Energy Policy Act of 2003-Conference Report

ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2003-CONFERENCE REPORT

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I yield myself 4 minutes out of the time allotted to Senator Domenici.

Unlike my colleague and supporter of ethanol, Senator Daschle-and he is a big supporter of ethanol-I am not reluctant to vote for cloture because if we don't get cloture on this bill, we will never have the opportunity to get renewable fuels and the environmental impact of those renewable fuels and what it does for American agriculture. This is the best thing for renewable fuels and ethanol that we have had before this Congress in 25 years.

This is an opportunity for people to decide: Are they for the farmers or are they against the farmers? This bill, for the most part, is very good for the green growing regions of the Midwest. The choice is easy. This bill contains those production incentives for ethanol, biodiesel, and other renewable energy sources-the best ever for Senators from other energy-producing regions, such as the gulf States, the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains, and the Appalachians. The bill moves the ball forward for energy production.

The Finance Committee has a history in the area of energy-related tax policy. Almost one decade ago, my committee put its imprint on a comprehensive energy-related tax policy. The bill the committee produced strikes a very good balance between conventional energy, alternative renewable energies, and conservation.

I thank Senator Baucus for working with me and every member of this committee on its priorities. I also thank the Democratic staff for its hard work in helping us put together a bipartisan bill that may now be destroyed because of a Democratic filibuster.

First and foremost, we have an expansion of production credit for wind energy. Back in 1992, I was the first to offer this proposal. Now we have an important expansion of this production credit to cover, in addition to wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar energy. As the President has wisely said, as a matter of national security, we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That means all domestic energy sources-green or otherwise-are fair game.

Along those lines, we have a new tax credit for biodiesel fuel that is included in this bill. The conference report contains several provisions that enhance tax incentives for ethanol production because it is a clean-burning fuel that will continue to be a key element in our transportation fuel needs.

We also remove in this bill the prejudice against ethanol for highway trust fund purposes by providing a tax credit for ethanol production. When we complete our work on the highway bill next year, ethanol fuels will pay the full gas tax into the highway trust fund.

This bill also provides an effective small producer tax credit.

With this bill, ethanol will be treated as all other energy incentives. It will be derived from the general fund. Ultimately, all communities, rural and urban, will get more highway money if this bill passes. If you care about highway money for your local roads, you should vote for cloture.

There are a number of other good provisions in this bill that benefit agriculture, clean coal, and new technologies for gas production. The bill, in other words, is balanced with new energy conservation measures, as well as alternative renewable fuels.

We have an opportunity-almost the last opportunity-to do what it takes to get this bill passed. We are responding to national priorities. There is no going back to the House for another chance.

I ask all Senators to think long and hard about what this vote today represents. This is an historical moment. It is as if we are on the last steps of a trail to the top of a big mountain that we have climbed. We can either take the next few steps and enjoy the view or we can jump off the side of the mountain. There is no going back down the trail.

For Senators from my part of the world, the grain growing regions of the Midwest, the choice is easy. This bill contains production incentives for ethanol, biodiesel and other renewable energy sources. We are for farmers they are against farmers. For Senators from other energy-producing regions, like the Gulf States, the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains, and the Appalachians, this bill moves the ball forward on energy production.

The Finance Committee has a distinct history in the area of energy-related tax policy. Almost one decade ago, this committee put its imprint on comprehensive energy-related tax policy. Then, as now, the bill the committee produced strikes a balance between conventional energy sources, alternative energy, and conservation.

I would like to thank Senator BAUCUS for working with me and every member of this committee on their priorities. I would also like to thank the Finance Committee Democratic staff for the hard work they have put in to get us here.

First and foremost, we have an extension and expansion of the production credit for wind energy. Back in 1992, I was the first to offer this proposal to the Senate. Now, we have an important expansion of this production credit to cover biomass, geothermal wells and solar energy.

As the President has wisely said, as a matter of national security, we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That means all domestic energy sources, green and otherwise, are fair game. Along those lines, we have a new tax credit for bio diesel fuels that will be included in this bill.

The conference report contains several provisions that enhance the tax incentives for ethanol production. Ethanol is a clean burning fuel that will continue to be a key element in our transportation fuels policy.

We remove the prejudice against ethanol for highway trust fund purposes by providing a tax credit for ethanol production. When we complete our work on the highway bill next year, ethanol fuels will pay the full gas tax into the highway trust fund. We are most of the way there. This bill also provides an effective small producer tax credit. With this bill, ethanol will be treated as all other energy incentives. It will be derived from the general fund.Ultimately, all communities, rural and urban, will get more highway money if this bill passes. If you care about highway money for your local roads, you should vote for cloture.

There are a number of other very good proposals in the conference report. They benefit agriculture, clean coal, and new technologies for gas production. The bill is balanced with new energy conservation measures as well.

So, to sum up, we have an opportunity to do what we should do. We are responding to a national priority, energy security, in a balanced and comprehensive way. Let there be no mistake about it, Mr. President. A vote against cloture is a vote to stop this bill. There is no going back to the House for another chance. There is no going back to conference with the House with the leverage the energy-producing States had on this bill. As the lead negotiator on the Senate side for the tax provisions, let me tell you it was not easy. The Ways and Means Committee likes oil-they don't like clean-burning ethanol. It was a difficult conference. We will not get this chance again.

So, for my friends on both sides of the aisle, especially those from the Midwest, this is the time to show your cards. You can show whether you are with farmers or with other interests.

As I said, at the start, we are on the last steps of the trail to the mountain top. There is no looking back now. A vote for cloture completes the journey.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.

Mr. GRASSLEY. We either pass this bill or the good provisions in it for ethanol are lost forever.