Legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, aims to stop the flow of American oil to Communist China.
Cruz’s bill would prohibit the sale of American crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to any company under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. The legislation also would ban crude oil exportation from the reserve to China.
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was intended to ensure that America had sufficient oil,” Cruz said in a news release. “Instead, Joe Biden sold oil to the Chinese Communist Party when the CCP was stockpiling oil for its own strategic use, and while Americans are paying higher and higher prices for fuel because of the Biden administration’s disastrous energy policies.”
“We need to immediately act to stop this from happening in the future enemies and unleash American energy,” the Texas Republican added.
Cruz calls his bill the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.
The House of Representatives recently passed legislation similar to Cruz’s by a bipartisan vote. Cruz co-sponsored his bill with 14 other Senate Republicans.
The Biden administration has released more than 250 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a bid to slow or stop rising prices for gasoline and other fuel.
The president first ordered the Energy Department to tap into the reserve in November 2021, saying it was a “major effort to moderate the price of oil.” Biden announced release of 30 million barrels and then, in March 2022, another 180 million barrels in response to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The releases have brought the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level since 1986.
Chinese-controlled companies successfully have purchased 2 million barrels at auction, although China possesses one of the world’s largest oil stockpiles.
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