Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise today in support of the Ethanol Subsidy and Tariff Repeal Act, which Senator Coburn has offered and I have cosponsored, along with Senators Burr, Cardin, Collins, Corker, Lieberman, Risch, Shaheen, Toomey, and Webb. I know the fact that this amendment is on the floor scheduled to be voted on at 2:15 this afternoon has caused some deep consternation on my side of the aisle. There is objection to the procedures used. I am not going to get into that. I am going to say a vote is a vote, and we are facing a vote at 2:15 unless something changes. To be candid, if there were an offer to bring this to the floor next week or the week after for a time specific and a commitment specific, I believe the author and myself and our cosponsors would certainly agree to that. But in the absence of that offer, it is important that the Senate take a position on a program that has become both gross and egregious, and I want to explain why I feel that way. No other product I know of has the triple crown of government support that corn ethanol enjoys in this country. Its use is mandated by law. Oil companies are paid by the Federal Government to use it, so there is a subsidy, and corn ethanol is protected by a rather high tariff. Consequently, it has been very profitable for farmers. This amounts to almost $6 billion a year of taxpayers' money that goes to support the corn ethanol industry in this country.…”