[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 10 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H209-H219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 0915
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
[[Page H210]]
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.
{time} 0930
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.
[[Page H211]]
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
[[Page H212]]
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.
{time} 0945
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).
[[Page H213]]
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.
[[Page H214]]
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
[[Page H215]]
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,
[[Page H216]]
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.
[[Page H217]]
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
[[Page H218]]
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:
[Roll No. 31]
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
[[Page H219]]
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.
____________________