Senate Proceeding on Jun 14th, 2011 :: 0:20:40 to 0:33:20
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0:20:36 to 0:20:56( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 11:00 a.m. for one hour, with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each with time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the republicans

0:20:40 to 0:33:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Dianne Feinstein

0:20:57 to 0:21:17( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: controlling the final the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, madam president. madam president, i rise today in support of the ethanol subsidy and tariff repeal act which senator coburn has offered and i have cosponsored along with senators burr, cardin, collins,

0:21:18 to 0:21:38( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: corker, lieberman, risch, shaheen, toomey and webb. madam president, i know that the fact that this amendment is on the floor, scheduled to be voted on at 2:15 this afternoon, has caused some deep consternation on my side of the aisle. there is objection to the

0:21:39 to 0:22:01( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: procedures used. i am not going to get into that. i am going to say a vote is a vote and we are facing a vote at 2:15 unless something changes. now, to be candid, if there were an offer to bring this to the floor next week or the week

0:22:02 to 0:22:22( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: after for a time specific and a commitment specific, i believe that the author and myself and our cosponsors would certainly agree to that, but in the absence of that offer, it is important that the united states -- the united states senate takes a position on a program that has become both

0:22:23 to 0:22:43( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: gross and egregious, and i want to explain why i feel that way. madam president, no other product i know of has the triple crown of government support that corn ethanol enjoys in this country. its use is mandated by law. oil companies are paid by the

0:22:44 to 0:23:04( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: federal government to use it so there is a subsidy, and corn ethanol is protected by a rather high tariff. consequently, it's been very profitable for farmers. this amounts to almost almost $6 billion a year of taxpayers' money that goes to

0:23:05 to 0:23:27( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: support the corn ethanol industry in this country. put another way, that's that's $15 million each and every day spent on this subsidy at a time when candidly, madam president, we simply can't afford it. they say there are very few privileges left out there.

0:23:28 to 0:23:49( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: this is one that is enormous, and i think we have to take a look at it, and i think if this bill passes, this amendment passes, nearly $3 billion is saved between july 1 and the end of the year. that's not insignificant, and it goes into the general fund and it helps abate the debt and

0:23:50 to 0:24:12( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: deficit. since 2005, we have spent spent $22.6 billion on this subsidy, and it gets more expensive every year. in 2011, the government will spend $5.7 billion. in 2012, $5.9 billion.

0:24:13 to 0:24:35( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: in 2013, $6.2 billion. and you can see since the program came into being in 2005 -- and i voted against it then -- it was at $1.5 billion. then next year, $2.6 billion. next year, $3.3 billion. next year, $4.4 billion. next year, $5.2 billion.

0:24:36 to 0:24:57( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: 2010, $5.7 billion of a trifecta of triple crown subsidies to go to recompense people for using corn ethanol. it is wrong. on top of this subsidy, we have imposed a 54-cent per gallon tariff on ethanol products from

0:24:58 to 0:25:18( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: brazil, india and australia and others that could import it more cheaply than it's grown here, and this then contributes to making the united states more dependent on oil imports from opec. our amendment is simple. beginning july 1, we would

0:25:19 to 0:25:41( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: repeal the 45-cent per gallon ethanol subsidy which goes overwhelmingly to large oil companies and it would eliminate the 54% -- 54-cent per gallon tariff on imported ethanol. i believe very strongly that we need to act to repeal these subsidies and these tariffs

0:25:42 to 0:26:03( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: before another $2.7 billion in taxpayer money -- which is $15 million a day -- is wasted over the remaining six months of this year. let me describe the real-world impact of these unwise subsidies and tariffs to our economy. last week, i was in the central valley at an event, and i would

0:26:04 to 0:26:26( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: say anywhere from six to eight farmers came up to me and said thank you for trying to end the ethanol business. i can no longer afford feed. and i began to think and so we took a look at what the situation is, and the fact is that this ethanol policy is

0:26:27 to 0:26:47( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: inflating the price of corn and impacting other sectors of the economy. today, approximately 39% of our corn crop is now used to produce ethanol in this country. here's where it's gone. the percent of corn from 2000, 7%.

0:26:48 to 0:27:09( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: 2005, 14%. and 2010, 37% of the entire corn crop goes to produce ethanol. corn futures have reached a record $7.99 a bushel on the chicago board of trade last week.

0:27:10 to 0:27:32( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: prices are up 140% in the past 12 months and continue to rise. in 2006, prices were $2 a bushel so today they are $7.99 a bushel. so this has been a real spike in the price of feed.

0:27:33 to 0:27:55( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: if it continues, one can expect major price increases in grain and food as well. the average price of corn has risen 225% since 2006. here it is. 2005, 2006, here it goes. it goes down slightly.

0:27:56 to 0:28:17( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: and it has gone up. in california, the annual feed costs for foster farms -- this is the largest poultry producer on the west coast -- has tripled over the past year, increasing foster farms' cost for feed by more than $2 million. and this is more than the

0:28:18 to 0:28:38( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: largest profit the company has ever made. and i hear similar stories from small producers, from co-ops, from dairymen and cattlemen throughout california. the price of feed is raising to such an extent that experts are predicting a mass slaughter of

0:28:39 to 0:29:01( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: hogs and dairy cows this summer. in other words, it is becoming cheaper to slaughter the animals rather than to feed them. that's wrong. paul cameroon of imperial county, california, recently wrote to me "as a cattle producer who has never asked for ao subsidy of any kind, i only ask that ethanol production

0:29:02 to 0:29:22( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: stand on its own and allow true supply and demand to dictate the real price of corn." it seems to me he is spot on, and it seems to me when you look at charts like this on grain prices, on the huge subsidy that oil companies get, on the protective tariff, that one has

0:29:23 to 0:29:47( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: to say enough is enough. the usda predicts that continued demand from the livestock, ethanol and food industry will reduce corn reserves to the lowest level since the mid-1990's. and these low grain reserves will have repercussions globally.

0:29:48 to 0:30:09( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: we know that rising food prices exacerbate global poverty and could intensify political unrest in some parts of the world. but the bottom line is diverting 39% of our crop towards ethanol is artificially driving up corn prices, which in turn is straining people and industries that depend on affordable corn.

0:30:10 to 0:30:31( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: in addition to impacting the price of corn, the $6 billion annual ethanol subsidy is fiscally irresponsible. if the current subsidy were to exist through 2014 as the industry has proposed, the

0:30:32 to 0:30:52( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: treasury would pay oil companies at least $31 billion to use 69 billion gallons of corn ethanol that the federal renewable fuel standard already requires them to use under the clean air act. the biggest recipient receiving

0:30:53 to 0:31:13( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: money is b.p., and it, according to reports, receives $585 million. i know my time is running out. if i may just conclude in one minute. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much. so we can't afford and we should not pay oil companies such as exxonmobil and b.p. to follow

0:31:14 to 0:31:34( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: the law to the tune of $6 billion a year. so, as the g.a.o. has found, the mandate for the use is duplicative in stimulating domestic production and use of ethanol. it can and is resulting in substantial loss of revenue to

0:31:35 to 0:31:56( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: the treasury. let me just say one thing about the tariff. the tariff on low carbon sugar cane ethanol, which i proposed repealing in 2006, makes our nation more dependent on foreign oil. how? the combined tariffs on ethanol are 60 cents per gallon, at

0:31:57 to 0:32:19( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: least 15 per gallon higher than the ethanol subsidies they supposedly offset. so this is essentially a major trade barrier. so, we have a real problem with this triple crown. we mandate its use. we pay people to use it. and then we set a large tariff

0:32:20 to 0:32:40( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: barrier to prevent anybody from importing any ethanol, whether it's corn or sugar, that's cheaper. and this is expensive. $15 million a day, $6 billion, as i've said, a year. i know many of my colleagues agree with the substance of this legislation, and i appreciate

0:32:41 to 0:33:02( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: very much that the amendment is being considered under somewhat unusual circumstances and procedures. i hope we can have a fair vote. i hope that members will not disregard the import of what we are doing. we are essentially saving the government nearly $6 billion a

0:33:03 to 0:33:20( Edit History Discussion )

Dianne Feinstein: year by simply repealing the subsidy, repealing the mandate and repealing the tariff. i believe the time has come. thank you very much, madam i yield the floor. a the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: madam president, i