Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., has voted for multiple bipartisan bills in the last few weeks that have been a big part of Congress’ effort to lower inflation. Some of those bills, like the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, have been widely supported on a bipartisan basis. However, Johnson was one of just seven Republicans to vote for the Lower Food and Fuel Price Act.
Rep. Johnson joined Straight Arrow News to discuss inflation, bipartisanship and gun reform in a wide-ranging interview.
On the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act
The House of Representatives passed the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act, which is designed to lower inflation by providing assistance to farmers and allowing the year-round sale of gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend.
Congressman Johnson explained why it’s important to provide relief for the producers of the product, like farmers who will be eligible for $500 million in grants for fertilizer, when trying to lower costs for consumers.
“The producers are the ones who are creating this product. And we know the laws of supply and demand are pretty gosh darn powerful. And moving to e15, as opposed to 10% ethanol, e10, would overtime add an extra 8 billion gallons a year to the food, to the fuel supply system that’s gonna have a big impact to consumers who could feel real relief in their pocketbooks,” Johnson said.
Johnson also explained that the war in Ukraine is impacting farmers because of the diminished supply and increased cost of fertilizer.
“Well, we’ve got Ukraine and Russia who together account for about a third of all of the wheat grown in the world, you think about how important bread is to keeping people fed. And also a tremendous amount of fertilizer is manufactured in those two countries. And America does not have enough, you know, domestic production of fertilizer,” Johnson said. “We need to build that domestic production. But in the short term, we do have to make sure that producers don’t go out of business. Food security is national security. And we know that when times get really tough, we lose family farms, we lose family ranches. This is a key bit of assistance to just help them secure that fertilizer. When they’re able to apply fertilizer in the appropriate amounts. That increases their yields. That makes, that means more food that lowers food prices for Americans, and that is good news.”
On the Ocean Shipping Reform Act
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act also passed with strong bipartisan support through the House and Senate. One of the main provisions in the bill prohibits foreign shipping companies from denying space on ships to American producers who are trying to export their goods. In what way does that impact inflation?
“Right now all five of the big ocean carriers, the guys who haul stuff from America to Asia, or from Asia to America are foreign flag. I wish there were American companies in this space, but there are not,” Johnson explained. “But when you’ve only got five big boys controlling the market, they have tremendous influence over the pricing. And they have not been treating American products well. And so the reason this, you know impacts inflation is when they make it harder to get stuff into this country, or harder to get stuff out that affects Americans on both ends of the spectrum. And so our bill just makes it very clear. Listen, if you’re going to use American ports, you have to play by some basic rules of the road, including not discriminating against American goods. This is a much bigger bill than most people realize. In fact, it’s the biggest reform of our nation’s shipping laws in a generation.”
On trust in Congress
Democrats and Republicans agree — inflation is hurting Americans and needs to be fixed. But they don’t agree on why it’s happening. Democrats blame the war in Ukraine and call it the Putin price hike. Republicans point to Democratic policies like using budget reconciliation to pass a multibillion-dollar COVID-19 relief bill when they believed the economy should have been allowed to open. If everyone agrees inflation is a problem, why do votes on bills meant to solve inflation still fall along party lines?
“Because in large part, there’s so little trust in Washington,” Johnson said. “I think after the November elections, when I think Republicans are going to do very well, Joe Biden is going to have a clear choice. He can decide at that point to do what Bill Clinton did after he got a Republican Congress. And that is trying to find common ground to work on things.”
“Joe Biden is going to have a choice…to find common ground with the Republican Congress after November or I think to continue along a one-party approach. I sure hope he doesn’t do that,” Johnson said.
On gun reform
The Safer Communities Act, the new gun reform bill that is making its way through the Senate, will soon come up for a vote in the House. Johnson said it is unlikely many House Republicans will vote for the legislation due to concerns about the red flag law provisions.
“People just really believe that if you’re going to erode someone’s constitutional rights, you can’t do it without full due process. Because the Constitution also says you can’t deprive somebody of rights without due process,” Johnson said. “I’m not the world’s greatest vote counter, but frankly, I’d be shocked if it’s over 15. That’ll be interesting because that means there’ll be more Republican votes in the Senate than there will be in the House.”
