Northwest Ohio Biofuels Summit

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I say thank you so very much to Ohio's corn and soy farmers for their excellent agricultural summit in which I participated about a week ago in Defiance, Ohio. We discussed the importance of biofuels as a reliable source of income for northwest Ohio farmers, in fact, 44 percent of their income and rising.

This is a great victory for our country over the last three decades. Let me thank our region's farmers, processors, and growers for bringing together leaders from the biofuels industry, ag commodity groups, Ohio Farm Bureau, and refineries to hear directly about the increase in demand and production for biofuels as a new initiative every day to increase income for farmers as they lose export markets due to tariffs. Biofuels now comprise over 44 percent of their bottom line.

In the early days, I worked with Senators on both sides of the aisle and led the effort here in the House to make sure people had access to E85 ethanol at the fuel pumps. It has been a great gift of my career to have served long enough to see that we have been successful.

We also flew the first fighter jet F-16 out of our base 20 years ago using biofuels, and it worked. We are very proud of this industry as it grows. My hat is off to Ohio farmers and Midwest farmers who are making this reality in our lifetime. What America makes and grows makes and grows America.

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