The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that blocks the sale of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China.
The Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act passed 331-97, with 113 Democrats joining all Republicans in voting for it.
“To cover up his failed policies driving our energy and inflation crisis, President Biden is draining our nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves at an alarming rate," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who was named chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week, said in a statement. "America’s SPR – once the world’s largest stockpile – has been depleted to the lowest levels since 1983. To date, President Biden has released more from the SPR than all U.S. presidents in history combined. Millions of barrels of that oil have gone to China, which now has the world’s largest government-controlled stockpile of oil. Draining our strategic reserves for political purposes and selling it to China is a significant threat to our national and energy security. This must be stopped, which is why I’m proud to join my Republican colleagues in passing H.R. 22, one of the most bipartisan votes on an energy bill in many years and multiple Congresses. There’s more to come. This is just the beginning.”
We shouldn’t hand the keys to our energy future over to the Chinese Communist Party.
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) January 12, 2023
Let's pass H.R. 22 and prevent the Biden administration from wasting our strategic reserves. It's the first step towards flipping the switch and unleashing American energy production. pic.twitter.com/GYvKkIEVrS
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Energy security IS national security.
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) January 12, 2023
That’s why House Republicans passed the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act. pic.twitter.com/2ipCkCsNw3
According to Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), who cosponsored the legislation, the bill would bar the Secretary of Energy from drawing down or selling petroleum products from the SPR to any entity that is influenced or controlled by the CCP.
As a condition of any sale of oil from the SPR, the DOE would also have to mandate that the oil would not be exported to China.
