Underwood Helps Address Propane Shortages for Illinois Farmers

WASHINGTON— This week, following a bipartisan letter Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to address propane supply shortages, the FERC announced that farmers in the Midwest will receive temporary emergency shipments of propane.

In the letter sent on Thursday, November 14, Underwood and 30 other bipartisan Members of Congress highlighted the challenges farmers across the Midwest are facing while working to finish harvest and prepare grain for storage without an adequate supply of propane.

"Between the unsustainable trade war and extraordinarily tough weather conditions, the agriculture community in Illinois has been struggling to stay afloat amid unprecedented uncertainty. We cannot add to that uncertainty by not providing our farmers with the resources they need to finish this harvest season," said Rep. Underwood. "The farmers I represent in DeKalb, Huntley, Minooka, and so many other communities are optimistic, hardworking, and resilient. Farming is hard work, and they take its challenges in stride. I will continue my bipartisan work to ensure the generations-old family farms and agriculture businesses in my community are allowed to thrive."

In Congress, Underwood has worked to support Illinois farmers. In June, Underwood introduced an amendment that was included in the Fiscal Year 2020 House appropriations package that would prevent federal agencies like the United States Department of Agriculture from using federal resources to censor existing public information on climate change. In a speech on this amendment, Underwood highlighted that deleting existing references to climate change from the U.S. Department of Agriculture publications would hurt farming communities by denying them access to valuable information they rely on to make important business decisions.