Political Quotes

“Okay. Then, reclaiming my time, I will be very brief. The ethanol industry, as we all know, receives a trifecta of government support. Its use is mandated by law. It is protected by a prohibitive import tariff on imported ethanol; and it receives billions in subsidies, effectively paying them to follow the law. Everyone knows that ethanol subsidies are going to go away. Thirty years is enough. I mean, even Al Gore and others who supported them in the beginning said, no, that was a mistake, and we're going the other direction now. So ethanol supports--or direct subsidies or the import tariffs--are going to go. The industry is asking, How can we keep these subsidies going? The effort now is to pay for infrastructure, so the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary Vilsack, has indicated that he wants the USDA to determine how it can potentially use programs to promote the distribution and storage--blender pumps--and how to put money into infrastructure. As we all know, once you start putting money into infrastructure, then you say, well, we've already put some money in, and we've got to continue to do it, so those subsidies will continue and continue and continue. We cannot continue to do this, Madam Chair. We cannot continue to fund this, particularly when we are borrowing 40 cents on the dollar. I would urge the adoption of the amendment, and I am glad that the chairman supports it. I yield back the balance of my time.”