{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=4C5DB5A5-92FB-4FB0-B536-EE78CEF1662B", "Heitkamp: Unfairly Subsidized Foreign Biodiesel a Threat to North Dakota Jobs", "2017-11-09", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today testified at an International Trade Commission (ITC) hearing on the impact of biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, which are heavily subsidized and threaten jobs in farming and biodiesel production in North Dakota.\r\n\u201cUnfairly subsidized imports from Argentina and Indonesia put North Dakota jobs at risk,\u201d Heitkamp said. \u201cOur farmers and biodiesel companies are losing money because they cannot compete against the massive subsidies being provided by these foreign governments. The ITC must take action to level the playing field, so that producers like ADM based out of Velva \u2013 which produces 75 million gallons of biodiesel a year \u2013 are able to continue to compete and support our farmers and rural communities.\u201d\r\nHeitkamp\u2019s testimony comes after she sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in September, urging him to take action to protect U.S. producers from these unfairly subsidized imports. Click here to read her letter to Secretary Ross.\u00a0\r\nAccording to a study conducted last year by LMC International and released by the National Biodiesel Board, the 2.1 billion gallons of biodiesel and renewable diesel used by Americans in 2015 supported 47,400 jobs and $1.9 billion in wages, and had an $8.4 billion economic impact.\r\nIn North Dakota, about 50 percent of corn is turned into ethanol, according to the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, reinforcing how important it is that we maintain a robust biofuels market through the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).\r\nLast month, Senator Heitkamp successfully fought to protect biofuel production targets in the RFS, leading a bipartisan letter to the administration opposing proposed cuts to production levels in 2018.\u00a0\r\nThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had proposed holding the biomass-based diesel volume stagnant for 2019 and reducing the advanced biofuel volume for 2018, leaving potential growth in the industry on the table and threatening near-term job losses in rural America. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had previously pledged to support the RFS, and Heitkamp reinforced the need to protect it in a meeting with Pruitt prior to his confirmation. \u00a0\r\nA member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Heitkamp has been a vocal advocate for biodiesel and ethanol \u2013 industries that support over 400,000 American jobs, including many in North Dakota. Heitkamp has fought for the EPA to provide certainty to farmers and biofuels workers, and has continually pressed the agency to issue a strong RFS rule.\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=4C5DB5A5-92FB-4FB0-B536-EE78CEF1662B"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1385180987417698, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}