Rep. Susie Lee Votes to Lower Food and Fuel Costs, Continues to Lead the Fight for Action to Combat Inflation

Statement

Today, Rep. Susie Lee (NV-03) voted to pass new bipartisan legislation to lower the cost of food and fuel. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act will help bring down prices for Nevadans from the grocery aisle to the gas pump by lowering industry input costs and supporting American farmers.

"We know that prices are going up and, while Congressional Republicans are complaining about it, House Democrats are taking action by passing legislation that will lower prices from gas to groceries," said Rep. Lee. "The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act and the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which we passed on Monday, will tackle some of the deepest faults in our supply chain to lower costs. This legislation lowers costs for farmers, increases American fuel production, and shores up our markets, so that families will pay less from the gas pump to the grocery store. I'll continue to use my voice in Washington to make sure fighting inflation is the top priority for House leadership."

Over the past six months, Rep. Lee has been pushing House leaders to bring legislation to the floor that will take real action to combat inflation and strengthen our supply chain.

On Monday, the House passed a final version of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act to ease the burden of rising costs for consumers, retailers, and farmers by cracking down on exorbitant shipping fees. Rep. Lee previously called on House leadership to take up this bipartisan, cost-cutting legislation, now headed to President Biden's desk to be signed into law. Just last week, Rep. Lee urged leadership to continue to take new action on rising costs and specifically advocated for legislative provisions that passed as part of today's vote.

The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act takes three steps to lower costs for America's families: reduces fertilizer costs in the field to lower food prices in the grocery store, lowers meat and poultry costs by increasing meatpacking competition and capacity, and lowers prices at the pump by making cheaper, cleaner Unleaded 88 (also known as E-15) more available.

Lower Fertilizer Costs in the Field to Lower Food Prices in the Grocery Store. Russia and Ukraine are major global producers of key components of fertilizer, and Putin's war has dramatically driven up the costs of fertilizer for American farmers -- in turn, driving up prices in the grocery store too. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act reduces our dependence on foreign fertilizer production and includes two bipartisan bills to help American farmers lower their costs with $500 million in USDA funds as well as loan guarantees to pay for solutions, including precision agriculture, to use fertilizers more efficiently. Lower costs for farmers mean lower costs for families.

Lower Meat and Poultry Costs by Increasing Meatpacking Competition and Capacity. Unfair, anti-competitive practices by the major meatpacking conglomerates who dominate the market are driving up the price of meat and poultry in the supermarket even as many of the men and women who raise the beef, pork and chicken are forced to accept prices that make it almost impossible to make ends meet. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act strengthens competition in the meat and poultry sector and alleviates the supply chain bottlenecks that let meatpacking conglomerates set bad prices for producers and consumers alike. The bill includes the bipartisan Butcher Block Act to expand and create new meat processing capacity and options to market cattle, as well as the bipartisan Meat & Poultry Special Investigator Act, establishing a USDA Special Investigator for Competition Matters with new powers to swiftly crack down on anti-competitive practices by meatpacking conglomerates in violation of the long-standing Packers and Stockyards Act. Better enforcement will lead to greater competition in meat processing, fairer access to markets for producers and more price stability for consumers.

Lower Prices at the Pump by Making Cheaper, Cleaner Unleaded 88 More Available. Homegrown American ethanol grown by American farmers is one of our most powerful tools to fight Putin's Price Hike on American families, and nextgen biofuels infrastructure can make it even cleaner and more efficient to produce. Unleaded 88 is a cleaner, typically cheaper fuel option that costs on average approximately 40 cents less per gallon, emits less carbon pollution and burns cleaner than regular gas. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act expands access to lower-cost Unleaded 88 and taps the power of American farmers to break the grip of foreign autocrats weaponizing the price of oil and gas. The bill includes the bipartisan Year-Round Fuel Choice Act, which builds on the Biden Administration's action allowing for the voluntary year-round sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol, known as E-15 or Unleaded 88. The bill also includes the bipartisan Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act, which invests $200 million to help deploy additional storage and dispensing equipment to ensure that higher ethanol blends, biodiesel, sustainable aviation fuel and other biofuels are more readily available across the country.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which passed the House on Monday, will help level the playing field by empowering the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to strengthen oversight of the shipping market and lower costs for consumers. This legislation will boost funding for the FMC and implement several key measures, including:

Combating exorbitant shipping costs by strengthening FMC enforcement action against exploitative business practices.
Ensuring fairness in shipping by improving transparency and prohibiting ocean carriers from unreasonably refusing to transport American cargo.

Source