Amy Klobuchar: “I am here to talk about the recent bipartisan compromise on biofuels. I have come to the floor a number of times to talk…”

“I am here to talk about the recent bipartisan compromise on biofuels. I have come to the floor a number of times to talk about this country's biofuels policy. In the last month, I have worked on a bipartisan basis with Senator Feinstein of California and Senator Thune of South Dakota to develop a compromise agreement that represents a good-faith effort to improve our energy policy under very difficult economic times. At a time of bitter budget debates and entrenched positions, we worked together to find common ground and we took a step in the right direction and that is a step of reducing the debt immediately by $1.3 billion of the $2 billion remaining on the subsidy. I will add that this is a subsidy this Congress voted for just in January of this year. The biofuels industry understands this subsidy was going to end at the end of this year, but they didn't just let it whittle away toward the end every year, knowing there was waning support for it; they came to the table and said let's see if we can do something good for energy policy and for this country's fiscal position. Under this deal, the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit will expire at the end of the month, instead of the end of 2011, as scheduled. I have continued to say this debate is not about whether we end this tax credit; it is about how we do it. This compromise agreement represents a responsible and cost-effective approach to reforming our Nation's biofuels policy.…”