Representative Cheri Bustos received the ethanol award from the Illinois Corn Growers Association (ICGA) at the group’s annual meeting on November 23, 2021, in Bloomington, Illinois.

Rep. Bustos is an important partner in ICGA’s goal to build ethanol demand with her bill, the Next Generation Fuels Act. Introduced in August 2021, the bill paves the way for corn-based ethanol to be a fuel choice in America’s clean energy future.

“Cheri Bustos has been an advocate that we can count on when it comes to helping others understand that corn-based ethanol is a clean, climate-friendly fuel. Her legislation is different from other bills in that it recognizes that farmers and rural America can be a solution to our current challenges,” said Randy DeSutter, ICGA President and farmer from Woodhull. “Her Next Generation Fuels Act would impact Illinois farmers for the next 2-3 generations.”

“Representative Bustos has always been a very important advocate for rural America and the U.S. government. She has represented her constituency very well and helped to amplify our voice when we would have been lost in the conversation otherwise. Her contribution to the ethanol industry – and to all of agriculture – has been very impactful,” said DeSutter.

When fully implemented, the Next Generation Fuels Action stands to increase long-term annual ethanol usage by more than 5 billion gallons. That’s equal to over 1.8 billion bushels of new annual corn demand.

In 2013, Rep. Bustos was sworn into her first term in Congress, representing the families of Illinois’s 17th Congressional District. Over the last eight years, she has served on the U.S. House of Representatives Agricultural Committee, as well as the House Appropriations Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Cheri was born in Springfield, IL and is proud of her agricultural roots. She and her husband Gerry have three grown children and three grandchildren, all of which live in Illinois.