Rep. Ted Budd Statement Supporting Russia Sanctions Bill

Statement

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) released a statement after voting in support of H.R. 6968, the Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act. The bill bans the importation of Russian energy and petroleum products and condemns Russian aggression against Ukraine, while calling on members of the World Trade Organization to suspend trade concessions to Russia.

Rep. Budd said:

"Russia's continued brutality against innocent Ukrainian civilians requires ratcheting up sanctions on their energy sector to stifle Putin's ability to pay for his war. While I supported this bill to ban Russian energy imports, I am disappointed that Biden and Nancy Pelosi missed this opportunity to impose more harsh sanctions on Russia. Biden, in a complete show of weakness, intervened at the last minute to remove language from the bill to impose tariffs and trade restrictions on Russia and Belarus. Biden continues to project weakness on the world stage that will continue to embolden Russia and China.

"In order to avoid inflicting more economic pain on everyday Americans, the Biden administration should immediately end it's radical environmentalist restrictions on domestic energy exploration and production. America was a net energy exporter and energy independent under President Trump. We need to reimplement pro-America First energy policies to help everyday Americans pay for gas at the pump, and truly cripple Putin's economic means to make war."

Background:

Rep. Budd has sponsored the following pieces of legislation to confront Russia:

H.R. 6947 - To prohibit the importation of crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas from the Russian Federation.

H.R. 6919 - Prohibition on Imports of Russian Oil Act

H.R. 6772 - Expediting Natural Gas Exports to Allies Act

Source