Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Ms. BUDZINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1346, the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, as amended.

As a lead Democrat on this bill, I have been proud to work with Congressman Adrian Smith on this issue. We both understand, like many other Members, that year-round E15 is bigger than politics. This is about American farmers. It is about American consumers, and it is about American energy.

E15 is truly one of those rare issues where everyone wins. Here is why: American farmers win because it creates strong and stable markets for homegrown corn. American consumers win because E15 helps to lower prices at the pump. Our economy wins because E15 supports jobs and investment in rural America.

I represent one of the leading corn producing regions in the United States. I have sat down with growers, producers, and small business owners across central and southern Illinois who all understand the same thing: Year-round E15 works.

Yet despite years of support, years of advocacy, and years of evidence proving its benefits, we are still relying on temporary waivers and short-term fixes to keep E15 available during the summer months. Those waivers may get us through another season, but they do not provide certainty that our farmers need and deserve. Farmers cannot plan their future around temporary decisions. Producers cannot invest with confidence when policy changes year to year. Consumers should not lose access to a cheaper fuel option simply because Washington refuses to finish the job.

We have been close before. In fact, it feels like every year we get right to the goal line, and every year politics, delay, or dysfunction gets in our way.

Today we are here to say: Enough. Enough excuses. Enough kicking the can down the road. The time for bipartisan, permanent, nationwide, and year-round E15 is now.

Family farmers are heading toward a crisis, facing rising costs, shrinking margins, and growing unpredictability not because they are failing, but because the system is failing them.

While our producers are struggling, American families are being squeezed, and that is especially at the gas pump. Right now, the average price of gas nationwide is around $4.50 per gallon. Families need relief, and year-round E15 is the solution. That is why today I am calling on my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats alike, to come together and let's finally pass this bill.

Let's deliver certainty for our growers, lower costs for consumers, and let's strengthen American energy independence.

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