IARN — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, along with Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and eight of their Senate colleagues, sent a letter Monday to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging USDA to assist biofuel producers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the letter, the Senators called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make biofuels producers eligible for existing CCC funding. The Senators wrote, “We have been advocating for targeted relief for the biofuels industry since last spring when we were first made aware of the demand collapse for ethanol and other renewable fuels due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As you know, additional funding was added to the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stabilization (CARES) Act. However, the previous administration argued that congressional intent was not clear with regard to support for biofuels and did not use its discretionary authority to assist biofuels producers through available CCC funding.”
Senator Grassley spoke on the issue during his weekly conference call with farm reporters on Monday.
“It should be noted that money from the December virus relief bill, which totaled $13 billion, has not yet been spent,” Grassley said. “This calls into question whether Congress should have provided billions more to the USDA until we see how the December money has been spent and whether there is still a need. We’re now a full week into March and Secretary Vilsack has been in office for two weeks. The money that Congress has already provided should be distributed to producers for the virus disruptions as soon as possible. That includes assistance to biofuels producers.”
Grassley has been a steadfast advocate for the biofuels industry especially as farmers have faced extreme drought and recovered from the derecho this past year. In May, he introduced legislation to ensure Iowa farmers and biofuels producers also have support through the CCC in the midst of the pandemic.
The letter is also signed by Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.).
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network
