Jerry Moran: “the sign at the gas station and the sign at the co-op tell the story. Gas is $1.93 a gallon. Corn is $1.81 a bushel. We…”

“the sign at the gas station and the sign at the co-op tell the story. Gas is $1.93 a gallon. Corn is $1.81 a bushel. We have suffered through some tough times in farm country, but I can't remember a time when one could not buy a gallon of gas for a bushel of corn. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a crisis that affects my constituents and everyone living in rural America. We are facing an economic one-two punch. The price of the principal product we sell, grain, is at an all-time low while the price of the principal product we use to grow that grain, fuel and fuel-derived inputs, are at an all-time high. One does not have to be an accountant to know that we cannot sustain this economic environment for much longer. Over the Memorial Day recess, I hosted nine of the 66 county townhall meetings that I conduct each summer across western and central Kansas. The concern was the same at every stop. How can we make a living with $1.93 gas and $1.81 corn? Since I came to Congress in 1997, my priorities have remained the same: Preserving our way of life for the next generation of Kansans. The current economic situation puts rural communities and the family farm in jeopardy. In the long-term, all Americans will suffer if we ignore America's agriculture producers. High gas prices today are the result of a failed energy policy. At the height of the so-called energy crisis in the 1970s, we were importing 30 percent of our oil needs. Today, we import 60 percent.”