Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve From China Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose H.R. 22, the Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.

Let's get one thing straight: The reason we are here today considering this bill is because Republicans in Congress voted in 2015 to repeal a 40-year ban on the export of crude oil, including to our foreign adversaries.

Despite this being a problem of their own making, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have seemed more interested in playing political games with our country's energy security than offering concrete, effective solutions for the American people.

When Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine and Big Oil's unchecked corporate greed caused gas prices to spike last year, the Biden administration took decisive action to lower prices for working families by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Not only did this move help protect the wallets of my constituents and Americans all across the country, reports also indicate that our government returned a nearly $4 billion profit on these sales.

So if my Republican colleagues would like to get serious about standing up to our adversaries, I would be happy to consider such proposals. But I cannot support this piecemeal legislation drafted for the purpose of scoring cheap political points rather than actually solving the problem of high energy costs.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

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