Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve From China Act

Floor Speech

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.

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Mr. PALLONE. Castor), who chaired our Select Committee on the Climate Crisis in the last Congress.

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Mr. PALLONE. Houlahan), who has been working on this issue for some time.
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Mr. PALLONE.

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Mr. PALLONE. 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.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time remains on both sides.

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.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time because they have more time on their side.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time until we are prepared to close.

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.

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.

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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.

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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 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)

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:

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