Every Republican and 113 of 219 voting Democrats passed a bill that bans President Joe Biden’s administration from selling oil reserves to China.
Overall, it passed 331-97.
Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve From China Act is a simple two-page bill:
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALES OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FROM THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE TO CHINA.Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Energy shall not draw down and sell petroleumproducts from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—(1) to any entity that is under the ownership, control, or influence of the Chinese Communist Party; or(2) except on the condition that such petroleum products will not be exported to the People’s Repub12 lic of China.
The House clerk has all of the votes. A few significant Democrats who voted YAY/AYE:
In April, the Energy Department announced it would sell around 950,000 barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Unipec America, a Chinese company based in the U.S:
Biden’s Energy Department in April announced the sale of 950,000 Strategic Petroleum Reserve barrels to Unipec, the trading arm of the China Petrochemical Corporation. That company, which is commonly known as Sinopec, is wholly owned by the Chinese government. The Biden administration claimed the move would “address the pain Americans are feeling at the pump” and “help lower energy costs.” More than five million barrels of oil released from the U.S. emergency reserves, however, were sent overseas last month, according to a Wednesday Reuters report. At least one shipment of American crude went to China, the report said.The Biden administration also claimed the Unipec sale would “support American consumers and the global economy in response to Vladimir Putin’s war of choice against Ukraine” and combat “Putin’s price hike.” But as the war rages on, Unipec has continued to purchase Russian oil. In May, for example, the company “significantly increased the number of hired tankers to ship a key crude from eastern Russia,” Bloomberg reported. That decision came roughly one month after Unipec said it would purchase “no more Russian oil going forward” once “shipments that have arrived in March and due to arrive in April” were fulfilled.
Biden has already used 200 million barrels from SPR to combat high gas prices.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who will chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the bill because the SPR “is meant for true energy supply disruptions, like those caused by hurricanes and natural disasters, not to help China.”
McMorris Rodgers claimed selling the reserves “to China is a significant threat to our national security” by weakening our ability to respond to emergencies and strengthening “the oil reserves of our most dangerous geopolitical adversary: The Chinese Communist Party.”
The bill heads to the Democrat-controlled Senate. Who knows how they will vote.
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