March 22, 2023

Duckworth Discusses Corn Exports and Ethanol Production with Illinois Corn Growers Association

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today met with members of the Illinois Corn Growers Association to discuss her Illinois and legislative priorities ahead of Congress’s reauthorization of the Farm Bill this year. Duckworth, who was joined by members of the Association when she recently led a Congressional delegation to Japan to highlight Illinois’s importance on the international stage for agricultural trade, also underscored the importance of U.S. ethanol imports to Japan to help address climate change during today’s meeting.

“The strength of America’s farmers is a reflection of our strength as a nation,” Duckworth said. “I enjoyed meeting with the Illinois Corn Growers Association today to hear their concerns and discuss how I can be helpful at the federal level to their small businesses and communities. I will continue to advocate in DC, at home in Illinois and overseas, on behalf of our agriculture community to help ensure they have the resources they needed to feed and fuel our country and our economy in the years ahead.”

In the Senate, Duckworth has been a leader in supporting biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). To help increase the availability of E15 biofuels, Duckworth helped introduce the Next Generations Fuel Act Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 and the Next Generations Fuel Act to allow the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent. Duckworth additionally helped introduced the Home Front Energy Independence Act to ban Russian oil and expand use and production of biofuel that’s grown in the American heartland, while providing American families with a less expensive option to fuel their vehicles. The Senator also created a pilot project in the last National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to promote the use of SAF at military installations and will continue to increase these efforts to expand the use on biofuels whenever possible.

Global exports of agricultural products from Illinois totaled over $10.6 Billion in 2022 alone and 96 percent of all Illinois farms are family owned. Duckworth has been a consistent supporter of this major industry and working families, including by helping introduce the Expanding Agricultural Exports Act of 2023, which would support the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program. 

-30-