Jun 16, 2022
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act, a critical step toward addressing the rising costs of food, fuel and other household items in the United States. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act is a package of bipartisan bills that will lower prices for families at the grocery aisle and the gas pump by giving America’s farmers the support and resources they need to thrive. The bill passed just two weeks after Representative Craig led her Democratic colleagues in urging the Speaker and Majority Leader to prioritize legislation that would address surging costs, which Rep. Craig and her colleagues identified as the most urgent challenge impacting their constituents.
The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act includes two of Representative Craig’s bills – the Year-Round Fuel Choice Act and the Strengthening the Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Act, which are both critical pieces of her ongoing effort to lower prices for Minnesotans.
“Every day, Americans are calling on their elected leaders to take decisive action to combat surging prices at the checkout line and at the pump. And today, we responded to that call by passing a major bipartisan bill to ensure the accessibility of affordable, homegrown American biofuels and to shore up the American food supply chain,” said Representative Craig. “Our bill will help to get food on the shelves faster, support economic growth in rural America and reduce our dependence on foreign oil – and I couldn’t have been prouder to champion this bipartisan effort in Congress.”
Earlier today, Craig spoke on the House floor in support of her legislation, urging her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support efforts to lower costs for working families. Craig’s remarks are available here.
The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act will help address supply chain risks, lower the cost of food and gas prices, strengthen the food supply chain and ensure robust competition in the meat and poultry sector. Contained in the package are two of Representative Craig’s bipartisan bills to support working families. Craig’s Year-Round Fuel Choice Act would permanently allow the year-round sale of E15, a biofuel alternative that lowers the average cost of fuel and can cost as much as forty cents per gallon less than regular gasoline. And the Strengthening the Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Act would create a task force dedicated to shoring up the agriculture and food supply chains in order to prevent bottlenecks and lower food costs.
Read the original press release here.