Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) is commending House of Representatives colleagues for advancing a measure prohibiting sending Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) products to China.
According to bill provisions, the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act (H.R. 22) specifically prohibits the Department of Energy (DOE) from selling petroleum products from the SPR to any entity under the ownership, control, or influence of the Chinese Communist Party.
Additionally, the legislation requires the Department of Energy, as a condition of any sale of crude oil from the SPR, that the oil not be exported to China.
“To cover up his failed policies driving our energy and inflation crisis, President Biden is draining our nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves at an alarming rate. America’s SPR – once the world’s largest stockpile – have been depleted to the lowest levels since 1983,” McMorris Rodgers said. “To date, President Biden has released more from the SPR than all U.S. presidents in history combined.”
McMorris Rodgers maintains millions of barrels of oil have gone to China and indicated the country now has the world’s largest government-controlled stockpile of oil.
“Draining our strategic reserves for political purposes and selling it to China is a significant threat to our national and energy security,” McMorris Rodgers concluded. “This must be stopped, which is why I’m proud to join my Republican colleagues in passing H.R. 22, one of the most bipartisan votes on an energy bill in many years and multiple congresses. There’s more to come. This is just the beginning.”