OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Strategic Production Response Act

Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 26, 2023
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. BALDERSON. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 21, the Strategic Production Response Act, led by our Energy and Commerce Committee Chair McMorris Rodgers.

I am proud to cosponsor and support this bill, which holds the Biden administration and future administrations accountable for misusing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Under President Biden's watch, the stockpile has been depleted by an alarming 40 percent, falling to its lowest level since 1984.

Established in 1975, the SPR was intended to respond to national emergencies and to address severe supply disruptions, not to manipulate gas prices.

This bill is quite simple. It requires the Secretary of Energy to submit a plan to increase domestic energy production with any nonemergency drawdown of the SPR.

Despite falsehoods from the members of the President's own Cabinet, this legislation provides clear exceptions for legitimate energy supply interruptions and only applies to nonemergency sales.

The American people want affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for America, not short-term political gimmicks. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 21.

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