt said that “protecting
the rusty patched bumblebee and
all bees is essential for our eco-
system and our food supply. If
bees go extinct, it’s simple: no
bees, no food,” she added.
“Today’s Endangered Species
listing is the best — and probably
last — hope for the recovery of
the rusty patched bumblebee,”
said Rebecca Riley, and attorney
with the Natural Resources De-
fense Council. “Bumblebees are
dying off, vanishing from our
farms, gardens, and parks, where
they were once found in great
numbers.”
People can help boost the rusty
patched bumblebee population
by growing a garden or adding a
native flowering tree or shrub to
yards and minimizing pesticide
use, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service said. Leaving some areas
of the yard unmowed in summer
and unraked in fall can also help
since bumblebees need a safe
place to build their nests and
overwinter. Additionally, try leav-
ing some standing plant stems in
gardens and flower beds in
winter.
This is the first bee of any type
in the continental U.S. to be
placed on the list. In September,
the Obama administration desig-
nated seven species of bees in Ha-
waii as endangered.Buzz kill: Bumblebee listed
as endangered for first time
Dramatic decline in
numbers is a risk to
food supply, ecologyDoyle Rice
@usatodayweather
USA TODAYDAN MULLEN, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE MIDWEST REGIONRusty patched bumblebee
population has dropped by
87% since the late 1990sseveral pitting demonstrators
against Capitol police. At least
eight others were dragged out
during the course of the session,
some yelling, “No Trump, no
KKK, no racist USA.”
Sessions sat silently while pro-
testers were moved before he
pressed ahead.
He affirmed to the Senate Judi-
ciary Committee that “I deeply
understand the history of civil
rights and the horrendous impact
that relentless and systemic dis-
crimination and the denial of vot-
ing rights has had on our
African-American brothers and
sisters. I have witnessed it. ...
While humans must recognize
the the limits of their abilities —
and I do — I am ready for this job.
We will do it right.”
Addressing claims that he sym-
pathized with hate groups, in-
cluding the KKK, and sought to
intimidate black voters in a con-
troversial voting fraud prosecu-
tion in 1985, Sessions called the
assertions “false.”
He denied referring to civil
rights organizations as “un-
American,” an allegation made
during his failed bid for a federal
judgeship in 1986.
That hearing, Sessions said,
propelled an inaccurate “carica-
ture” of his views on race and
equality. “I do hope that I’m per-
haps wiser and maybe a little bet-
ter today,” he said. “I did not
harbor the kind of racial insensi-
tivity that I was accused of. I did
not.”
Responding to questions from
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D -Vt., he re-
jected any attempt, as once pro-
posed by Trump, to deny
prospective Muslim immigrants
entry to the USA on the basis of
their religion.
“I do not believe that Muslims
as a religious group should be de-
nied entry to the U.S.,” Sessions
said.
Khizr Khan, a vocal critic of
Trump and the father of a Mus-
lim soldier killed while serving in
Iraq, sat a few rows behind the
nominee. Khan has urged the
Senate to reject Sessions’ nomi-
nation.
On the broader issue of immi-
gration, the senator conceded
that the federal government
lacked the resources to engage in
a mass deportation of undocu-
mented immigrants, as Trump
has suggested.
“We are not in a position, fi-
nancially or otherwise, to seek
out and remove (all undocument-
ed immigrants),” Sessions said.
“Let’s fix the system.”
He affirmed an unstinting
stance on border security.
“We will prosecute those who
repeatedly violate our borders,”
the nominee told the panel. “It
will be my priority to confront
these crises vigorously, effectively
and immediately.”
In one of the first questions
Sessions fielded, he said he would
recuse himself from any investi-gations related to former Demo-
cratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton. Sessions said his
objectivity could be called into
question because of his state-
ments about Clinton during the
presidential campaign last year.
Sessions pledged that he would
“systematically” prosecute gun
crimes.
Some of the most vocal re-
sponses from protesters came af-
ter Sessions affirmed his support
for maintaining the military de-
tention facility holding suspected
terrorists at Guantanamo Bay,
which the Obama administration
has long sought to shut down.
Guantanamo, Sessions told
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,
serves its purpose “marvelously
well.”
“No!” shouted protesters who
jumped to their feet in the rear
gallery. At least two of the protes-
ters struggled with police officers
as they were removed.
Though the closure of the con-
troversial facility proved to be a
non-starter for Sessions, he ac-
knowledged that the interroga-
tion tactic known as
waterboarding was illegal. The
senator had expressed support
for harsh tactics in questioning
terror suspects.
Sessions sought to distance
himself from some of the strident
rhetoric espoused during the pri-
mary and general election cam-
paigns and immediately after
Trump’s election.
On Russia’s alleged use of cybe-
respionage, Sessions, unlike the
president-elect, said there was
“no reason to doubt” the assess-
ment of U.S. intelligence agencies
that Russia sought to influence
the presidential election in favor
of Trump.
Leahy referred to Trump’s
comments about groping women
and asked whether the unwantedgrabbing of genitals amounted to
sexual assault. Sessions respon-
ded with little equivocation:
“Clearly, it would be.”
California Sen. Dianne Fein-
stein, the panel’s ranking Demo-
crat, urged a close examination of
her longtime colleague’s record
and his close association with
Trump — he was the first U.S.
senator to throw his support be-
hind the candidate.
“The senator before us this
morning is someone many of us
on this committee have worked
with for 20 years,” Feinstein said.
“That makes this very difficult for
me. ... We cannot ignore that
there are deep concerns and anxi-
ety throughout America. There isa deep fear about what the Trump
administration will bring in many
places. And it is in this context in
which we must consider Sen. Ses-
sions’ record and nomination to
become the chief law enforce-
ment officer of America.”
A coalition of civil rights advo-
cates have stepped up their oppo-
sition in recent days, renewing a
call for a hearing delay while
characterizing the nominee as
“unfit.” Many of them were in the
standing-room-only hearing
room gallery.
The NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, which de-
scribed Sessions’ nomination as
“particularly fraught,” was repre-
sented throughout the hearing
room. Sherrilyn Ifill, the group’s
president, has cited Sessions’failed prosecution of a voter fraud
case in Alabama in 1985 involving
three black activists that has be-
come a cause célèbre for the sen-
ator’s opponents.
The three were quickly acquit-
ted, though the case has followed
the senator with questions about
whether he, as a federal prosecu-
tor, sought to intimidate black
voters.
Albert Turner Jr., the son of
two of the activists charged in the
case, issued a surprise endorse-
ment of Sessions’ last week, dis-
missing claims that the
prosecutor’s actions were moti-
vated by race.
“My differences in policy and
ideology with him do not trans-
late to personal malice,” Turner
said. “He is not a racist. ... He was
presented with evidence by a lo-
cal district attorney that he relied
on, and his office presented the
case. That’s what a prosecutor
does. I believe him when he says
that he was simply doing his job.”
Turner’s mother, Evelyn, said
the matter remained a painful
chapter in the family’s life and
would not support Sessions’
nomination.
Sessions said the case was
brought with no racial animus,
adding that the prosecution had
contributed to the “inaccurate”
portrayal of him as racially insen-
sitive. “The caricature created of
me was not accurate then; it is
not accurate now,” he told Sen.
Graham.
Sessions’ team has assembled a
stable of high-profile supporters.
Among them: former attorney
general Michael Mukasey, former
deputy attorney general Larry
Thompson and former FBI direc-
tor Louis Freeh. Mukasey and
Thompson, who sat behind the
nominee throughout Tuesday’s
session, are set to testify on Ses-
sions’ behalf Wednesday.Sessions objects to ‘caricature’
v CONTINUED FROM1AJACK GRUBER, USA TODAY
Protesters stand as Sen. Jeff Sessions, nominee for attorney general, arrives for his confirma-
tion hearing. Capitol police moved protesters out when they became disruptive.“I do not believe
that Muslims as a
religious group
should be denied
entry to the U.S.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions , R-Ala.sure, America is a stronger, better
place than it was when we start-
ed.”
Though Obama is finishing his
term with a healthy approval rat-
ing — ahead of Donald Trump’s
standing by double digits in a
Quinnipiac University Poll re-
leased Tuesday — the election of
a political nemesis as his succes-
sor poses grave risks to what he
leaves behind on everything from
health care to climate change.
The situation includes this
ironic twist: Trump initially built
a political following by question-
ing Obama’s birthplace and the
legitimacy of his presidency. As
he prepares to turn over the
White House to Trump, Obama
finds himself defending the legiti-
macy of Trump’s presidency, in-
sisting to skeptics that the
election of this new commander
in chief doesn’t represent an
apocalypse that threatens Ameri-
can democracy.
He quieted boos from the audi-
ence when he noted that a new
administration would take over
in 10 days, lauding “the peaceful
transfer of power from one freely
elected president to the next.”
When the crowd chanted,
“Four more years!” to drown out
a protester, he said with a smile,
“I can’t do that.”
Obama spoke amid a new and
potentially explosive controversy
involving Trump. CNN first re-
ported, and USA TODAY and oth-
er news outlets confirmed, that
Obama and Trump were given
classified documents last week
that included allegations from
Russian operatives who claimed
to have compromising personal
and financial information about
Trump. The president-elect de-
nounced the report in a tweet, de-
riding it as “#fakenews.”
Obama’s decision to deliver a
farewell address, and the unprec-
edented venue he chose for it, are
part of his effort to make the case
for his legacy and rally his reeling
party. He is all too aware of the
impact Hillary Clinton’s defeat in
November is likely to have on his
legacy, one reason he and Mi-
chelle Obama campaigned so
fiercely on her behalf.
Obama will be succeeded by a
president elected with a promise
to repeal the Affordable Care Act,
reject the Pacific trade deal, with-
draw from the global climate
change agreement, undo the Iran
nuclear deal and reverse his exec-
utive orders on immigration.
Consider the comments by a
senior Trump adviser in an inter-
view with USA TODAY Monday
about Obama’s farewell address.
“It’s a great idea for him to do
this,” Kellyanne Conway said,
“because he knows that a great
deal of what he did is not going to
survive this next presidency, or
maybe even this next month, in
some cases.”
Obama:
Trump’s no
apocalypse
v CONTINUED FROM1A