Providing That Section 11 of House Resolution 1224 Shall Have No Force or Effect

Floor Speech

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Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Fischbach for her leadership on this.

Here is the reality. Republicans and Democrats should all be wanting to help drive down costs for Americans right now: supply chain costs, costs for the home, and costs at the pump. Right now we have got a viable solution, 50 cents off per gallon with year-round nationwide E15. Whether you are filling up a truck or a tractor-trailer, a motor home or a minivan, this has a direct impact on families, and it is something we have been asking for in this Chamber for a long time on both sides of the aisle. Why hasn't this come to the floor for a vote?

I was just back in Iowa a couple weeks ago at a farmers roundtable in Atlantic, Iowa, and I heard the same question that I have heard from hundreds of roundtables in listening sessions across Iowa's 21 counties: How are we going to get year-round, nationwide E15 across the finish line? And when is Congress going to make sure that they are fighting for a waiver so that every spring our growers, our planters, and our farmers aren't asking this question?

Today, we have a chance to answer both those questions. This bill that we are about to vote on fixes the outdated regulations that have been holding E15 back for years and replaces it with a nationwide, permanent solution that is voluntary.

Importantly, throughout this fight, we have been able to focus on things that matter: American energy independence.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I have flown more combat missions in the Persian Gulf than I care to remember in my time with the U.S. Air Force all to be able to provide foreign energy sources to places like today in China where they consume 80 percent of the oil coming out of the Middle East. We should be focused on a domestic-based energy source, one that pairs up our traditional fuels with our biofuels, and this bill has that privilege of doing it.

Now, there is a lot of misinformation out there. There is insider lobbying going on, and there have been back-room deals on this very floor between people who are putting Iowa farmers and American consumers last.

I stood up. I was not going to let that happen. I am proud that we have been able to stand together in this. We have been able to negotiate and do what Congress should do: stand firm. They tried to kill it by making sure it never reached the floor, and foreign companies flooded this building with lobbying dollars. We have stood to reject that, and I think we have been able to bring forward a strong path to make E15 year-round.

Just weeks ago, President Trump came to Iowa and said he would sign an E15 bill into law. The Vice President was just in my district on Tuesday and said that they would sign this into law.

This is an opportunity for American-made energy independence to start right here, not just in what we grow in our cornfields but what we produce in America. Every dollar saved at the pump is a dollar back in America's pocket.

I want to make sure that Iowa producers who support this industry receive the certainty that Congress will stop treating year-round access like a favor instead of recognizing it as a solution.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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