Jeff Flake: “I enjoy it when the gentleman brings macadamia nuts into the committee; we enjoy those a lot. But I would not propose…”

“I enjoy it when the gentleman brings macadamia nuts into the committee; we enjoy those a lot. But I would not propose that we make ethanol out of it. It simply makes no sense at all to try to turn sugar, or for that matter corn, into gasoline. Additionally, those of us who oppose ethanol need to stand up today to oppose this amendment because what may seem like a small program now, once sugar States discover what corn States have discovered, it will become much, much bigger and spending will become more and more and more. 10 million will become 20 and then 30 and then soon it is hundreds of millions of dollars. This comes at the detriment of taxpayers who will pay more at the pump. Again, let me say that the purpose of this bill, the stated purpose, is during an energy crisis to bring down the cost of energy. And here we are employing programs that will simply make you pay, one, more at the pump, and, two, more in taxes because you are supporting this kind of subsidy. I thought it was kind of strange, when I was a kid the worse prank you could play, it was hardly a prank, it was property damage, but was to put sugar in someone's tank. That was the worst thing you could do. And here you are going to ask the taxpayers to pay for it. It just seems wrong to me. With all deference to my good friend from Hawaii, I just do not think that I can support this amendment.…”