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Senate Passes Ethanol Subsidy Amendment

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has voted 73 to 27 to approve an amendment that will end a 45-cent per gallon subsidy given to ethanol refiners, and the 54-cent per gallon tariff on imported ethanol.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has voted 73 to 27 to approve an amendment that will end a 45-cent per gallon subsidy given to ethanol refiners, and the 54-cent per gallon tariff on imported ethanol. The amendment, proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn, R.-Okla. And Sen. Diane Feinstein, D.-Calif., would cut billions in annual support for the U.S. ethanol industry. It will be attached to an underlying economic development bill, which the Senate will debate separately.

In separate news, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 283 to 128 to prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from funding tanks and blender pumps that ethanol producers had planned to use to make fuel with higher ethanol to gasoline blend rates.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association praised the passage of both amendments.

"GMA applauds today's overwhelming and bi-partisan support for an amendment offered by Senators Feinstein and Coburn to end wasteful subsidies for corn ethanol. GMA also applauds the resounding vote in the House of Representatives in support of [Ariz.] Rep. [Jeff] Flake’s amendment to end federal spending on corn ethanol infrastructure," GMA President and Chief Executive Officer Pamela G. Bailey said in a prepared statement.

"With corn prices at record levels, these votes convincingly show that the tide has turned against using food for fuel and that Americans want responsible energy policy solutions that do not pit our nation’s energy needs against food security for millions of families."