Date: 2007-10-15
Speaker: HERSETH SANDLIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam panding trade deficit. The production Speaker. I thank the gentleman from of nearly 5 billion gallons of ethanol in Minnesota for yielding. 2006 means that last year the U.S. imI rise today in strong support of ported 206 million fewer barrels of oil. House Concurrent Resolution 25. com- valued at more than $11 billion. than monly referred to by my constituents. would have been the case without ethand it sounds like the constituents of anol. many others. as 25x25." Im an original Finally. the environmental benefits cosponsor of this resolution. and I com- of using renewable fuels abound. The mend Chairman PETERSON and Ranking use. of 10 percent ethanol blends reMember GOODLATTE for their superb duces greenhouse gas emissions by 12 leadership on advancing this important to 19 percent compared with convenresolution. on the overall issue of ad- tional gasoline. Ethanol reduces tailvancing renewable energy in American pipe carbon monoxide emissions by as agriculture. and for their efforts in much as 30 percent. and tailpipe fine bringing this legislation to the floor particulate matter emissions by as today. much as 50 percent. In 2004alone. eth.This resolution is as bold as it is anol use in the U.S. reduced C02equivstraightforward. It simply states the alent greenhouse gas emissions by United States expects our Nations ag- more than 7 million tons. equal to rericultural. forestry and working land moving the annual emissions of more to provide from renewable resources than 1 million cars from the road. and sustainable resources not less than Thats why this resolution and this 25 percent of total U.S. energy con- entire debate are so important. Consumption by 2025. while continuing to gress is currently considering new enproduce the worlds safest. most abun- ergy policy legislation. providing us an dant. most affordable food and feed. opportunity to build on the policies of This goal is both exciting and achiev- 2 years ago. In the coming weeks. Im able. and rural America stands ready hopeful that well finalize this energy to assume the challenge. Todays reso- bill and send it to the President. but lution compels us as a Nation to con- we must take this opportunity to be sider. to devise. and to implement a bold.* strategy for realizing this critical goal. The final bill should certainly conIn recent years. weve taken impor-. tain initiatives to promoteenergy contant incremental steps in support of re- servation. but it must also require that newable energy. The most significant weraour domst poducion of and ositve xampe ofthi comitwe increase our domestic production of and positive example of this commit- renewable energy. both in the elecment was the passage of the Energy tricit etradi tetasotto Policy Act of 2005. Which contained the city sector and in the transportation firstever renewable fuel standard. long sector. advoate by haimanPETESONand The success of our initial renewable advocated by Chairman PETERSON and energymnaeidctstewso many others in this Chamber and in gy mandate indicates the wisdom the Senate. a national mandate for the of that policy and demonstrates the usage of renewable energy. and it has need to be even bolder. even more forbeen a resounding success. ward looking and even more comIn 2004. we produced less than 3.5 bil- mitted to achieving energy independlion gallons of ethanol in the United ence in this country. States. By the end of this calendar This resolution today clearly outyear. well have the capacity to lines an appropriately aggressive goal produce more than 7 billion gallons of for our country over the next 18 years clean. renewable. domestically grown and recognizes the role of American agethanol in this country. riculture. and I look forward to workThis forwardlooking and innovative ing with my colleagues to making the policy has enabled the U.S. ethanol in- aspirations a reality.dustry to more than double its produc- Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker. I tion capacity in only 3 years. and the have no further speakers at this time. benefits to the economy. to consumers and I yield back the balance of my and to the environment have been tre- time. mendous. and as the ranking member Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. noted. with the advancements in cel- Madam Speaker. I just want to again lulosic ethanol. every region of the thank my good friend Mr. GOODLATTE country will soon benefit as so many for his leadership on this issue and the States have already done. rest of the members of our committee According to a recent study by who have worked very hard. Weve proLECG. a global expert services firm. duced a farm bill that is going to do the combination of spending for annual our part in getting this country off of operations. ethanol transportation and energy independence. capital spending for new plants under I also want to thank our leadership. construction added $41.9 billion of gross especially Speaker PELOSI for her leadoutput to the American economy in ership on this issue. 2006 alone. over $1 billion of that in my As I said. we have a tremendous ophome State of South Dakota. Even portunity in rural America and agrimore important. much of this eco- culture with this whole effort to get nomic benefit has been realized by energy independent in this country. small communities in rural areas that and this resolution will help us by eshave faced considerable economic chal- tablishing that goal. lenges in recent decades. In Minnesota. where Im proud to be Moreover. oil imports are the single from. we have led the way. I was just at largest component of our Nations ex- a grand opening on Friday of a new plant thats turning turkey manure into electricity. and we have had mandates in Minnesota in ethanol and biodiesel. electricity. and it works. - Weve had a tremendous economic development thats come about because of the renewable energy industry that weve developed in Minnesota. So were proud on the Ag Committee of our work. and we urge our colleagues to join us in supporting H. Con. Res. 25.