Amy Klobuchar: “I see I am joined by the Senator from Iowa, who I know will speak shortly and has been a leader in biofuels and energy…”

“I see I am joined by the Senator from Iowa, who I know will speak shortly and has been a leader in biofuels and energy for many years. I rise to speak about the votes we will have later today on the amendments that would immediately cut off support for our homegrown energy industry with I guess a few days' notice. I did not think there was precedent for this decision. If this were to ultimately pass--I am not certain this is the vehicle that would allow it to go into law, but if it were to pass, we would have made a decision that is different from the decision in January affecting an industry that employs nearly 500,000 people. I wish to talk about the amendment offered by my friend, the Senator from California. And I would hope, I would say first, that if we were voting twice on an amendment in just a few days, it would be something that creates jobs or decreases our dependence on foreign oil, but that is not the case here. We are talking about pulling the rug out from an industry that provides 10 percent of the Nation's fuel supply and supports nearly 500,000 jobs. I don't think people quite understand that about biofuels. I think they think it is some boutique industry. Madam President, 10 percent of our Nation's fuel supply at a time when gas is up near $4 a gallon. We know there is support for phasing out the current ethanol tax credits. I have a bill to do that. Senator Grassley has another bill to do that.…”