Senate Proceeding on Jun 16th, 2011 :: 3:40:10 to 3:46:25
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3:40:06 to 3:40:27( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: message to this industry that we want to do away with it. mr. president, i understand my time is expired, and so i will yield back whatever i have. thank you. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, i rise to speak in favor of the

3:40:10 to 3:46:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Bob Corker

3:40:28 to 3:40:48( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: feinstein amendment, and i am a proud cosponsor of this proposal because it will save us money, it will reduce food prices, annandale doing so do it in a responsible manner. mr. president, ethanol enjoys truly unprecedented support from the federal government.

3:40:49 to 3:41:09( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: first, there is the renewable fuels mandate, mandate that requires, requires ethanol to be blended into gasoline. second, there is a 45% -- 45-cent-per-gallon subsidy to blend ethanol into gasoline that

3:41:10 to 3:41:32( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: is costing the treasury nearly nearly $6 billion per year. third, there is a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, protecting the domestic industry from any serious competition. and to top it all off, the federal government spends billions every year to subsidize

3:41:33 to 3:41:54( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: the growth of corn for ethanol. so in a time of fiscal constraint, we simply cannot afford to prop up an industry with such enormous supports, and these supports are not just costing taxpayers money but they are also causing food prices to rise and harming our environment.

3:41:55 to 3:42:15( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: the united states department of structure estimates that 40%, 40% of this year's corn crop will be used for ethanol. this is raising grain prices worldwide, especially hurting the needy. for these reasons, the feinstein amendment has the support of taxpayer right groups, religious groups looking out for the

3:42:16 to 3:42:36( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: needy, budget hawks concerned about our deficit, livestock growers who use grain as freed, the grocers and restaurants who are seeing food prices increase and the environmental community who understand that corn ethanol requires enormous amounts of fossil fuels to be produced in the first place. my support for the feinstein

3:42:37 to 3:42:57( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: amendment is not just because it is the right thing to do for our country and our federal budget but because it is the right thing to do for my home state. new jersey has over 120,000 flex fuel vehicles but does not have a single e-85 ethanol pump in

3:42:58 to 3:43:18( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: the entire state. 120,000 cars that are built to allow automakers to gain fuel economy standards but may never see a drop of e-85 fuel. now, i know that this issue is important to our friends in the midwest, but ethanol producers already have a guaranteed market for their product as a result of

3:43:19 to 3:43:39( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: a federal mandate. now we have an opportunity to help families across the country by ending this failed ethanol policy and providing relief both in terms of their taxes and their food prices. for these reasons, i will be voting in favor of the feinstein amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same, and i also think

3:43:40 to 3:44:00( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: this vote is important for the larger debate on the deficit. our friends on the other side of the aisle have said that revenues cannot be a part of the strategy to reduce the deficit. well, i think this vote and the one earlier this week in which 34 republicans voted to end these wasteful ethanol tax breaks shows that there is a

3:44:01 to 3:44:21( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: bipartisan support for cutting wasteful tax subsidies and loopholes and that these revenue expenditures must be part of any solution on the deficit. and as i speak about that, let me end with another item that i think should be on the table, one that i have been promoting in this chamber. the first place to start in

3:44:22 to 3:44:43( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: terms of tax expenditures is oil subsidies. a bipartisan majority of 52 senators voted recently to end these tax breaks. if these 34 republicans come into the fold, we could work together to make some real progress. oil companies do not need these subsidies, talking about the big five. with oil trading at nearly $100 per barrel, they have all the

3:44:44 to 3:45:05( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: incentive they need in the marketplace. by cutting these subsidies, we can cut the deficit directly by by $21 billion. these companies are projected to earn this year up to to $144 billion in profits, not proceeds, profits, this year alone.

3:45:06 to 3:45:26( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: if they can simply live with a mere $142 billion in profits, then they could do their share reduce the deficit without raising gas prices. mr. president, it is time we come together after cross party lines and end wasteful tax subsidies to lower the deficit. this vote is an important first sterntion and i think by doing

3:45:27 to 3:45:47( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: so, we will ensure, notwithstanding the issues about blue slips and constitutional impediments, it will send a real clear sense of the senate that will move us in a direction that will end the ultimate subsidies and help us reduce the deficit. and i think that, combined with ending oil subsidies, to get us on a path poo a balanced and

3:45:48 to 3:46:03( Edit History Discussion )

Bob Corker: bipartisan solution, is critical for the nation. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and observe the absence of a the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.