Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve From China Act

Floor Speech

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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.

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