[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H4953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        STOP SUBSIDIZING ETHANOL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, there is much discussion 
these days about ethanol, and for far too long the Federal Government 
has been subsidizing ethanol production in a very big way. Three years 
ago, Time Magazine called ethanol and other energy biofuels the clean 
energy scam. Yet 3 years later, we are dumping more money than ever 
into the program. It is time to admit that the ethanol program has been 
a failure.
  A study mentioned in a recent column in the Washington Times said 
that our ethanol policies, if not changed, will cost American consumers 
more than $500 billion in the 10 years from 2008 to 2017. According to 
Time magazine, the biofuel boom is doing the exact opposite of what it 
was intended to do. The article calls corn ethanol environmentally 
disastrous.
  We went heavily into ethanol because it was supposed to be good for 
the environment. The very powerful environmental lobby pushed hard on 
this. Now we have found that it has done more harm than good, even to 
the environment. This just goes to show that when someone says 
something is good for the environment, it is usually because they are 
going to make money off of it or are going to increase contributions to 
their organization.
  I have an even greater concern that hits home with every American. 
The ethanol program is an economic disaster. We were promised that 
using ethanol to fuel cars would reduce gas prices. We were told it 
would reduce our dependence on foreign oil. If you look at the 
situation today, gas prices are close to $4 a gallon, or even higher 
some places, and we are still at the mercy of foreign producers to 
supply most of our oil. The only thing the ethanol program has done is 
raised the price of groceries.
  Hardworking Americans are paying more for milk, meats, and everyday 
items they need from the grocery store. This is because the price of 
corn has doubled in less than 2 years. In 2009, corn cost $3.30 a 
bushel. Today it costs roughly $7 a bushel. When the price of corn 
increases, it causes a chain reaction. Corn is used to feed livestock, 
which increases the price of beef and dairy products. Corn syrup is 
found in everything, from cereal to salad dressing. Nearly everything 
at the grocery store costs more today than it did just 1 year ago.
  To turn corn into ethanol, it takes diesel fuel to run the machines, 
fertilizer, and months of hard work from farmers. A study by Cornell 
University estimates that it costs $4.50 to produce 1 gallon of 
ethanol. A gallon of pure ethanol has only about two-thirds the energy 
of a gallon of gasoline. Yet like a lot of things we tend do here in 
Washington, the cost is too high and average Americans are the ones 
paying for it. In 2010, the Federal Government spent nearly $8 billion 
to subsidize the ethanol program. That number is probably closer to $12 
billion when you count money from State and local governments.
  The bottom line is that corn should be used to fuel our bodies, not 
our cars.
  I would like to take a moment to tell you about a friend of mine, 
Harry Wampler. Harry Wampler is the owner of Wampler's Farm Sausage 
Company in Lenoir City, Tennessee.
  The Wampler family started this company in 1937, one of the great 
small business success stories in my district. However, in 2010, 
Wampler's Sausage lost money for the first time. They are now losing 
money every month.
  They are not losing money because all of a sudden they are no longer 
a great company. They are losing money because the cost of raw 
materials is far too high. Instead of paying 35 cents a pound for hogs 
like they did in 2009, they pay more than 50 cents a pound, a more than 
40 percent increase in just 2 years--40 percent increase in 2 years. To 
keep up, meat producers like Wampler's are forced to raise prices in 
the grocery store.
  The reason this is happening is simple. It takes a heck of a lot of 
corn to produce ethanol. The study I mentioned earlier by Cornell 
estimated that in 2009, one-third of U.S. corn was used to make 
ethanol.

                              {time}  1040

  That is a lot of corn, but it only reduced America's oil consumption 
by 1.4 percent. In fact, if we were to take all of the corn produced on 
American farms and convert it to ethanol, it would replace a mere 4 
percent of U.S. oil production--a lot of corn with very little result.
  Environmentalists shouldn't be happy with the ethanol program either. 
In this country and around the world, we are destroying forest wetlands 
and grasslands to make room to plant more corn. The program doesn't 
make sense for the economy or the environment, even though it was 
forced on us primarily by environmentalists.
  A lot of politicians are afraid to admit the ethanol program was a 
mistake because they are afraid to offend the farm lobby, and anyone 
considering running for President may be afraid to offend corn farmers 
in Iowa. But, Madam Speaker, we can no longer afford to waste money on 
this program that does not work.
  The Ethanol Program does not solve our energy crisis or eliminate our 
dependence on foreign oil. The only thing it does is drive up grocery 
prices for everyone in the country.

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