Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) proposed legislation on Wednesday that would block the United States from selling Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran as President Joe Biden has drained the SPR to the lowest level in decades, Breitbart News learned exclusively.
Cruz sponsored the No Emergency Crude Oil for Foreign Adversaries Act, a bill that would block the United States from selling to adversarial nations. It permits a waiver for national security reasons and requires the Department of Energy to report the destination of exported oil from recent SPR auctions.
The Texas conservative told Breitbart News in a statement that America should not drain its SPR to benefit China.
“At a time of skyrocketing inflation and record gas prices, and with SPR drained to its lowest level since 1986, it is reckless and inexplicable that President Biden would allow oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be exported to China,” Cruz said. “This practice poses a direct threat to American national security, not least of all because the Chinese Communist Party is currently stockpiling oil for strategic use, and the Biden administration is aiding their effort.”
Sens. James Inhofe (R-OK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), James Lankford (R-OK), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) cosponsored the bill.
“Under no circumstances should Joe Biden be selling American oil to our adversaries,” Blackburn said in a statement to Breitbart News. “Instead of making deals to prop up the Chinese Communist Party, Joe Biden needs to put America first. It’s time for him to stop doing everything in his power to undermine our country and instead kickstart an Operation Warp Speed for energy independence.”
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, at the U.S. Capitol on September 21, 2021. (TING SHEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“President Biden crushed American energy production and then sold our strategic oil reserves to China, all while claiming to care about the high prices Americans were paying at the pump. This should never have been allowed to happen. Congress must pass legislation to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said in a statement.
President Joe Biden’s administration ceased all oil and gas leases to Alaska’s Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico as of the night of Wednesday, May 11. (iStock, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, BNN Edit)
“America’s strategic petroleum reserve protects our country during national emergencies. Selling off American oil to countries that hate us undermines the security that the oil reserve is supposed to deliver, and we can’t let it happen again,” Kennedy said in a statement.
Lankford remarked, “While Oklahomans are forced by this Administration’s bad policies to pay more for gas and diesel, Biden continues to block US energy production. Now he’s outrageously selling our emergency oil supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to nations like China. This is absolutely unacceptable. We should help American families afford gas and groceries, by increasing domestic production, rather than handing over our emergency reserves to bad-actor nations.”
“I am continually disappointed with President Biden’s inability to lead and his plan to allow the export of Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil to China is yet another irresponsible decision on his part,” Inhofe said. “According to the 2022 National Defense Strategy, China is our greatest threat. We should be holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their actions, not assisting them in their efforts to stockpile oil as another means to challenge the United States and our allies. That’s why I am glad to introduce the No Emergency Crude Oil for Foreign Adversaries Act alongside Sen. Cruz to help ensure our SPR reserves are not sold to our adversaries and that we prioritize our energy needs here at home first and foremost.”
Cruz unveiled his legislation as a Washington Free Beacon report found that Biden’s Department of Energy sold one million barrels to Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec. Sinopec is wholly owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party. According to the report, Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, reportedly has financial ties to the CPP-owned Sinopec. A private equity firm Hunter cofounded reportedly purchased a roughly $2 billion stake in Sinopec Marketing in 2015.
Xu Congjun/VCG via Getty Images; Nati Harnik/AP Photo; BNN
There remain many unanswered questions surrounding reports that Biden’s administration sold SPR oil to the Hunter Biden-linked Chinese oil firm.
That is one of the reasons leading Republicans such as Cruz and House Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) want to take action on these reports.
Comer told Breitbart News exclusively last week that when Republicans take control of the House, they plan on investigating these reports, and demand testimony and documents from Biden officials, including Energy Department Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm has not responded to inquiries from Oversight Republicans about the SPR sales and when the administration plans to refill the SPR.
Comer declared, “When Republicans control the gavel, we will get answers.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks during a news conference marking six months since the signing of the bipartisan infrastructure bill at the White House on May 16, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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