House Democrats blocked a motion Wednesday that would have prevented President Joe Biden from selling oil drawn from the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve to entities controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) proposed a motion to recommit H.R. 8294, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. A motion to recommit is a procedural motion that allows a member of the House minority to change a bill before it goes to the House floor for a final vote.
The proposed motion would have prevented U.S. oil from being sold to entities “under the ownership, control, or influence of the Chinese Communist Party” or entities that would get the oil and then turn around and export it to China.
Valadao’s motion comes just weeks after reports revealed that Biden sold nearly one million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a CCP-owned gas company with financial ties to Hunter Biden.
As Breitbart News detailed:
In April, Biden’s Department of Energy announced the nearly one million barrel sale to Unipec, which is the trading arm of Sinopec. Sinopec is wholly owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party.
Unipec reportedly purchases oil across the globe and then apparently sells it through its Sinopec Marketing subsidiary.
…
Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, reportedly has financial ties to the CCP-owned Sinopec. A private equity firm Hunter Biden cofounded reportedly purchased a nearly $2 billion stake in Sinopec Marketing in 2015.
House Democrats unanimously blocked the measure, with 219 votes against Valadao’s motion.
Valadao urged his colleagues on the House floor to support the “common sense” motion because “we need to focus on increasing energy production and not supporting our adversaries while Americans are still suffering from outrageously high fuel prices here at home.”
“These reserves are meant to be used in emergencies only. They are not meant to be used when our leadership has failed us by unnecessarily restricting domestic energy production,” Valadao said.
Valadao also called out the Biden Administration for depleting the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve and helping China.
“It is irresponsible and dangerous for the United States to provide a foreign adversary with fuel that we need to keep here in the United States in case of an emergency,” Valadao said. “It seems the Biden administration is helping to support China’s national security at the expense of our own.”