Hillary Clinton (D)

Hillary Clinton (D)
2nd Term Senator from New York

Address:
4420 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203

Website: www.hillaryclinton.com
Phone: (703) 469-2008
Fax: (703) 962-8600

For more background on Senator Clinton and information about her campaign, visit the NCGA’s Legislative Action Center.

Issues Important to Growers:

Responses to the NCGA candidate questionnaire sent by the Iowa Corn Growers Association to all candidates:

Ethanol and Renewable Fuels

• Do you support continuation of the 51 cent per gallon blender credit for ethanol?
  
  Yes. I support continuation of the blending credit, and I have proposed to extend it as part of my Strategic Energy Fund, which I have proposed to create as part of my comprehensive plan to address global warming and move our country toward energy independence. The fund would invest $50 billion over 10 years into research, development, and deployment of renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean coal technology, ethanol, and other homegrown biofuels.
  
  
• Do you support continuation of the 54 cent per gallon ethanol import tariff?
  
  Yes. I believe the tariff is critical to the continued growth of our domestic biofuels industry. Earlier this year, I voted against an attempt to eliminate this important provision.
  
  
• Will you support the federal Renewable Fuels Standard of 7.5 billion gallons, and increased use of renewable fuels on the national level?
  
  Yes. I voted earlier this year to increase the Renewable Fuels Standard to 36 billion as part of the Senate energy bill, and I have proposed a further expansion of the RFS to 60 billion gallons by 2030. Expanded biofuels production is a critical component of my comprehensive plan to address global warming and to cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds from projected levels by 2030.
  
  
• Will you support maximum funding for the Department of Energy’s alternative fuels program, with a focus on E85?
  
  Yes. I support the Department of Energy’s efforts to expand our alternative fuels program in order to establish a greater supply of ethanol and to expand the infrastructure that will put more of our home grown biofuels into the supply chain. E85 and flex-fuel automobiles are a significant part of my plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Farm Bill:

• What are your views on the next Farm Bill?
  
  I was proud to support the 2002 Farm Bill, and I believe that it is critical that we build on that legislation and reauthorize it. I applaud Sen. Harkin for moving us closer to that goal.
  
  
• Do you support a strong safety net for Iowa farmers?
  
  I support a strong safety net for all farmers. Just as important, I believe we should do all we can to help farmers get a fair price from the market, which is what they tell me that want and what I believe they deserve.
  
  
• Do you believe that the next Farm Bill must be trade compliant?
  
  Yes. Our goal should be to get an agreement that is fair to our farmers and is consistent with current trade policy.
  
  
• Will you consider a crop revenue insurance program as an element of the next Farm Bill, instead of solely a price-based safety net?
  
  Yes. I support the Average Crop Revenue proposal that Sens. Harkin, Durbin, and Brown have added to the Senate Farm Bill. We should always look for innovative ways to improve the safety net, and I think this program would be an important trial run for the revenue approach.
  
  
• Do you support full funding for a crop insurance program at rate levels sufficient to induce crop insurance, and designed to avoid the need for disaster assistance?
  
  Yes. We need crop insurance that is affordable and provides equitable coverage across the board. I believe reform is needed to provide risk management to all producers and, in the meantime, I support disaster assistance to cover things beyond the producers’ control, like weather-related disasters.

Trade:

• Do you support continuing Trade Promotion Authority for the office of the President?
  
  This President’s fast-track authority expired not a moment too soon. He has used this authority to produce flawed agreements like CAFTA, whose labor and environmental provisions were not strong enough. I opposed the Korean Free Trade agreement because the auto provision does not have an enforcement mechanism strong enough to ensure that the Koreans won't continue using nontariff barriers to restrict American access to their car market. The Clinton administration brought more enforcement actions in one year than the Bush administration has in six. I want to ensure we have higher trade.
  
  
• Please include any other information you believe the Iowa Corn Growers Association membership should know about you, including positions of leadership, sponsorship of bills, or positions on other agricultural issues not otherwise listed on this form.
  
  One of my first priorities as Senator was to organize an Agricultural Advisory Committee so that I could best represent in the Senate the needs of farmers and others in the agriculture industry. I have been honored to work with and support Sen. Harkin on a number of agriculture priorities to support the industry and to improve the quality of life for people living in rural America. That work includes advocating for a safety net for dairy producers, supporting expansion of conservation programs, finding innovative ways for direct-to-consumer marketing, improving rural education and health care, and providing rural development, including broadband. As President, I would seek to build on this record to support farmers and rural development in Iowa and across the country.

For more information on Sen. Clinton’s positions, visit her website: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/

Selected Media Quotes/Public Positions

Capital Gains Taxes

• Senator Clinton, what is your opinion of the Bush tax cuts, and do you favor preserving and perhaps even lowering the maximum tax rate on capital gains and dividends?
  Clinton: "I would not raise taxes a single penny unless for a national purpose," she said… She was strongly opposed to extending the Bush tax cuts beyond 2010…As to taxes specifically on capital gains and dividends, she said she was "agnostic" about the issue, adding that it was "not high on her list of priorities." (InvestmentU.com, May 8, 2007)

• In February 2006, Sen. Hillary Clinton co-sponsored and Sen. Barack Obama supported a proposal to cancel those tax cuts in 2009 and 2010 and devote the $47 billion in revenue to military spending. (Investor’s Business Daily)

Estate Tax

• "I believe in estate tax reform that would ensure that more than 99 percent of estates would bear no federal tax. But we cannot afford to repeal the estate tax outright. Full repeal would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit and would benefit only the wealthiest multimillionaire and billionaire estates." (Des Moines Register, November 12, 2007)

• Voted NO on permanently repealing the `death tax`.  (Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act; Bill HR 8; vote number 2006-164, June 8, 2006)

Ethanol and Renewable Fuels

• The Illinois senator's (Barack Obama) campaign released information that points out that Clinton voted more than a dozen times between 2000 and 2005 “against ethanol.”  The U.S. senator from New York has explained most of those votes. She has said at the time legislation was being considered and the way various legislative proposals were written, she feared it would amount to spikes in energy costs….she defended past opposition to tax incentives and mandates for corn-based ethanol. “If you look at the transportation costs, the mandate, we thought, we directly impact the price of gas on the costs,” Clinton said. “I never was against using ethanol. I never was against the idea that we had to try these alternatives.” (Des Moines Register, November 6, 2007)

• While touring the research facilities at Pioneer Hi-Bred, Hillary Clinton emphasized her call to dedicate more federal resources to the production of ethanol using the entire plant, not just the kernels.  “Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, suggests the federal government should spend $50 billion dollars on projects that help reach the goals of reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Clinton argues a federal ‘Strategic Energy Fund’ would help more rapidly deploy already-existing technology and accelerate the production of ethanol from the entire corn plant.”  (Radio Iowa News, March 5, 2007)

• "I believe we've got to take a strong stand on limiting our dependence on foreign oil. And we have a perfect example about how it can work right here in Iowa with all the ethanol that's being produced here,” and called for, "accelerating homegrown and family-farm-grown biofuels by extending the ethanol tax credit until 2012 and speeding the development of cellulosic ethanol." (Des Moines Register, March 4, 2007)

• "We have an underused resource, American farmland, and rural communities across our country eager to try something new and do their part to help solve our energy problems. Today we have 97 biorefineries located in 19 different states with the capacity to make nearly 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol. Now, over the next 12 to 18 months, we will increase that capacity by 50 percent. And we're seeing it in New York as we're seeing it around the country. But think about that: We have the capacity to make nearly 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol, but that is a long way from helping us deal with our gas problems." (Factcheck.com, June 12, 2007)

• The senator recently softened her stance, but she is on record opposing a large federal boost for the grain-based fuel… The vote in question was an effort to block a proposed amendment to the 2005 energy bill that would have established an ethanol mandate for refineries. "If there were ever an onerous, anti-competitive, anti-free-market provision, this is it," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who led the effort and who warned that non-farming states could face spikes in gasoline prices because of supply limitations. Clinton at the time was campaigning for reelection and was one of 28 senators to support her colleague's failed bid… Over the past year, Clinton has warmed to ethanol. Buffalo has decided to build a big ethanol plant, making the issue a home-state concern. In May, Clinton said current ethanol production is "a long way from helping us deal with our gas problems" and added: "We need to be moving on a much faster track." (Washington Post, January 1, 2007)         
      
• Five-point plan to increase production of biofuels to 60 billion gallons by 2030 includes:
  • Extending Tax Incentives for Biofuel Production
  • Strengthening Ethanol Infrastructure and Flex-Fuel Vehicles
  • Investing in Research to Accelerate Cellulosic Ethanol and Advanced Biofuels
  • Starting the Next Generation of Energy Crops and Technologies
  • Ensuring Sustainable Biofuel Production
    (HillaryClinton.com, “Powering America’s Future: New Energy, New Jobs”)

Farm Bill:

• “President Bush is waging a $300 million a day war in Iraq and has presided over the largest fiscal deterioration in our nation’s history, yet he’s chosen to draw the line for fiscal discipline at the feet of our hard working farmers,” Clinton said in a statement released by her campaign. “The 2007 Farm Bill contains vital investments in a safety net for farmers; conservation, renewable energy, nutrition, and rural development that will help sustain our rural communities and ensure that America’s food supply is abundant, safe and healthy.”  (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, November 6, 2007)

• The proposal, put forward principally by US senators from the Northeast, including Democratic New York senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, calls for funds over and above those provided to "commodity farmers" in the Midwest, that would add to an element of the agricultural industry that reportedly accounts for nearly 50% of the US crop cash receipts, but "has been largely ignored in previous farm bills," according to Schumer… The funding would go toward market and economic development, conservation, pest and disease resistance research, and salaries for local technical advisors, as opposed to direct payments to farmers in order to best stimulate and strengthen the market for specialty crop farmers.  (Suffolk Life Newspapers, October 10, 2007)

• "The Farm Bill reauthorization provides an incredible opportunity to fight for farmers, rural communities and agricultural industry. It is my hope that the innovative ideas and initiatives we discussed will be included in this year's Farm Bill reauthorization to create a stronger safety net for farmers, a bigger conservation agenda, a greater emphasis on renewable energy, and better opportunities for the next generation of farmers to begin a career in agriculture or continue the family farm or operation. I will continue to stand behind the growers and producers in New York and across the country," said Senator Clinton.  (Senator Clinton press release, May 16, 2007)

• Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that a major new five-year farm bill should make Americans healthier by piling more vegetables onto their dinner plates. (Newsday.com, May 20, 2007)
  

Trade:

• Her spokesman, Philippe Reines, said she opposed extending fast track authority for President Bush, and opposes the free trade agreement with South Korea.  Reines says Clinton favors “smart trade,” meaning pacts containing environmental and labor protections. (The Buffalo News, July 16, 2007)

• Sen. Clinton has supported some trade pacts that the AFL-CIO opposed. In 2006, Clinton voted for a trade deal with Oman (as did Obama); in 2003, she voted to implement trade pacts with Singapore and Chile... Clinton did side with the AFL-CIO — and with Biden, Dodd and Obama — in her 2005 vote against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).  (CQPolitics.com, June 27, 2007)

• Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told a hall packed with about 700 labor union members she won't support a free-trade deal with South Korea… "Trade worked well for America for most of the 20th century, but we are in a different environment now," Clinton said. "You can't just keep doing the same thing that we did before. We've got to be, as I say, smarter. Because my primary obligation as a United States senator, and then later as president, is to look out for America. That's my job. My job is to try to support all of you because I don't want to lose the American dream."  (Gannett News Service, June 10, 2007)

• "I support what I call smart trade. Free trade versus fair trade is not descriptive. Trade is, in general, good for America. All during the 20th century, we were advantaged by being involved in the free-trade agreements in the world. Unfortunately, those trade agreements became less fair to many American workers because the concept of free trade didn't keep up with the changing global economy. What I'm trying to get people thinking about, rather than having this stale debate - free trade versus fair trade - is, 'What is it we want from trade?' Number one, we want trade to give us export markets for goods we produce in the United States. If we open our markets, then people have to open theirs. No more hidden barriers and pretend agreements. It has to be reciprocal. Number two, we know that if we don't have some sort of labor and environmental standards, we're going to be disadvantaged. … Look at what's happening with the imports from China. We have no way of knowing what they're putting into food, for humans or for pets."  (Spartanburg Herald Journal, May 11, 2007)