[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 16, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2799-S2800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  E15

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, a top issue for Iowans and particularly 
an issue in these midterm elections is the farm economy, which isn't 
very good. Farmers continue to face stronger headwinds. It is not 
profitable today, particularly in grain farming. It is not just an Iowa 
issue. It is not just an American issue. I recently read that Brazil 
farmers are being foreclosed on because of low prices there as well.
  There are two ways of attacking this. There are only two sides of a 
ledger. We can help lower input costs and increase markets for farmers. 
Farmers continue to say they don't want checks from the Treasury that 
are often passed on to the input suppliers; they want their prices from 
the marketplace.
  So I have a solution about the marketplace. I and other Senators, 
both Republican and Democrat, have been talking about the ethanol issue 
of E15. We have been doing that for months now. I have been sharing 
that year-round E15 would create a nearly $14 billion increase in 
demand for corn in the United States. Those figures come from 
economists and the Iowa Corn Growers Association.
  But this does not show the full picture. E15 would also add $25.8 
billion to the national gross domestic product and 128,000 jobs. Most 
of the jobs and value created from E15 support rural communities. High-
paying jobs go to local ethanol plants, grain cooperatives, ag 
equipment manufacturing, and other agriculture suppliers. And, of 
course, the farmers benefit from it as well.
  During my annual 99-county Q&As that I hold around the State--this 
year and each year--I have heard directly from Iowans at county farm 
bureaus, other businesses, and cooperatives how year-round E15 will 
support the rural American economy.
  It is time, then, that the Senate pass E15 legislation. It is good 
for the farmers. It is good for good-paying jobs in rural America. It 
is good for the environment because ethanol is cleaner burning than 
gasoline from fossil fuels. It is good for national security, as we 
depend less on foreign sources of energy. So I like to say when I do a 
ribbon-cutting at the opening of an ethanol plant, it is good, good, 
good. You have heard it too: M'm, m'm good.
  I want to speak also about ethanol and E15 as a process right here in 
the U.S. Senate, and I think it is about time that this be highlighted 
by both Democrats and Republicans from agricultural States that support 
E15 but don't talk about it enough. Now, it could be handled as a 
separate issue in

[[Page S2800]]

the U.S. Senate, and that would be the appropriate way to do it. But 
you know, when the Senate is only in session about 3 days out of the 
week, we aren't getting much done with separate pieces of legislation. 
So something like E15 is going to have to find a home in some other 
bill--the farm bill, the Defense bill, appropriations bills. But we 
aren't talking about what that is going to do. I just mentioned three 
possibilities, and there aren't a whole lot of other possibilities.
  There is even talk around here that you don't hear or read in the 
press, but talk about maybe the government is going to shut down just 
before the election, that maybe Democrats want the government shut down 
just before the election. Then, you know what, you get into continuing 
resolutions, and continuing resolutions are usually what we call 
clean--nothing added to it.
  So let's say we get to October 1 and there are no appropriations 
bills. Then you have a continuing resolution until Thanksgiving. Then 
you don't pass appropriations bills and you have a continuing 
resolution until Christmas. And then Christmas comes and you have a 
continuing resolution that maybe takes you over into the new calendar 
year, middle of February. And if those are all clean appropriations 
bills, where are you going to put E15 if it is not on the farm bill or 
the Defense bill or appropriations bills?
  Now, we have to start thinking about that, both Republicans and 
Democrats, from farm States that support ethanol. We have to be 
thinking about what we are going to do if this isn't going to come up 
as a separate bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate. And I think we had 
better put our heads together. That is probably at least 28 Senators 
from grain-growing States in the United States where we grow. At least 
14 States, 28 Senators better put our heads together, or we are going 
to lose the opportunity of getting E15.
  It is through the House of Representatives. It is further than it has 
ever been. And if we miss this opportunity, we may never get E15 and 
lose that $14 billion that the economists for the Iowa corn growers 
tell us that we are going to get--increased price of grain.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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