[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3187 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3187

 To reduce and eliminate the tax credit for alcohol fuel mixtures and 
                    the tariff on imported ethanol.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 13, 2009

 Mr. Crowley (for himself, Mrs. Bono Mack, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. 
 Thompson of California, Mr. Shadegg, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. 
 Stark, Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Matheson, Mr. Maffei, and Mr. Meeks of New 
    York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reduce and eliminate the tax credit for alcohol fuel mixtures and 
                    the tariff on imported ethanol.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Affordable Food and Fuel for America 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Volumetric Excise Tax Credit was created to 
        encourage gasoline refiners to blend domestically produced corn 
        ethanol into the Nation's gasoline supplies.
            (2) The 54-cent temporary tariff on imported ethanol was 
        created to encourage the development of a domestic grain 
        ethanol industry.
            (3) Domestic corn ethanol production has increased five-
        fold since 2000 to more than 9,000,000,000 gallons of corn 
        ethanol produced at more than 150 facilities.
            (4) Domestic corn ethanol production will soon exceed 
        12,000,000,000 gallons, diverting at least one-third of the 
        Nation's corn supply from food and feed to fuel.
            (5) Federal ethanol mandates require gasoline refiners to 
        blend 15,000,000,000 gallons of ethanol into gasoline supplies 
        by 2015.
            (6) The United States is now the world's largest producer 
        of ethanol and our domestic corn ethanol industry is no longer 
        in need of tax subsidies or tariffs.
            (7) In combination, the rapid growth of the corn ethanol 
        industry and Federal ethanol mandates has made the tax credit 
        for corn ethanol and tariff obsolete.
            (8) Scarce Federal resources should be dedicated to the 
        development of new and emerging sources of renewable energy, 
        including biomass fuels that meet environmental goals.

SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR ALCOHOL USED AS A FUEL.

    (a) In General.--The table in section 40(h)(2) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the last row and inserting 
the following new rows:


 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009..........................             28 cents             22 cents
2010..........................             21 cents             16 cents
2011..........................             16 cents             12 cents
2012..........................             11 cents              9 cents
2013..........................              7 cents              6 cents
2014..........................                    0                   0.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Extension of credit.--Section 40(e)(1) of such Code is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``2010'' in subparagraph (A) and 
                inserting ``2013,'', and
                    (B) by striking ``2011'' in subparagraph (B) and 
                inserting ``2014''.
            (2) Repeal of delayed reduction.--Section 40(h) of such 
        Code is amended by striking paragraph (3).
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to alcohol produced, and sold or used, in taxable years beginning 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. REDUCTION OF EXCISE TAX CREDIT FOR ALCOHOL FUEL MIXTURES.

    (a) In General.--Section 6426(b)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i), by 
striking clause (ii), and by inserting after clause (i) the following 
new clauses:
                            ``(ii) in the case of calendar year 2009, 
                        28 cents,
                            ``(iii) in the case of calendar year 2010, 
                        21 cents,
                            ``(iv) in the case of calendar year 2011, 
                        16 cents,
                            ``(v) in the case of calendar year 2012, 11 
                        cents,
                            ``(vi) in the case of calendar year 2013, 7 
                        cents, and
                            ``(vii) in the case of calendar year 2014 
                        and thereafter, zero cents.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 6426(b) of such Code is amended--
                    (A) by striking subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2), 
                and
                    (B) by striking paragraph (6).
            (2) Section 6427(e)(5)(A) of such Code is amended by 
        striking ``2010'' and inserting ``2013''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to fuel sold or used after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. REDUCTION AND ELIMINATION OF TARIFFS ON ETHANOL.

    (a) Reduction of Temporary Tariff Duty on Imported Ethanol.--
            (1) Calendar year 2009.--
                    (A) In general.--Heading 9901.00.50 of Subchapter 1 
                of Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
                United States is amended by striking ``14.27 cents'' 
                each place it appears and inserting ``8 cents''.
                    (B) Applicability.--The amendment made by 
                subparagraph (A) shall apply to goods entered, or 
                withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 
                January 1, 2009, and before January 1, 2010.
                    (C) Retroactive application.--Notwithstanding 
                section 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1514) 
                or any other provision of law, upon proper request 
                filed with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection 
                before the 90th day after the date of the enactment of 
                this Act, any entry, or withdrawal from warehouse for 
                consumption, of any good--
                            (i) that was made on or after January 1, 
                        2009 and before the date of the enactment of 
                        this Act; and
                            (ii) with respect to which there would have 
                        been a lower rate of duty if the amendment made 
                        by this subsection applied to such entry, or 
                        withdrawal, shall be liquidated or reliquidated 
                        as if such amendment applied to such entry or 
                        withdrawal.
            (2) Calendar year 2010.--
                    (A) In general.--Such heading is amended by 
                striking ``14.8 cents'' each place it appears and 
                inserting ``6 cents''.
                    (B) Applicability.--The amendment made by 
                subparagraph (A) shall apply to goods entered, or 
                withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 
                January 1, 2010, and before January 1, 2011.
            (3) Calendar year 2011.--
                    (A) In general.--Such heading is amended by 
                striking ``11.1 cents'' each place it appears and 
                inserting ``4 cents''.
                    (B) Applicability.--The amendment made by 
                subparagraph (A) shall apply to goods entered, or 
                withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 
                January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2012.
            (4) Calendar year 2012.--
                    (A) In general.--Such heading is amended by 
                striking ``8.5 cents'' each place it appears and 
                inserting ``3 cents''.
                    (B) Applicability.--The amendment made by 
                subparagraph (A) shall apply to goods entered, or 
                withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 
                January 1, 2012, and before January 1, 2013.
            (5) Calendar year 2013.--
                    (A) In general.--Such heading is amended by 
                striking ``5.8 cents'' each place it appears and 
                inserting ``2 cents''.
                    (B) Applicability.--The amendment made by 
                subparagraph (A) shall apply to goods entered, or 
                withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 
                January 1, 2013, and before January 1, 2014.
    (b) Duty-free Treatment Beginning in 2014.--
            (1) Addition of alternative fuels subchapter.--Chapter 98 
        of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule is amended by adding at the 
        end the following new subchapter:


                                               ``Subchapter XXIII
                                                Alternative Fuels
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        Rates of Duty
                                           ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Heading/Subheading    Article Description                         1
                                           -----------------------------------------------           2
                                                    General                Special
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9823.01.01          Ethyl alcohol           Free                    Free                   20%''.
                     (provided for in
                     subheadings
                     2207.10.60 and
                     2207.20) or any
                     mixture containing
                     such ethyl alcohol
                     (provided for in
                     heading 2710 or 3824)
                     if such ethyl alcohol
                     or mixture is to be
                     used as a fuel or in
                     producing a mixture
                     of gasoline and
                     alcohol, a mixture of
                     a special fuel and
                     alcohol, or any other
                     mixture to be used as
                     fuel (including motor
                     fuel provided for in
                     subheading
                     2710.11.15,
                     2710.19.15 or
                     2710.19.21), or is
                     suitable for any such
                     uses.................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

            (2) Conforming amendments.--Subchapter I of chapter 99 of 
        the Harmonized Tariff Schedule is amended--
                    (A) by striking heading 9901.00.50; and
                    (B) by striking U.S. notes 2 and 3.
            (3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall apply with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from 
        warehouse for consumption, on or after January 1, 2014.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the organization ``Feeding America'' formerly known as 
        America's Second Harvest, issued the results of a national 
        study on hunger and poverty in America and found that for 1 in 
        8 Americans hunger is a reality, that the numbers of hungry 
        Americans is on the rise, and 37.3 million people lived in 
        poverty, including over 7.6 million families, 3.6 million 
        seniors, and over 13.3 million children under the age of 18;
            (2) the Department of Agriculture, Economic Research 
        Service, found that an estimated 35.5 million Americans are 
        food insecure, meaning their access to enough food is limited 
        by a lack of money and other resources;
            (3) the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities reports 
        that ``the current downturn is likely to cause significant 
        increases both in the number of Americans who are poor and the 
        number living in `deep poverty,' with incomes below half of the 
        poverty line. Because this recession is likely to be deep and 
        the government safety net for very poor families who lack jobs 
        has weakened significantly in recent years, increases in deep 
        poverty in this recession are likely to be severe'';
            (4) World Hunger Year (WHY), a non-profit organization 
        which operates a national hunger hotline with funding from the 
        Department of Agriculture, has experienced a significant 
        increase in calls for food assistance or information about 
        where to find food, shelter, child-care, or job-finding 
        assistance; and
            (5) the production of cellulosic and advanced biofuels in 
        the United States will assist the Nation in becoming less 
        vulnerable to foreign supplies of oil, will create a 
        significant number of jobs, and could achieve significant 
        reductions in the generation of greenhouse gas emissions as 
        determined by several recent studies.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
savings achieved under this Act should be used to combat hunger in the 
United States and to develop domestic supplies of cellulosic and 
advanced biofuels by being used to--
            (1) increase the assistance provided for Federal nutrition 
        programs administered by the Secretary of Agriculture, 
        including school nutrition programs;
            (2) provide assistance to non-profit organizations 
        dedicated to responding to the needs of low-income families in 
        the United States; and
            (3) provide loan guarantees or grants to companies ready to 
        construct cellulosic and advanced biofuel processing facilities 
        in the United States.
                                 <all>