NCGA President Visits Capitol Hill to Discuss Legislative Priorities (12-9-04)
National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) President Leon Corzine got a head
start on
the commencement of the 109th Congress by meeting
Wednesday with key policy makers on Capitol Hill. At the top of
Corzine’s agenda were discussions on corn grower legislative
priorities pertaining to the energy debate and modernization of
locks and dams on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers.
Later this week, Corzine will attend the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Advisory Council on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture.
Corzine met
with House Agriculture Committee Chair Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.),
Sen.
Saxby Chambliss (R-Va.), and Sen. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa). Corzine says during his meeting with Goodlatte, he explained
the nation’s corn growers see a need for a national energy
policy, both as energy suppliers and energy consumers.
“We talked not only about the ethanol component of the RFS,
but we also talked about the cost side and what energy costs have
done to us on the family farm,” Corzine said. “The
idea that our nitrogen costs have more than doubled over the past
two years is an indication that we really need energy stability
and the primary driver of that cost increase is natural gas.”
Corzine also talked with Goodlatte about prospects for congressional
action on the long-delayed Water Resources Development Act, which
would upgrade locks and dams and enhance ecosystems along the upper
Mississippi and Illinois rivers. He said Goodlatte understands
the significance of the issue.
“It really piqued his interest when we got to talking about
the locks and dams, because with this big corn crop that we have
just produced – and we’ll set new records I’m
confident in the future – it really stresses our infrastructure,” Corzine
said. “He really picked up on that and the critical issues
we have now without having the upgrades.”