NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON — Kansas First District Congressman Tracey Mann was in Hutchinson on Wednesday morning at the Cosmosphere as part of his annual town hall tour of the Big First.
Mann will be in several area Kansas counties Thursday.
"There are a lot of people concerned about the southern border," Mann said. "I share those concerns. A lot of people are concerned with the spending. I share those concerns. That's why we've been voting against it. I don't know that there were any surprises, but it's good to listen to folks and hear what's top of mind for people in Reno County and all over the district."
With the new inflation numbers released yesterday, Rep. Mann is hoping that American agriculture can help solve at least some of the nation's energy issues in the short and long term.
"I'd like to think that it's going to impact the future Farm Bill by increasing our domestic liquid fuel production, which is both oil and gas, but it's also ethanol," Mann said. "The answer is below our feet and growing in our fields, to ramp up domestic liquid fuel production, drive down costs, stop relying on other countries, to me it's a no brainer."
Mann supports the idea of expanding the usage of E15 beyond the waiver for this summer announced by the Biden administration in Iowa on Tuesday.
"I'd like to see that made permanent," Mann said. "We've introduced legislation as such and I was pleased to see that yesterday."
E15 is safe for most cars manufactured in 2001 or later, but check your car's owner's manual for specific details. Mann is in the midst of 40 town halls in the two-week Congresssional break.