Lower Energy Costs Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chairman, while there is a great deal of divisive and partisan debate on the energy bill that is being considered this week, I rise to offer a bipartisan, commonsense, and straightforward amendment to protect U.S. national security in times of energy crisis.

The amendment closes a dangerous loophole that has existed since 2015 which allows our foreign adversaries to purchase our strategic oil supply.

As the law is currently written, oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve is sold by the Department of Energy to the highest bidder with few exceptions on what countries can purchase from the U.S. supply. That means that our fiercest adversaries, like China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea and other sanctioned governments, can purchase and export our strategic oil. In fact, companies owned by and affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party have won purchase contracts during the past two Presidential administrations.

Simply put, this loophole threatens our national security, and it poses serious harm to American families. The American people need Congress to act and to act quickly.

That is why I reached across the aisle to introduce the Banning Oil Exports to Foreign Adversaries Act with my colleague, Representative Don Bacon. My amendment includes the straightforward and commonsense solution put forward by our bill. It prohibits the export or sale of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, North Korea, Russia, Iran, and any country currently under U.S. sanctions.

In January, my colleagues and I voted to pass a bill through the House of Representatives that would prohibit the sale of our strategic reserve to China, but that legislation does not go far enough.

Do we want North Korea buying American oil? How about Iran or Russia?

As a veteran and one of the most bipartisan Members of this body, my position remains clear. We must make sure that we put national security over party politics. We must ensure that our foreign adversaries are not allowed to profit at the expense of American safety and security.

My amendment reflects the fact that Congress has more work to do on this to close this dangerous loophole, not just for China but for any foreign adversary that poses a threat to our Nation.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats alike, to support this amendment and to include the bipartisan Banning Oil Exports to Foreign Adversaries Act in this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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