Sam Brownback: “I am standing here thinking: Thank goodness we have ethanol. Without ethanol--we are supplying 8 percent of our fuel…”

“I am standing here thinking: Thank goodness we have ethanol. Without ethanol--we are supplying 8 percent of our fuel needs--it would drive up gasoline prices another 15 percent. I am certainly pleased we have that. We had a hearing in the Joint Economic Committee today on the price of corn and its impact on food prices. It is interesting from the standpoint that economists are putting it in front of us that a 40-percent increase in corn prices would only lead to a 1.3-percent increase in the price of food, and that is because corn goes into a whole bunch of different substances. Thankfully, with the corn-based ethanol we have, we are holding gasoline prices down approximately 15 percent. A Merrill Lynch analyst estimated oil and gasoline prices would be 15 percent higher, or $4.14 a gallon at today's prices, if biofuel producers weren't increasing their output. That is significant in this marketplace. Thankfully, we have that.”