Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve From China Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 5, I call up the bill (H.R. 22) to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from sending petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. 22.

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

America is suffering through the worst energy crisis in decades. President Biden and the Democrats' radical rush to green agenda is making life unaffordable for people all across this country. It is driving record inflation, straining household budgets, and weakening our electric grid.

Under President Biden and the Democrats' control of Congress, gas prices rose to the highest levels in history. Some were forced to pay more than $6 per gallon. Gas prices are still 40 percent higher today. Diesel prices are up almost $2 a gallon more than when President Biden took office.

The Federal Government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers, especially when it makes us more dangerously dependent upon China for critical minerals, solar panels, and batteries to produce our own energy and electricity, and strengthens Russia and OPEC's grip on world oil and gas markets.

Now, to cover up his failed policies driving our energy and inflation crisis, President Biden drained our Nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve at an alarming rate. America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, once the world's largest stockpile, has been depleted to the lowest levels since 1983.

President Biden released an unprecedented 250 million barrels of oil in less than 2 years, more than all former Presidents combined. As we know, much of that oil went to China because our refineries and pipelines are full. It now has nowhere to go here.

In April, the Biden administration sold a million barrels directly to a state-owned Chinese company. Millions more barrels went to overseas traders, who eventually sent it to China.

We also know that China is ramping up its purchases of crude oil from Russia and the U.S. to boost its own reserves. China now controls the world's largest government-controlled stockpile of oil, with almost a billion barrels, at the expense of American taxpayers and our energy security.

America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve is meant for true energy supply disruptions, like those caused by hurricanes and natural disasters, not to help China. Draining our strategic reserves for political purposes and selling portions of it to China is a significant threat to our national security.

The administration is not just hurting our own ability to respond to emergencies and national security events; they are actively bolstering the oil reserves of our most dangerous geopolitical adversary, the Chinese Communist Party. This is unacceptable, and it must stop.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and prohibit the sale and export of Strategic Petroleum Reserve crude oil to China.

H.R. 22 prevents the Secretary of Energy from selling any products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to any entity owned by or under the control or influence of the CCP, or selling to any other entity that intends to export to China.

Enacting H.R. 22, preventing the Biden administration from wasting our strategic reserves, is the first step toward flipping the switch and unleashing American energy production.

America has led the world in reducing carbon emissions and promoting innovation by utilizing our abundant, clean, affordable, and reliable energy. We can restore this leadership without sacrificing our energy security or making everyday life unaffordable for people.

That starts by enacting smart, workable, all-of-the-above strategies that build on this legacy by lowering costs and emissions across the country. It includes making our infrastructure and electricity grid more resilient and unleashing innovation for cleaner natural gas, emissions-free hydropower and nuclear power, and carbon capture technologies.

Republicans support a level playing field with a balance of energy sources but without handing the keys of our energy future over to the Chinese Communist Party.

It is time to cut the red tape, expand energy production here at home, modernize our infrastructure, invest in new technologies, and create opportunities for jobs and economic development right here in the United States of America.

I look forward to passage of this bill today, and I am eager to get to work with my colleagues on additional solutions to make energy cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable for all Americans.
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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, we should be banning exports to Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

I would just note that President Biden has wanted to import from Russia and Iran.
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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, just to correct the record. The language is very clear, if you look at subsection two: Such petroleum products will not be exported to the People's Republic of China.

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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson), a leader on energy issues and a new member of the committee.

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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber), a new member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding. We are proud of you, and I look forward to working with you.

You guys have got to be kidding me. Seriously?

You were in control. You had the House. You had the Senate. You had the Presidency. If you thought there were any good bills or good ideas to stop this or bills that were better than anything we are putting forward, why didn't you do them? You had the control.

You didn't need us for a whole lot of other things. You voted and rammed through things that we didn't want, rammed things through that were radical, and yet, this commonsense type of legislation, nothing happened. You can't be serious. That is a bad argument.

Since there has been one-party rule in Washington--Democratic rule-- Republicans were forced to watch President Biden drain more than 250 million barrels, nearly 40 percent--40 percent--of our petroleum reserve. This puts our national security at risk. It puts the American people at risk.

For our military, what will they do if they need the petroleum reserve?

For Americans, what will they do when natural disasters strike, and their town needs the petroleum reserve?

For our rescue and emergency personnel, what will they do if they need the petroleum reserve?

Why would anyone ever vote against this bill?

Maybe if you want to lower gas prices temporarily for political gain, you would oppose this bill.

Make a choice. Do what is right. Vote for this bill.

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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz).

Ms. De La CRUZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of American energy independence and the oil and natural gas workers of south Texas.

This act is a crucial step to holding China accountable and repositioning the United States as a global energy leader.

It is essential that we recover our energy independence and stand up for Texas' workers who have unfairly suffered as a result of this administration's misguided policies that have emboldened regimes like China and Venezuela's narco-dictatorship.

The decision to prioritize a foreign energy over our own puts American workers, our industries, and our country at a disadvantage. Protecting American energy will strengthen both our economic and national security.

I stand fully committed to fighting for all the natural gas and oil workers in south Texas and across our Nation.
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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Leadership matters. American leadership matters. You can't be a diplomatic power without being a military power. You can't be a military power without being an economic power. You cannot be an economic power without energy.

In order to reverse the damage to our energy security and our global leadership, we must flip the switch and unleash American energy production.

We need to stop the Biden administration from wasting our strategic reserves.

It is time to cut the red tape and expand energy production here at home, modernize our infrastructure, and create new opportunities for jobs and economic development.

The Democrats suggested if the bill included Iran, Russia, and North Korea that they would support it. The fact of the matter is those are the countries this administration has gone to.

They have gone to OPEC, Iran, and Russia and actually asked them to produce more oil.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the passage of this bill today, and I am eager--I am eager--to work with my colleagues on additional solutions to make energy more affordable, more reliable.

It is America that is leading in clean, reliable, renewable, affordable energy, and it is so important to energy dominance.

It is important to American leadership. It is important to our economy. It is important to every person in this country that has been living with record-high energy prices.

Every time they go to the gas station to fill up over the last couple of years, they have been experiencing record-high energy prices.

Mr. Speaker, we are prepared to lead. We want to unleash American energy, unleash clean American energy jobs. This is important to our national security. It is important to our economic security.

I urge everyone to vote ``yes.'' Pass H.R. 22. It is just the beginning. There is more to come.

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