House Passes Bill Banning Oil Sales From Strategic Petroleum Reserve To China And Related Companies

According to the official U.S. Congress news, on January 12th, the House overwhelmingly voted 331 to 97 to pass the H.R. 22, Protecting the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve from CCP China Act, sponsored by Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and supported by 62 House members. It was one of the most bipartisan votes on an energy bill in many years and multiple congresses, with the support of 113 Democratic members. According to the Act, the U.S. prohibits the Secretary of Energy from selling petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to CCP China and any entities controlled or influenced by CCP. The Act also condemns the Biden administration’s sale of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to CCP China last summer as part of a larger sell-off, in an attempt to lower record-high gas prices in the election year. After the Act passed, Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in her speech that millions of barrels of that oil have gone to CCP China, which now has the world’s largest government-controlled stockpile of oil. Draining our strategic reserves for political purposes and selling it to CCP China is a significant threat to the U.S. national and energy security. Rodgers also pointed out that the Act is significantly important to the U.S. energy security and maintaining national power supply in emergencies.