Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican of Washington, walks through the House of Representatives precincts, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
PA
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted Thursday to block the sale of US oil reserves to China.
The bill, one of the first introduced by the new Republican majority, would prohibit the Energy Department from selling crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to companies owned or influenced by the Chinese Communist Party. The measure passed easily, 331-97, unanimously by Republicans, with 113 Democrats supporting the measure.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican and the new head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the bill would help end President Joe Biden’s “abuse of our strategic reserves.”
Biden withdrew 180 million barrels from the strategic reserve last year in a bid to stem rising gasoline prices amid OPEC production cuts and a ban on Russian oil imports following Russia’s invasion. to Ukraine. The months-long sales brought reserves to their lowest level since the 1980s. The administration said last month it will begin replenishing the reserve now that oil prices have fallen.
McMorris Rodgers accused Biden of using the reserve to “cover up his failed policies” that she says are driving up energy prices and inflation.
“Draining our strategic reserves for political purposes and selling them to China is a major threat to our national and energy security. This must stop,” McMorris said.
The move is the first in a series of GOP proposals aimed at “unleashing American energy production,” McMorris Rodgers said, as Republicans seek to boost US production of oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels.
“There is more to come. This is just the beginning,” she added.
Source: El Nuevo Herald
