The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PROTECTING AMERICA'S STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE FROM CHINA ACT” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the in the House section section on pages H209-H219 on Jan. 12.
The Department oversees more than 500 million acres of land. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the department has contributed to a growing water crisis and holds many lands which could be better managed.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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PROTECTING AMERICA'S STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE FROM CHINA ACT
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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rutherford). Pursuant to House Resolution 5, the bill is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 22
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALES OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FROM THE
STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE TO CHINA.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Energy shall not draw down and sell petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve--
(1) to any entity that is under the ownership, control, or influence of the Chinese Communist Party; or
(2) except on the condition that such petroleum products will not be exported to the People's Republic of China.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and the minority leader or their respective designees.
The gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers).
General Leave
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 22.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Washington?
There was no objection.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
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.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating the gentlewoman from Washington State on her election as the chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
I rise in opposition to H.R. 22, the Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
First, let's take a moment to remember how we got here. In 2015, when Republicans last controlled Congress, they lifted the 40-year ban on crude oil exports at the urging of their Big Oil friends. This irresponsible policy change allowed companies to export American-
owned barrels of oil to our adversaries, including China.
Again, that was a Republican policy pushed by House Republicans 8 years ago. As a result, our crude oil exports to China surged, averaging a half million barrels every day during the last year of the Trump administration. China hoarded these barrels to build up its own petroleum reserves.
Back in 2015, I strongly opposed this Republican bill out of concern that it would harm our energy security and, ultimately, lead to increased prices at the pump for hardworking American families. It turns out I was right.
Now, Republicans seem to be complaining about the very circumstances that they created, all to reward their Big Oil friends.
Lifting the export ban damaged our economic security. Refineries across the country, including in my home State of New Jersey, have closed since the export ban was lifted, in no small part due to oil companies' desires to seek greater profits abroad rather than send their oil to refineries here at home.
A GAO analysis in 2020 showed that domestic refineries suffered because of the export ban being lifted, a suffering that was then inflicted on the thousands of hardworking Americans whose jobs were destroyed.
If Republicans were serious about addressing this issue, they would have brought forward a bill that banned all exports of crude oil to China. SPR barrels sold to Chinese firms represented only 2 percent of all the oil we sent to China last year--only 2 percent from the SPR.
If we truly want to address China using American oil to build its reserves, let's actually take a serious look at that rather than skirt around the issue because Republicans are scared of Big Oil's wrath.
Why are Republicans only banning SPR sales to China? Representatives Houlahan and Bacon introduced a bill last Congress that prohibited SPR sales to Russia, North Korea, Iran, and any country under U.S. sanctions. That bill had 37 bipartisan cosponsors. Are my Republican colleagues okay with exporting oil to Putin's Russia in the midst of a war on Ukraine?
It also speaks volumes, Mr. Speaker, that this is their first energy priority after regaining the House majority. Over the last 2 years, Democrats passed the most significant climate law in our Nation's history. We also passed the bipartisan infrastructure law that will modernize our energy infrastructure. Republicans' first energy bill this Congress isn't about investing in the resiliency of our electric grid or making American energy cleaner and cheaper. Instead, they are just recycling an old one-page bill that takes a minor step in undoing the damage that they themselves created.
Republicans are here today denying their own history and muddying the truth by trying to place the blame on President Biden, but President Biden successfully used the SPR to lower prices at the pump and provide relief to American families.
When gas prices increased last year, the Biden administration took decisive action to bring gas prices back down by releasing oil from the SPR. The administration released an unprecedented 1 million barrels of oil a day, providing critical domestic supply to make up for shortages in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.
This was a commonsense strategy that worked, and thanks largely to President Biden's actions, gasoline prices have fallen an average of
$1.90 per gallon nationwide since their peak in June.
One thing that episode underscores is that fossil fuel prices are volatile. As long as we rely on gasoline and other fossil fuels to meet America's energy needs, our country's energy security and affordability remain at the whims of dictators like Putin on the other side of the world.
While I agree, just like I did back in 2015, that we should not export U.S. crude oil to China, I want to stress that this bill could have been improved through bipartisan cooperation, regular order, and committee consideration. If Republicans hope to actually enact legislation, this is not a pathway to success.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), a leader on energy.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.
I want to speak in support of Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority is wasting no time in making good on our commitment to the American people to reverse this reckless agenda that the Biden administration has followed.
Republicans understand that energy policy is foundational to a thriving and dynamic national economy, and for too long, we have watched as Democrats' energy policy was kind of an experiment for their radical agenda. Unfortunately, they hurt the American people in the process.
Interestingly, in July 2020, Senator Cornyn and I had a bill to allow filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while prices were at historic lows. It was blocked by the Democrats. They wouldn't even consider it.
Today, we have an opportunity to protect America's resource and refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve so it can be used as it was originally intended, to protect our people at times of crisis.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), who chaired our Select Committee on the Climate Crisis in the last Congress.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Pallone for yielding the time.
America should not be exporting our crude oil exports to an adversary, and that was our national policy for 40 years until a Republican-controlled Congress authorized sending American crude oil abroad in 2015.
China exploited that ill-advised policy change, and exports of American crude oil to China increased nearly a hundredfold during the Trump administration to about 391 million barrels.
Last year, in response to soaring gasoline prices caused by Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine, President Biden successfully used the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices at the pump and provide relief to American families. This was a commonsense strategy that worked.
Gasoline prices have fallen an average of $1.90 per gallon nationwide since their peak last June. However, we cannot keep relying on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep oil prices in check.
That is why Democrats have focused on lowering costs and avoiding price spikes through the Inflation Reduction Act because cleaner, cheaper energy is our future. It will lower costs, create good-paying jobs, and help us build safer, more resilient, and healthier communities.
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Plus, this bill is way too narrowly tailored. What we should be debating today is the farsighted bill offered by my colleagues, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan and Congressman Don Bacon, a bipartisan bill that would completely ban all crude oil exports to China. That is a much stronger bill. In addition to China, it would ban crude oil exports to all of our adversaries, including Iran and North Korea.
In the end, America's future is in clean energy. That is how we are going to lower the cost of energy for American families, provide good-
paying jobs, and make sure that we provide a livable planet to our kids and future generations.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman and I congratulate Mrs. McMorris Rodgers for taking the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Committee and I look forward to working with her in the 118th Congress.
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.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).
Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act, legislation offered by my good friend, the gentlewoman from Washington State and the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Over the first 2 years of the Biden administration we have seen an unprecedented level of hostility toward America's energy producers. The administration has made every effort to undermine, avoid, and restrict oil and gas production in North America, while at the same time moving to drain our strategic reserves in an attempt to offset the price increases caused by the President's own policies.
Playing politics with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has resulted in the lowest level it has been in decades.
If this wasn't alarming enough, just wait until you hear who has benefited from our reserves being drained: the Chinese Communist Party. As part of this administration's Strategic Petroleum Reserve sales, a little under 1 million barrels were bought by UNIPEC, the Chinese Petrochemical Corporation.
The shortsightedness shows the Biden administration is willing to put our national security at risk by selling vital reserves to our adversaries to manipulate market prices in hopes of getting political advantage. This is not right, and every single Member of this body should be opposed to such actions.
While we investigate these actions, we must ensure they never happen again. That is why I am proud to be an original cosponsor to the Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
This bill would prevent the Secretary of Energy from selling any products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to any entity owned or under the control or influence of the Chinese Communist Party, or to any other entity that intends to export products to China.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Peters), a member of our committee and a leader on environmental issues.
Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, while my Republican colleagues have promised to secure America's energy future, I share this goal and I am eager to work together. Again, I congratulate our new chair.
However, I would say that the path to energy security is not through cheap political rhetoric or Biden bashing, but through bipartisan policy solutions.
We all agree that oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should not be sold to our adversaries. To prevent this, Representatives Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Don Bacon of Nebraska introduced the bipartisan Banning Oil Exports to Foreign Adversaries Act last July and reintroduced it yesterday with 34 Democratic and 7 Republican cosponsors.
The bill prevents the sale or export of oil from the SPR to China, but also North Korea, Russia, Iran, and any country currently under U.S. sanctions. I bet it would be approved by voice vote in this House today.
By contrast, the bill we are debating today only prohibits SPR sales to entities affiliated with China. Given that a more comprehensive, bipartisan bill already exists, why would our colleagues be putting forward a more partisan bill with a partial solution that won't pass the Senate?
Let me be clear. Americans are looking for serious policy results, not half-baked ideas designed for a press release. If my colleagues across the aisle are serious about energy independence, let's talk about that. They will have to acknowledge that our path to true energy security is not by doubling down on oil.
We have seen the costs of oil price shocks time and time again. In the 1970s, the Arab oil embargo caused oil prices to soar.
In 1990, the first Gulf war spiked record prices.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged refining facilities causing prices to rise again.
Between December 2007 and July 2008, prices rose from $118 a barrel to over $160 per barrel before crashing during the Great Recession.
In the last few years we have seen rapid volatility from negative prices during the pandemic to over $100 a barrel during the recovery.
It is becoming very clear that we have to admit that doubling down on oil is a failed strategy, and true energy security will be achieved by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and investing in clean fuels of the future. Let's do that for our taxpayers as well as for the environment.
I look forward to working together on real solutions.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie).
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I just want to clarify, Russia and Iran--
well, Iran is part of OPEC, so they are not the ones buying out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As a matter of fact, President Biden went to OPEC to ask them to increase their production instead of doing American oil.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to say, 2015--to finish the sentence--it was a Republican controlled Congress in 2015, it was also the Obama administration worked together in a bipartisan way to unleash American energy or give them a worldwide market for American energy, and when you threw in President Trump's administration and a regulatory environment that made sense, we had record production of energy. We did ship it throughout the world. We also had record low prices here in America.
The problem we are facing today is because of President Biden and the Democrats in Congress' war on American oil. That is the problem we are here to address.
The price of gasoline hit over $5 a gallon in the height of this war on oil, $4.80 a gallon in Kentucky when it was just over $2.20 when President Biden took office. American families are hurting because of this, small business owners are hurting because of this, and they continue to struggle.
Instead of taking action to meaningfully unleash America's energy potential, President Biden opted to release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. What we need to do is get back to unleashing American energy, not sending out of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Even worse, President Biden's abuse of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve has reduced our stockpile by more than 250 million barrels, jeopardizing our ability to respond to supply disruptions posed by natural disasters and other true emergencies. This includes selling millions of barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to adversarial countries, including China.
By prohibiting our strategic reserves from being sold to China, this legislation is a significant step toward restoring our energy security and providing needed relief for hardworking Americans.
We have the ability to produce, we need to move forward, and we need to ban SPR from going to China and we need to move forward on American energy.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, what political nonsense this bill is. It allows an American oil company to buy oil from the SPR on Monday and sell it to China on Tuesday, which means it is fine for them to see SPR oil going to China as long as an American oil company makes a little money out of it.
And, of course, as the ranking member points out, it allows all the other oil in the country, 98 percent of our exports to China, to go to China unchecked.
If we were serious about lowering prices for the American consumer, we would look at what the Republicans did in 2015 when they ended our ban on exports and insisted that that be added to the spending bill that shut down the government.
I had a bill introduced last month to ban American exports of oil when oil is selling for over $70 a barrel. We need to ban the exports of natural gas when prices are too high for American consumers.
Finally, this bill tries to attack the Biden administration's use of the SPR to lower gas prices here, where it has been somewhat effective and has made money for the United States Treasury.
Let's legislate seriously to lower oil and natural gas prices for the American consumer, instead of simply insisting that if American SPR oil goes to China, an oil company has to be a middleman and make a little money off of it.
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.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentlewoman on her chairmanship and I look forward to working with her.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation. It is high time to stop the Biden administration from continuing to provide China with oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Under the current administration we have only seen a war against domestic energy production. As a Band-Aid to cover up the consequences of Biden's policies, resulting in unprecedented high energy prices, it chooses to draw down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a critical national security asset. Drawing down these reserves to cover up failed policies is wrong but doing it and then selling that oil to China, our chief adversary, is un-American, in my opinion.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan), who has been working on this issue for some time.
Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, today, we have an opportunity in this Congress to close a loophole that has been open since 2015, a loophole that enables our adversaries to purchase oil from our U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
There is a bill indeed to close that harmful loophole: a bill that will strengthen our national security; a bill that will signal to our fiercest adversaries that we will not bend a knee to those who threaten the safety of our allies and our servicemembers both here and abroad.
I am not talking about the bill that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have put forward today, but rather I am talking about a bipartisan bill--my bipartisan bill--the Banning Oil Exports to Foreign Adversaries Act.
We hear this phrase frequently in this Chamber, ``It is that simple.'' So let's make this argument really simple, very, very simple.
Our new majority has put forward a partisan bill that bans the sale of American oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve only to China.
I have put forward a bipartisan bill with Representative Don Bacon, and now with 44 others, that would ban the sale not only to China, but also to North Korea, Russia, Iran, and to all other adversaries.
It is modeled directly after similar and relevant legislation that I also introduced successfully in the NDAA regarding our critical minerals and rare earth element stockpiles.
This bill, my bill, is stronger, it is bipartisan, and it has a chance in the Senate. This bill, the bill we are talking about today, is weaker, it is partisan, and it will, unfortunately, likely never see it past the Senate's legislative graveyard.
Mr. Speaker, it is very hard to hear my colleagues talk about returning to proper and regular order in the House, when, in fact, if this very bill followed proper order and went through committee, we would likely be voting on a different piece of legislation today.
My Republican colleagues know my background. I am one of the most bipartisan Members of this body, and proudly served in the military for 13 years. I am here today because we have a chance to put our national security above our party politics.
I call upon my colleagues--all of them--to join me in good faith to support the bipartisan Banning Oil Exports to Foreign Adversaries Act. Let's send this legislation through the proper order, strengthen it, and work together to get it signed into law.
I urge my colleagues to look at the facts and to show servicemembers and veterans that we put their safety and their sacrifice ahead of political gamesmanship.
Before I conclude, I do want to thank my dear colleague, Representative Pallone, for his leadership and for having included this bill--my bill--in the Buy Low and Sell High Act of last Congress.
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Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 22 led by our Energy and Commerce Committee chairwoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Earlier this week it was reported that after President Biden drained over 200 million barrels out of America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, his Department of Energy is now rejecting multiple bids to refill it, saying that oil is too expensive.
Mr. Speaker, this is hard to believe.
This administration--who has put a stranglehold on domestic production by canceling pipelines, reducing drilling, halting leases, and proposing burdensome regulations--is now telling the American taxpayer: Sorry, we depleted your national reserves, sold some of it to China, and now we won't refill it because it is too expensive.
Aren't they the ones making oil more expensive?
It is as if President Biden thinks the SPR is his strategic political reserve to be used as a Band-Aid for his failed energy policies.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation is a needed course correction in our national energy strategy, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Casten), who is a leader on energy issues.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address a drafting error in this bill.
The stated goal of H.R. 22 is to prevent aid to China and lower U.S. energy costs. As written, it is going to have the opposite effect.
Run the math. In 2022, the SPR released about 210 million barrels of oil. Most of that was consumed domestically, a small fraction was exported, and a smaller fraction may have gone to China. During the same period of time, domestic oil producers exported more than 10 times that volume, so roughly 100 times the volume that was exported from that portion of our SPR that happens to be above ground.
So the failure to include U.S. producers in the export prohibition means that this bill will do nothing to limit Chinese access to American oil. But since the SPR releases--as the majority notes--do reduce oil prices, curtailing our ability to use that tool will drive prices up and transfer wealth from U.S. consumers to U.S. producers in places like Bakersfield, California, as they sell higher priced oil to China.
Now, I cannot imagine that the Speaker intended to enrich his neighbors so that they could profit from Chinese oil sales, so I would encourage him to vote ``no.''
I would also encourage anyone who seeks to prioritize United States access to United States energy to oppose until we can make the necessary corrections to this bill.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon).
Mr. BUCSHON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in favor of the Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
Under the Biden administration, we have seen a continuous assault on American energy that has killed jobs, increased our dependency on foreign energy sources, and caused energy costs to soar.
In an attempt to lower energy prices, the administration has sold millions of barrels of petroleum from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, depleting our own supply and helping China to build the world's largest crude oil reserve.
This must stop. I call on all my colleagues to join me in voting for this legislation to stop the Secretary of Energy from selling any more petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).
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.''
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 22 because there is nothing strategic about an empty Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
What is worse than not having a strategic reserve is selling it off to adversaries so they can build their own?
That is exactly what has been happened over the past 2 years. While our SPR has been depleted in an attempt to cover up the failed energy policies of this administration, China is taking advantage by building up their own reserves.
The worst part is that their build-up has come from the U.S. reserves. Let me repeat this. President Biden has sold our valuable Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China while Americans face the highest energy prices in a generation and a Federal Government that has failed to adequately address it by unleashing our own energy potential. And every barrel sold to China makes that decision even more damaging.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 22 to prevent the administration from selling any SPR products to the CCP or related entities.
Stop the attacks on American energy, unleash it, and make us energy independent.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman).
Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to point out to my colleagues some context and facts that are totally missing from this debate.
Exports of oil from the SPR regardless of destination were not a problem before 2015. Many of us were here, and we remember exactly why that 40-year policy of the United States, a ban on crude oil exports, changed. It changed because that year a Republican-controlled Congress insisted on lifting the export ban.
The Republicans in charge at that time refused to consider an amendment that was offered by our friend and former colleague, Representative Gene Green. That amendment would have required exporters to have a permit finding that their export of crude oil was consistent with the national interest. Republicans did not create any restrictions on the destination of oil exported from our strategic reserves or any other source.
If Republicans had not lifted that export ban, we would not have this problem. If Republicans hadn't blocked Representative Green's amendment from even being considered on the floor of the House, we would not have this problem.
Instead, we are left with a Republican messaging bill which purports to address a small part of the problem while ignoring the much bigger problem that they created back in 2015.
If my friends across the aisle were truly concerned with U.S. oil exports going to China, then they would put a more serious measure forward. At the very least, they would block not just some small amount of petroleum from the SPR, but the sale of all crude oil exports to China which includes much larger volumes outside of the SPR.
In the international market, we don't know where crude oil ends up once it hits the global marketplace. That is the way it works. Sales to entities with connections to China may not go to China. Sales to entities with no connection to China may go straight to China. That is just how it works.
The fact is the only way we can be sure that U.S. crude doesn't end up in the hands of foreign entities of concern is to reinstate that crude oil export ban.
I agree with my friends across the aisle. We shouldn't be exporting our strategic oil reserves to China. I just wish they hadn't gotten us into this mess in the first place, and I wish they would put forth a more serious bill now.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentlewoman from Washington on her chairmanship.
Before the Biden administration's war on American energy, America was increasingly dominant in energy production producing a surplus--a surplus.
Exceeding demand usually means that you can have lower prices because you are providing supply that exceeds demand, and then when we have more supply, we can export. We can export to our allies at prices that actually compete with the OPEC cartel on the open market. That is what American energy dominance can do.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to keep pushing green energy initiatives such as wind and solar. I think those are groovy technologies.
Guess what, Mr. Speaker?
You cannot export renewable energy. You can export oil and gas in order to lower prices and increase stability for our friends in Europe who are more reliant on Vladimir Putin for their energy.
Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
For political purposes, President Biden sold off a strategic asset of this Nation. He started dumping oil out of the SPR, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and put it out there so that China could buy it, and China did buy it.
This is an American asset.
Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
This bill that prohibits that oil from being sold to China and other adversaries makes sense, but the Democrat talking points make none.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher), who is a member of our committee.
Mrs. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, energy security is a key component of our national security. Our energy exports have a security impact around the world as they do here at home. That is why I am disappointed this morning to hear many of my friends across the aisle criticizing and blaming President Biden for taking action to lower gas prices for American consumers and to weaken Russia's ability to fund its unconscionable and unjustified war that is unprovoked against Ukraine by selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The SPR is a critical foreign policy tool and energy security tool, and it has been for more than 40 years. The SPR was created for this precise purpose for this moment that we are living in, and these recent sales--like every sale of crude in the U.S.--are made on the open market to any entity wishing to purchase it.
The effective utilization of the SPR has successfully lowered costs at the pump for Americans over the last year. In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Government made roughly $4 billion in profits last year from the sale of crude oil out of the SPR. This is an important point to remember because it is the direct work of this body.
In 2015, the Energy and Commerce Committee under Republican leadership lifted the 40-year ban on crude oil exports. I wasn't here at the time, but if I had been, I would have supported my Republican colleagues in that effort to acknowledge the global free market for the commodity and the importance of ensuring America's energy security and leadership.
But it isn't right to complain now for those who support free trade in oil and for those who voted for it then to complain that the system worked as it was intended to. The oil from the SPR was put on the global market which increased supply and brought prices down here at home.
Some of the oil sold by design onto the global market made its way to China. This was not an unforeseen consequence. The then-majority on the Energy and Commerce Committee explicitly rejected a proposal by a Democratic member of the committee at the time, Mr. Green from Houston, to license the export of crude oil the way we license LNG exports which requires the Department of Energy to approve the sales. Requiring DOE approval on crude sales could have prevented the sales that are now of concern.
That said, I appreciate that this is a step toward addressing those concerns. But I am also concerned that this alone is insufficient, and we need a more robust mechanism to address any sales of concern.
Certainly, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would be concerned about sales to North Korea or Iran or other adversaries. That is why in the last Congress I supported my colleague from Pennsylvania, Chrissy Houlahan's, bipartisan bill that would have closed the loophole to allow the sale or export of oil from the SPR to foreign adversaries.
There is still work to do here, and I hope that moving forward we can work together to craft smart energy policy that enhances our energy security and best serves the American people.
{time} 1000
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 22.
This morning, I listened very carefully to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about this bill, many of whom I have great respect for their expertise in energy. I have, however, heard terms like ``political,'' ``political games,'' ``partisan.'' While this may be their perspective, I wish for just a moment that we could transport all of us to my district to see the perspective there, which is one of great hypocrisy.
On the one hand, instead of utilizing the vast American resources we cleanly produce, including in Utah, the President chose to use this country's strategic reserve to try to lower prices.
On the other hand, in fact, the President did this while attacking energy jobs in Utah by suspending energy development on Federal lands and raising the royalty to produce oil, two contributing factors to rising gas prices.
Not only did this release from the reserve barely make a dent in the cost of gas and weaken our national security, but it also directly strengthened our number one geopolitical adversary, China. Under no circumstances should our reserve be used to fund our adversaries.
Regardless of our views in this Chamber on the use of the reserve by the Biden administration, we should all agree our emergency supplies shouldn't be sent to our adversaries.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for his leadership and recognition that when we speak about this legislation and the question of blocking the utilization of the petroleum reserve during times of crisis, we must raise a question.
Obviously, having experienced a big freeze in Houston and the State of Texas, where 151 people died, we had to face the question of a very poor energy system; a lack of access to fossil fuel, I must admit; a frozen nuclear system; and being unprepared in terms of alternative energy. It was a freeze that we had never experienced in Texas.
The idea of the utilization of the petroleum reserve for me is a national security issue, and this legislation literally says if the President has the need and necessity to protect the American people, it will not be allowed.
Mr. Speaker, I have to rise in opposition, even coming from what has been called previously the energy capital of the world. What we want to have in Houston, and I believe in the Nation, is a multidisciplined recognition that there is a climate crisis, but at the same time recognizing the importance of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for, in fact, the necessities of the President to be able to provide for this Nation.
The American people are listening. They want an executive who can make decisions that will block the Russians from absolutely crippling us. They want a President who can utilize this reserve.
Today, I stand against this legislation because it baffles me as to how we can undermine the President of the United States in serving the American people and providing for energy relief when necessary.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 22--Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve From China Act.
It is critically important that we opposed the Republican effort to put together half-baked solutions to nuanced energy policies.
This bill is yet another Republican attempt to appear tough on China and for them not taking responsibility for their misguided actions in 2015 when they reversed the 40-year ban on exporting crude oil--
including exporting to our foreign adversaries.
This bill does nothing to prevent the sale of oil to China, whether from the strategic petroleum reserves or otherwise, because American companies can simply buy the oil and sell it to China for a profit.
This legislation will result in unwarranted and unnecessary restraint on the ability of the president to act in a time of crisis or a national emergency.
We should not be passing legislation that will restrict the president's ability to help American working families, as he did when he used the strategic petroleum reserves in response to Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
If we really want to address this issue in a common sense and expansive manner, then we should instead adopt the Democratic alternative to this ill-conceived Republican bill now under consideration.
In the 117th Congress, under the leadership of Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), the Democrats introduced the Buy Low and Sell High Act, which would implement a comprehensive approach to protect American interests.
The Democrats' Buy Low and Sell High Act not only bans the export of oil from the strategic petroleum reserves to China, but it also bans sales to North Korea, Russia, Iran, and any other country under U.S. sanctions.
If Republican's were serious about protecting and refilling the strategic petroleum reserves, they would work with Democrats to pass the Buy Low and Sell High Act that advances a comprehensive approach to American energy policy.
We must take a wide-ranging, bipartisan, and strong approach to ensure that the president can support all Americans, and especially working-class families during times of national energy crisis.
We must take a strong bipartisan approach to ensure that we do not allow our politics to cloud our judgment and hamstring the president's ability to bring down gas prices in times of need.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Mrs. LESKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 22.
This administration's war on American energy has sent energy costs through the roof. While this administration has continued to shift blame for the rising prices, President Biden is draining our Strategic Petroleum Reserve meant for emergencies by selling off some of these reserves in a Band-Aid solution for his policy failures.
Since May of last year, the Biden administration has sold off 1 million barrels of oil per day until after the midterm elections. Thanks to President Biden's actions, our oil reserve is now at the lowest point in 40 years. Yet, this administration has no plan to unleash American energy production to replenish our emergency oil supply and reduce prices.
To make matters even worse, while the Biden administration is selling off our emergency oil reserve at an unprecedented rate, some of these barrels of oil have gone to Communist China. That is right. Our emergency oil supply is now in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
We are exporting a total of 300,000 barrels of oil per day to China. In part--because of the Biden administration--China, not the U.S., has the largest government-controlled stockpile of oil in the world.
With this legislation, House Republicans are delivering on our promise to restore our Nation's energy security and better protect our national security. This legislation stops the Biden administration from selling any more of our emergency supply to the Chinese Communist Party.
House Republicans will continue to stand up to China and stop the Biden administration from ceding our energy security to our enemies.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time remains on both sides.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New Jersey has 5\1/2\ minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from Washington has 11\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the House majority leader and also a longtime member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Washington
(Mrs. Rodgers), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and my dear friend, for yielding and for bringing this legislation, H.R. 22, to the floor. It is such an important piece of legislation to start standing up for America's national security.
If you think about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, just think of the first word in that name, ``strategic.'' It is there for America's national security.
First of all, raiding SPR, as it is referred to, President Biden has done over and over again, depleting 40 percent of our national security strategic reserve, not to move world oil prices.
As you can see, Mr. Speaker, multiple times, starting in November 2021, President Biden has raided SPR because he has attacked American energy. As he attacked American energy, starting on his first day in office, the price of oil and gasoline at the pump subsequently has risen dramatically, crushing middle-class families. So, he started feeling the heat.
His answer should have been to reverse the failed policies that are dramatically increasing gas prices by crushing American energy. That is not what President Biden did because the extremists on the left don't want that. They won't allow him to do it.
Then, he turned to SPR, and he said, well, maybe we can just try to trick the American people by raiding SPR. So, he did. When he raided it, what happened? You got a sugar high for about a week, and, boom, the price started going back up again because the world markets recognized President Biden has taken American energy off the market.
By the way, Mr. Speaker, we are the only country in the world that can produce massive quantities of oil that is a free-market country. The rest of the countries that have an abundant supply are cartels: OPEC, Russia, Iran, Venezuela. They want a high price. The only check-
and-balance to high prices of oil is a free-market, producing America.
By the way, if you want to hide behind the Green New Deal and global warming and whatever other names they attach to it, climate change--
they change the name every couple of years because the American people figure out that all it is is an attack on American energy.
The price keeps going up because we are shutting off the cleanest producing country in the world.
Do you want to lower carbon emissions in the world? Produce more oil in America. It is not just about creating more jobs. It is not just about our national security, Mr. Speaker. It is about actually reducing global emissions.
This bill addresses President Biden selling our strategic reserves to China. China is building about a new coal plant every week, dramatically increasing carbon emissions, while President Biden shuts down American manufacturing and production, shuts down oil, which, by the way, we were reducing emissions during those times when we were producing energy.
Over and over again, raided SPR, raided SPR, raided SPR. The price kept going up. What went down is America's national security. That is what we are getting to the heart of here, 40 percent of our reserves.
We have two different ways to get energy. We can actually produce it. As the moniker right above the Speaker's rostrum says, let us develop our natural resources. We have natural resources. We have the best technology in the world. We can produce it cleaner than anybody else in the world. As long as we are producing energy, it actually can lower the cost.
We don't just produce enough for ourselves because, by the way, if we weren't allowed to export energy, then you would see a decrease in production. You would see a decrease in exploration. It is like a farmer. If a farmer can only produce and sell in America, they are going to plant a lot less because they can't have access to world markets.
You want to have access to world markets, but you want to also have a reserve in case--not in case you have a failed policy, as is what we are seeing with President Biden. You want to reserve in case there is a natural disaster. If a hurricane hits the Gulf of Mexico, as we have seen, it actually spikes the price, so you have a brief disruption, and you want a reserve to fill that need. If you have some kind of national security emergency, like they did in the 1970s--by the way, that is when SPR was created.
That is when we created this reserve for our country, when cartels controlled world oil markets, because we didn't have the technology to access like we do today. We didn't have fracking technology. We didn't have the ability to go 5,000 feet in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico to find billion-barrel reserves like we do today.
The cartels controlled everything. There were lines at the pump. You had to have an even-numbered license plate to get gasoline on a certain day. That was the 1970s. So, Congress created SPR for our national security.
I understand a little history lesson might help people recognize how we got here. It is not by accident that we got here. We should want, as Congress, to be able to work together to fix this problem, to address the fact that prices have gone up not just for gasoline at the pump but also when people are heating their homes in a cold winter. The price shouldn't be that high.
By the way, we were also, by exporting energy, helping our friends around the world so we don't have to be dependent on oil or natural gas from other places.
As was the case in the buildup to Afghanistan, Putin was making about
$700 million a day, Mr. Speaker, selling his oil to America and Europe because President Biden shut off the American supply. No reason that should have happened, but that is what got us here.
What can get us out? First, let me remind you what else got us here because they are trying to blame everybody else under the Sun. It is Putin's fault. It is the oil companies' fault. It is the weather's fault.
It is President Biden's fault. Day one, he started mountains of rules and regulations. These aren't laws passed by Congress, by the way. These are rules and regulations that have come out of the Biden administration just in the last 2 years attacking American energy, not foreign countries. President Biden was okay with pipelines from Russia to Europe, but he said ``no'' on day one to a pipeline from Canada to America.
All of these actions had a cost. The cost is dramatic prices at the pump for hardworking families, crushing the lowest income families amongst us.
What agencies, by the way, are represented here? The Department of Energy went after American energy, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Securities and Exchange Commission, through woke policies, went after American energy. The Department of Agriculture, yes, went after American energy in these rules and regs. The Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of State--that gets to the Keystone pipeline. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, and, yes, the Department of the Interior all represented right here in rules and regulations that crushed American energy, making us more dependent on foreign countries and leading to President Biden raiding our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, 40 percent, making our country less safe.
This foolishness has to end. We can solve this problem.
{time} 1015
Now, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers in her committee, they actually have real ideas about how to solve this problem. The good news is, Mr. Speaker, under this majority we are going to be bringing bills through committee to the floor to fix this problem.
Now, on the other side today you hear them talking about this magic bill. They have got a bill. Boy, if we just killed this bill--because they want to keep selling our strategic reserves to China; 950,000 barrels already that President Biden has sold to China--they have some magic answer.
My question would be: Where was that magic answer 2 years ago, 2 months ago, 2 weeks ago when they were in the majority?
They had the House, Senate, and White House, and, I guess, in the last 2 weeks they finally figured out the answer because they surely didn't pass that to the President 2 weeks ago, 2 months ago, or 2 years ago.
What they did do is they brought mountains and mountains of regulations to crush American energy. Then Biden gets on a plane called Air Force One. We have checked it, there are no solar panels on the wings of Air Force One. It actually uses jet fuel.
He flies to Saudi Arabia and begs Saudi princes to produce more energy because he shut down America's energy production. No leases, no pipelines, no permits. He has done all those things, and it led to higher prices. He didn't have to get on Air Force One and fly thousands of miles back and forth.
Who knows what the carbon footprint of that is?
I would love to see the press dig into that because they love talking about carbon footprints for other things.
He didn't have to get on Air Force One at all. He could have picked up the phone and called Port Fourchon in Louisiana and said: Will you produce more energy in America? It is cleaner, more efficient, and there are better jobs than anywhere else in the world. He didn't do that.
It is time we get smart policies. It is time we have some common sense in our energy policy, so we stop crushing those middle-class families.
To sell our oil to China?
Not just our oil, our reserves. This is our piggy bank in case there is a disaster. He has depleted 40 percent of it, and he keeps reducing it to mask his failed policies.
Let's get the policy right and start fighting for those hardworking families who are suffering because of this.
Let's pass this legislation. Let's keep going to work for those families.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
I listened to the majority leader, and I want to stress that history is not on his side.
The fact of the matter is that the Republicans created this problem by lifting the ban on the export of crude oil to China and the rest of the world when they were in the majority. This bill does nothing to solve the problem.
Only 2 percent of the oil that is exported to China comes from the SPR. Even if this bill passes, which it won't in the Senate, it will still allow the other 98 percent of crude oil to go to China.
The consequence of the Republican policy was to destroy jobs at American refineries, including my home State of New Jersey, because they allowed the crude oil to be exported, and as a result, a lot of the refineries closed, and we lost jobs here.
Don't tell me that this is a bill that is going to help our country, help jobs. It is just the opposite. It is just masking the reality, which is they want to continue to sell oil to China, to Russia, to Iran, and to all our adversaries.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I congratulate her on her historic leadership position.
Mr. Speaker, our Nation and our national security have always been tied to our ability to utilize the resources that we have right here in America to remain free.
The energy resources that are underneath the feet of my constituents were vital to the production and fueling of the tanks, the planes, and the ships that gave Americans the advantages that we needed to win World War II.
And now, the Chinese Communist Party threatens free nations with oppression.
The Biden administration has allowed our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be sold to Chinese companies for political purposes. Instead of approving new leasing permits, Biden delayed new drilling projects and canceled on day one the Keystone XL pipeline.
Instead of incentivizing companies to use the resources that we have in Pennsylvania, Biden targeted American energy producers with new regulations that made natural gas and oil more expensive for American families.
Selling away our Strategic Petroleum Reserve for political gain has left our Nation less safe and our economy less secure.
Mr. Speaker, 950,000 barrels of American strategic petroleum to the Chinese Communist Party?
This boggles the American mind.
It is time to refill our strategic reserves. It is time to stop risking our national security to score cheap political points.
I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important legislation.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time because they have more time on their side.
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.
Mr. BALDERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I am honored and blessed to be able to serve with you.
Instead of supporting American energy producers and reversing their disastrous energy policies, the Biden administration decided to drain our energy reserves to the lowest levels since 1983.
So who benefited from this decision to drain these reserves?
The Chinese Communist Party now has the largest government-controlled petroleum reserve in the world. In fact, this administration transferred 900,000 barrels from our stockpile to a subsidy of the Chinese Communist Party-owned China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation.
H.R. 22, sponsored by Madam Chair McMorris Rodgers, bars the Secretary of Energy from selling any of America's petroleum reserves to an entity affiliated with the CCP or any entity that intends to export it to China.
Energy security is national security. House Republicans are fighting to ensure one of our greatest geopolitical challengers, China, does not benefit from this administration's misguided energy policies.
I urge passage of H.R. 22, the Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time until we are prepared to close.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).
Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 22.
The bottom line is, do we sell our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China or not?
The answer is we should never sell one ounce of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the communist country of China.
Remember, Joe Biden as a candidate on day one declared war on American energy by shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline. He still commits to the war on American energy.
We in America are paying way more for energy than we should because of the policies of this administration.
H.R. 22, Mr. Speaker, is an easy one. The United States of America should not sell one ounce of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the communist country of China.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 22.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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. WEBER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have paid attention to the SPR since 2008 when I got elected to the Texas House. As you know, 60 percent of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is housed in my district.
I am pleased to announce that the Independent Petroleum Association of America endorses this legislation put forth by House Republicans aimed at reining in the administration's misuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, as we call it.
The SPR was not intended to be used as a political tool to bring down gasoline prices in an election year. Next thing you know, the President will be giving away free college tuition. Oh, he did that, too. This is only a Band-Aid on the overarching situation.
The long-term solution is to enhance, rather than hinder, America's leadership in natural gas and oil production. Our true domestic natural gas and oil reserves, from production to pipelines and through the supply chain, are ready to work, and Republicans' legislation puts them and our American allies at the forefront.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
It certainly is no surprise that the oil industry would support this bill because this bill does absolutely nothing to prevent them from selling to China and to Russia and all our adversaries.
Only 2 percent of the oil that is sold to China comes from the SPR, so they will continue to be able to sell to whoever they please.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).
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.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time until we close.
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.
{time} 1030
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mills).
Mr. MILLS. Mr. Speaker, I had prepared a speech today to talk about my support for H.R. 22 and the protection of our Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
But after hearing my colleagues on the left, it is very simple. They don't care about unleashing American energy, us getting to energy dominance, to ensuring that we have the global currency.
They care about defending the Chinese and the CCP. That is why they have continued to try and prevent us from being able to sell our strategic petroleum reserves from China.
That is why they tried to stop us from putting together a subcommittee that would have been a select subcommittee to go after the CCP and their malign activities.
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear. They do not want to go to an America-
first agenda. They do not want to protect America. They do not want to unleash American energy for the American people to get our costs under control.
They want to continue to protect the communist China party and the Chinese themselves.
I rise in protection, not just in support of H.R. 22, but of the American people and the American workers.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Washington has 3 minutes remaining. The gentleman from New Jersey has 4 minutes.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Fallon).
Mr. FALLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a co-sponsor of Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
China should not be the beneficiary of the Biden administration's foolhardy abuse of the SPR. It was at 695 million barrels, and it goes down to 371. That is halved, while the Chinese Communist Party has in reserve nearly a billion.
This is foolhardy. This is an excellent piece of legislation, and I urge swift passage. Let's put America first.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
The gentleman talks about how China has built up its reserves, its petroleum reserves. It is because you, when you were in the majority, stopped the ban on export, and they used that opportunity to build up their reserves.
This has nothing to do with the SPR. Mr. Speaker, 98 percent of the oil that is exported to China is not from the SPR.
So they used the opportunity since 2015 when you lifted the ban to build up their petroleum reserves on your watch.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their remarks to the Chair.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler).
Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is America needs to be energy independent. We should not be relying on foreign governments. We should not be relying on China, least of all.
Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of New Yorkers, for instance, rely on natural gas. We need to expand our energy portfolio. We need to increase domestic production of energy. We need to protect our reserves.
We should not be engaging in the type of behavior that the administration has with respect to China, and we should continue to do everything we can to reduce the cost of energy here in America and increase our production.
That has to be the goal at all times.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I find myself compelled to point out that listening to Republican arguments today, you would think that they have been sacred stewards of the SPR, and that couldn't be further from the truth.
In fact, when Republicans had the majority in both the House and the Senate from 2015 to 2019, they passed six bills, none of which had anything to do with energy, that raided the SPR for a total of 260 million barrels of crude.
Now the Republicans stand here criticizing President Biden's usage of the SPR, and it is laughable. President Biden's usage of the SPR has helped lower gas prices by nearly $1.80 per gallon since their peak.
While the Republicans want to pretend they are tough on China, it is really the opposite that is true. Last year, the Biden administration was forced to sell 20 million barrels from the SPR under one of those laws that I mentioned earlier that passed a Republican-controlled Congress.
The Republicans didn't include any restrictions, no restrictions or stipulations on that sale, and as a result, the administration was forced to sell to the highest bidders, including a firm owned by the People's Republic of China.
Again, I am going to stress in closing, the Republicans caused China to have a huge petroleum reserve by lifting the ban on crude oil in 2015 when they were in the majority.
Prior to 2015 when the Republicans lifted the ban on exports of crude oil, we had that ban in place for 40 years--40 years--and then in 2015, they came in, and they lifted the ban, so they caused this problem.
During the Trump administration, the amount of crude oil that was sold to China was unbelievable. As a result, the petroleum reserve, you know, increased significantly in China. They took advantage of the situation.
Now, if you really wanted to do something today, first of all, you would say that the SPR should not only be banned by selling oil from the SPR to China, but you should say that you can't sell it to Russia. You can't sell it to Iran. You can't sell it to North Korea.
You can't sell it to our adversaries, which is exactly what the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Ms. Houlahan's bill, does on a bipartisan basis.
But even beyond that, you could simply say no crude oil should be sold at all, exported at all, or certainly not exported to our adversaries, and that is not what is happening here.
So this is a problem that was created by the Republicans, and they pretend that they are doing something about it today, but, in fact, they are not.
The reason is because they are with the Big Oil. They are with the special interests that want to sell this crude oil, continue to sell it overseas, and they don't care that it goes to our adversaries. That is the bottom line.
This bill is not going to accomplish anything, and so I would urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
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.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 5, the previous question is ordered on the bill.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 331, nays 97, not voting 6, as follows:
YEAS--331
Aderholt Alford Allen Allred Amodei Armstrong Arrington Auchincloss Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Banks Barr Bean (FL) Bentz Bera Bergman Bice Biggs Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (NC) Blunt Rochester Boebert Bost Boyle (PA) Brecheen Brownley Buck Bucshon Budzinski Burchett Burgess Burlison Calvert Cammack Caraveo Carbajal Carey Carl Carson Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Cartwright Case Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Chavez-DeRemer Ciscomani Cleaver Cline Cloud Clyde Cohen Cole Collins Comer Connolly Costa Courtney Craig Crane Crawford Crenshaw Crow Cuellar Curtis D'Esposito Davids (KS) Davidson Davis (NC) De La Cruz Dean (PA) DeLauro Deluzio DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Doggett Donalds Duarte Duncan Dunn (FL) Edwards Ellzey Emmer Eshoo Estes Ezell Fallon Feenstra Ferguson Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Fletcher Flood Foster Foxx Franklin, C. Scott Fry Fulcher Gaetz Gallagher Gallego Garamendi Garbarino Garcia, Mike Gimenez Golden (ME) Gonzales, Tony Gonzalez, Vicente Good (VA) Gooden (TX) Gosar Gottheimer Granger Graves (LA) Graves (MO) Green (TN) Greene (GA) Griffith Grothman Guthrie Hageman Harder (CA) Harris Harshbarger Hayes Hern Higgins (LA) Hill Himes Hinson Horsford Houchin Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Hudson Huizenga Issa Jackson (NC) Jackson (TX) Jacobs James Johnson (LA) Johnson (OH) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (OH) Joyce (PA) Kaptur Kean (NJ) Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Khanna Kiggans (VA) Kildee Kiley Kilmer Kim (CA) Kim (NJ) Krishnamoorthi Kuster Kustoff LaHood LaLota LaMalfa Lamborn Landsman Langworthy Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latta LaTurner Lawler Lee (FL) Leger Fernandez Lesko Letlow Levin Lofgren Loudermilk Lucas Luetkemeyer Luna Luttrell Lynch Mace Magaziner Malliotakis Mann Manning Massie Mast McBath McCarthy McCaul McClain McClintock McCormick McGovern McHenry Meng Meuser Mfume Miller (IL) Miller (OH) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Molinaro Moolenaar Mooney Moore (AL) Moore (UT) Moran Morelle Moskowitz Moulton Mrvan Murphy Neal Neguse Nehls Newhouse Nickel Norcross Norman Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Owens Palmer Panetta Pappas Peltola Pence Perez Perry Peters
Pettersen Pfluger Phillips Porter Posey Quigley Reschenthaler Rodgers (WA) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rosendale Rouzer Roy Ruiz Ruppersberger Rutherford Ryan Salazar Salinas Santos Sarbanes Scalise Scanlon Schiff Schneider Scholten Schrier Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Sewell Sherrill Simpson Slotkin Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Sorensen Soto Spanberger Spartz Stanton Stauber Steel Stefanik Steil Steube Stevens Stewart Strong Sykes Tenney Thompson (CA) Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Titus Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Trone Turner Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Van Orden Vasquez Veasey Wagner Walberg Waltz Wasserman Schultz Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Wenstrup Westerman Wexton Wild Williams (NY) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke
NAYS--97
Adams Aguilar Balint Barragan Beatty Beyer Blumenauer Bonamici Bowman Brown Bush Cardenas Carter (LA) Casar Casten Cherfilus-McCormick Chu Cicilline Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Clyburn Correa Crockett Davis (IL) DeGette DelBene DeSaulnier Escobar Espaillat Evans Foushee Frankel, Lois Frost Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Garcia, Robert Goldman (NY) Gomez Green (TX) Grijalva Higgins (NY) Huffman Ivey Jackson (IL) Jackson Lee Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Kamlager-Dove Keating Kelly (IL) Lee (CA) Lee (NV) Lee (PA) Lieu Matsui McCollum McGarvey Meeks Menendez Moore (WI) Mullin Nadler Napolitano Ocasio-Cortez Omar Pallone Pascrell Payne Pelosi Pingree Pocan Pressley Ramirez Raskin Ross Sanchez Schakowsky Scott (VA) Scott, David Sherman Smith (WA) Stansbury Strickland Takano Thanedar Thompson (MS) Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Underwood Vargas Velazquez Waters Watson Coleman Williams (GA) Wilson (FL)
NOT VOTING--6
Buchanan Dingell Guest Hunt Swalwell Williams (TX)
{time} 1102
Mr. GARAMENDI, Mses. SALINAS, SCANLON, and DEAN of Pennsylvania changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated for:
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Madam Speaker, due to a personal family matter, I had to return back to Texas and I was unable to vote today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 31.
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