Ahead of House Vote, Randy Feenstra Has Already Failed Iowa Farmers on E15
DES MOINES – Ahead of today’s House vote on the sale of nationwide year-round E15, Randy Feenstra — the chair of a useless biofuels council in Congress that only exists because of his repeated failures to deliver a deal on E15 — has already proven he’s too weak to deliver for Iowa farmers.
Feenstra has spent months claiming he’s “close” to a deal on the year-round sale of E15, moving the goalpost and making empty promises after he missed his self-imposed February 25 deadline for a vote on E15, failed to prioritize E15 in January’s government funding bill, and didn’t include E15 in the long-delayed Farm Bill. As drivers see gas prices in Iowa skyrocket to $4.49 a gallon thanks to Feenstra’s vote for the war in Iran, nationwide year-round E15 would bring down costs at the pump while expanding markets for Iowa farmers.
Politico reported that even if the long overdue E15 bill passes the House, it’s a “nonstarter” and “won’t pass in the Senate.” One House Republican told Politico that Feenstra’s inability to pass nationwide year-round E15 means it’s “lights-out for Feenstra’s governor bid.”
From Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Terra Hernandez:
“Try as he might, Randy Feenstra can’t rewrite his record of repeatedly failing to deliver nationwide year-round E15 for Iowa farmers. Feenstra has given farmers the runaround for months with empty promises and broken commitments while a deal was always one step out of reach. Iowa farmers deserve real results, not more of Feenstra’s election-year excuses.”
Every time do-nothing Randy Feenstra claimed he was “close” to a deal on E15:
- January 13: “In the next four weeks this gets done.”
- January 23: “He said he expects the task force will have an E15 package that the House can approve by Feb. 25.”
- February 18: “Randy Feenstra says a deal is near that would allow fuel with a blend of up to 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline to be sold year round … ‘We believe we’ve got something that works for all farmers.’”
- February 24: “Feenstra told Agri-Pulse on Tuesday that lawmakers are ‘close’ to getting an E15 bill on the House floor … ‘We want to get [it] released and get it to the floor, hopefully here very, very shortly.’”
- February 26: “Maybe this week or next week … We’re very involved and engaged in having a vote here very shortly on E15 and hopefully getting it out of the U.S. House.”
- March 5: “A long-awaited draft bill aimed at expanding the U.S. ethanol market is expected to be finalized as soon as Friday, Rep. Randy Feenstra tells Agri-Pulse.”
- March 24: “I am the chair of the E15 council. And again, that’s another bill that we gotta get out of the House here in the next couple weeks.”
- May 6: “Next week, on May 13, we’re going to pass E15 year round.”
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