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NCGA Calls Growers to Action on Waxman-Cox
Amendment (7-27-01)
The ethanol industry
and its supporters are in great danger - again.
Next week, there
is a real possibility that the energy bill will be brought to the floor
of the House for a vote. The rule - or procedural mechanism - that enables
floor action on the energy bill could open up amendments that are unfavorable
to the ethanol industry and to corn.
"Even though
NCGA and its allies defeated the Waxman-Cox amendment in the House Energy
and Commerce Committee last week, right now the amendment is threatened
to be part of the rule that will bring the energy bill to the floor,"
said NCGA Vice President of Public Policy Bruce Knight. "The great
danger lies in allowing the entire membership of the House to vote on
this amendment. NCGA is urging corn growers to contact their congressional
representatives and ask them to vote against the amendment. If the amendment
is not voted down prior to floor action, corn growers and ethanol's
allies will face a tenacious floor fight."
Knight noted that
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has continued to press his amendment, and shows
no sign of backing off. "To win this battle, corn growers and their
congressional allies will have to go to the wall," Knight said.
The first round
of that battle was fired in a letter to House Rules Committee Chairman
David Dreier (R-CA) sent by NCGA President Lee Klein, a farmer from
Battle Creek, Neb., who expressed "our strong opposition to additional
votes on the amendment offered by Mr. Cox and Mr. Waxman during the
debate in the Energy and Commerce Committee."
Noting that nearly
four hours of debate resulted in the amendment's decisive loss, Klein
wrote, "that waiving the oxygen requirement for California or other
states using reformulated gasoline (RFG) does not reflect sound science
or public policy because it would increase consumer gasoline prices
and lead to increases in harmful vehicle emissions."
Citing the two-year
process of soliciting and placing scientific and technical data in the
EPA's docket that has provided ample opportunities for analysis and
debate, Klein stated: "The President, the experts at EPA and Members
of the Committee of jurisdiction have spoken and their decisions should
stand. We urge the Rules Committee to reject calls for additional debate
or votes on the Clean Air Act oxygen requirement."
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Last
reviewed July 27, 2001
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