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From Staff, Wire Reports

Two Texas senators want to freeze the amount of ethanol produced from corn.

Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison filed a bill that would keep production of corn-based ethanol at this year’s level of 9 billion gallons. A law passed last year requires that amount increase annually reaching 15 billion in 2015 and 36 billion by 2022.

Sen. Hutchison says the requirement is a big reason for this year’s rising food prices.

“The ethanol mandate is clearly causing unintended consequences on food prices for American consumers,” she said Monday. “Freezing the mandate is in the best interests of consumers, who cannot afford the increasing prices at the grocery store due to the mandate diverting corn from food to fuel.”

Senator John Cornyn of Texas and Republican presidential nominee John McCain are co-sponsors.

“As consumers continue to see rising food and fuel prices, freezing the corn-based ethanol mandate will allow us to re-evaluate the consequences of using food for fuel and determine the best way forward,” Cornyn said in a release on Monday. “Texas will remain a leader as we work to diversify our nation’s energy supply to include alternative and renewable sources, but in the meantime Congress must exercise its oversight role to ensure there are no further unintended consequences. A freeze of the mandate will allow time for necessary assessments and reduce increasing grocery, grain and feed prices.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry had asked the federal government last month to cut the production mandate by 50 percent.

There has been opposition from corn-producing states and the Bush administration. Some experts believe its unlikely Congress would reduce ethanol production requirements in an election year.