This Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that will prohibit the sale of oil from the US Strategic Reserve, to any entity under the control of the Communist Party of China with the exception of those crude oil products that are not exported to the Asian country.
The bill authored by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican lawmaker from Washington and chair of the Commerce and Energy Committee, passed after 113 Democrats joined 218 Republican representatives in backing the measure.
"Draining our strategic reserves for political purposes and selling portions of it to China is a significant threat to our national security," McMorris said.
The move flies in the face of Joe Biden's decisions that would have driven the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to its lowest level since 1984 over the past year.
Energy Security is National Security.
China's petroleum reserve is now the world's largest, while America's sits at its lowest level since 1983.
Proud to support Chair @cathymcmorris's HR 22 to restore commonsense by ending the sale of our emergency stockpile to China. pic.twitter.com/GsxvT1cxAQ
— Congressman Troy Balderson (@RepBalderson) January 12, 2023
"America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is meant for true energy supply disruptions, like those caused by hurricanes and natural disasters, not to help China," Cathy McMorris said.
More than 200 million barrels released
In the last year, the president released more than 200 million barrels from the country's oil reserve under the excuse of wanting to contribute to the control of rising fuel prices.
However, Republicans believe that this decision has not only helped enemies of the nation and hurt America, but was used as a "political tool" during the election year and also to mask Biden's "failed policies" that have fueled the energy and inflation crises.
President Biden has treated America's strategic reserves as a band aid for his political gain—even selling oil off to China.
This threat to our energy and national security must be stopped, and I was proud to vote for legislation to do that. pic.twitter.com/0g02UcJj1q
— Rep. Tim Walberg (@RepWalberg) January 12, 2023
"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," explained Cathy McMorris.
