Jack Kingston: “I wanted to say what we are talking about here is if a business goes and gets a loan, then the government, because it is…”

“I wanted to say what we are talking about here is if a business goes and gets a loan, then the government, because it is a government loan, turns around then and basically dictates what they have to pay, and what they have to pay is a higher wage than it is in most communities. Otherwise, the Democrats would not be putting it in here. If this was about free enterprise, this clause would not be in the farm bill. And my biggest gripe is that it is making energy costs go up because it is making the construction of alternative energy facilities higher. As Mr. King says, it is about a 20 percent bump in the cost of construction of a cellulosic ethanol plant. That's why I think it is a concern. Who is going to pay for this? The consumers at the pump. And, in the meantime, there might be fewer alternatives. In Georgia right now my good friend, Mr. Scott, knows we have three ethanol plants on the books, another two coming, and potentially 70 to 80 that will be built in the next 2 to 3 years. Now those are not all cellulosic ethanol plants, but why should we increase the cost of those? I am excited about this because it does represent a new avenue in alternative fuels, and I don't think we should make anything increase the cost of that.”