Rep. Ashley Hinson on Monday called for the U.S. war with Iran to be “brought to a successful and immediate end” as diesel prices soar to their highest recorded average.
“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” Hinson, an Iowa Republican now running for Senate, wrote on X. “We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices.”
Hinson said the government should suspend the gas tax and begin “unleashing E-15” — a fuel source that contains more ethanol made from corn.
The Iowa Republican also called for pausing diesel exports, reinstating biodiesel tax credits and “creating a diesel relief program to help our farmers and truckers being crushed by the high costs.”
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Diesel prices hit $6.51 on Monday, which is the highest recorded average price according to AAA fuel price tracker.
Iowa’s farming industry has been under strain as the Iran war drives up the price of fertilizers and fuel. The state ranks second for the value of its agricultural sector production, according to September data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Income and Wealth Statistics.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for Michigan Senate, also called for the war in Iran to end and released an ad on Monday that pushed for policies to alleviate the recent economic strain, including a temporary embargo on diesel exports until the end of the conflict.
Rogers previously said in May that the war was “absolutely right to make sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon” — though he acknowledged the high costs associated with the conflict. In March, Punchbowl News reported that Rogers told an attendee at a campaign stop, “We’re gonna be fine, we got plenty of oil.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also called on President Donald Trump to halt diesel exports — comparing the need for the move to Richard Nixon’s 1973 temporary embargo on exports of soybeans, cottonseed and related products to curb inflation and shortages.
“High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME,” Grassley wrote in a post on X.
Grassley argued that if the government can put an embargo on selling software chips to China, then the U.S. can also impose export controls on diesel. The Iowa senator said that oil companies, that have pushed against an embargo on diesel exports, should at least accept lower profit margins from their domestic sales to farmers.
Family farmers need to be “on the strongest footing possible no matter what’s happening across the globe,” Grassley said.
Hinson and Grassley have voted against war powers resolutions that would limit Trump’s ability to take action in the war with Iran without seeking congressional approval.
Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek — Hinson’s Democratic opponent who has also proposed his own three-prong plan to lower fuel prices — criticized the congresswoman for her past votes.
“It’s easy to send a tweet but when you had the chance to vote to end this war, you chose not to. You voted seven times to continue it, including just last week,” Turek wrote Monday on X.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters last week that he would be open to considering a diesel export ban if it could lower the fuel prices.
Trump last month accused Exxon Mobil and Chevron of “making too much money” after the companies reported strong quarterly earnings in their recent reports. The president called for the energy companies to “cut the retail price” of their products to help Americans at the gas pump.
This story has been updated with additional comments from Mike Rogers and Josh Turek.
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