[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 18 (Friday, January 27, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              DIRECT ATTACK ON STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to criticize the Strategic 
Production Response Act.
  This bill is a direct attack on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and 
threatens our country's economic and national security.
  The reserve was created in 1975 to protect Americans from another oil 
embargo and create stability in our economy, and it was created by a 
Republican President, Gerald Ford.
  Now, Republicans want to connect oil releases from the reserve to 
dangerous oil drilling on Federal lands.
  The release of oil from the reserve helped lower gas prices by almost 
$2 after the Russians invaded Ukraine. It helped working Americans put 
food on the table and pay their rent during that time. But Republicans 
want to punish middle-class Americans with higher gas prices and ruin 
the environment in the process.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a disgraceful bill, and they should be ashamed to 
even introduce it.

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