We are gathered here today to say “Amen” to green fuels.  I want to thank my good friend Tony George.  He’s been a visionary for ethanol. Tony, it’s great of you to be here with us. I would like to extend my thanks to my friend and colleague Senator Dick Lugar.  I am always proud to be with him on a bipartisan effort, heavily marked with cooperation.

I also feel like I am on a walk down memory lane. I recall in my father’s time when he had bumper stickers that said “Bayh Gasohol.” Now, we’re promoting ethanol. I am following in his footsteps today, and I am proud to be doing that.

Let me be succinct. The green flag is used to start the beginning of the Indianapolis 500. Today, that green flag symbolizes the beginning of our race for green energy. We call the Indianapolis 500 the greatest spectacle in racing. It is also an example of what every American can do to help our country. If the most powerful racing cars on earth going 220 miles per hour can use 100% ethanol, so to can the family car, truck, or minivan. That is what today symbolizes. It is important for our country. It is good for America that we rely on America’s farmers to produce America’s fuel.

It is good for our nation’s security that we rely on the Middle West for our nation’s energy, not the Middle East. Dick and I have a bill fittingly called the DRIVE Act, which over the course of the next 20 years will reduce our consumption of oil by 20 million barrels a day. That is more than everything we import from the Middle East today. We accomplish that in significant part by relying on increased incentives for the use, distribution, and production of ethanol.

Let me conclude by saying this: I have many fond memories as a young boy of attending the Indianapolis 500. I hope that some day we can look back on this event as the beginning of our adoption of ethanol and clean energy to meet the energy challenges that face our country, so that our children will inherit a country from us that is more prosperous, more secure, and more environmentally clean. That is what today is about. Thank you all very much for having me here today.