U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) met with Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) President Brian Duncan and IFB members to discuss shared priorities to grow Illinois’s agriculture industry and support our farmers. In their meeting, Duckworth and the members discussed the importance of supporting our family farmers at home by expanding biofuels production, increasing agricultural export markets and improving farm safety net programs. Photos from the Senator’s meeting can be found on her website.
“America has always depended on our nation’s farmers and ranchers to grow the food and fuel we need, and I’m proud to advocate for them on both the national and international stage,” Duckworth said. “The work of Illinois’s farmers is so important to the strength of our state and our nation, and I will continue to do everything I can to support the Illinois Farm Bureau and farmers across the state at the federal level.”
In the Senate, Duckworth has been a leader in supporting biofuels, including expansion of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and permanent authority to use E15 fuel year-round. To help increase the availability of E15 biofuels, Duckworth helped introduce the bipartisan Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act and the bipartisan Next Generations Fuel Act to allow the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent. Duckworth additionally helped introduce the bipartisan 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. Earlier this year, she helped introduce the Farm to Fly Act to help accelerate the production and development of SAF.
As a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Duckworth has been an advocate for Illinois agriculture around the globe and helped secure significant wins for Illinois and American agriculture. After Duckworth’s visit last year, Japan announced a regulatory change that will lead to an increase in imports from U.S. biofuel producers, supporting our farmers and growing Illinois’s economy, and following a prior trip to Taiwan, she helped secure a commitment from Taiwan to purchase an estimated $2.6 billion of Illinois’s corn and soybeans.
***Courtesy of U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth***
