On the recordJanuary 26, 2023
Energy security is national security. Both sides recognize this, and that is why we have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve to begin with. The President's idea of strategy means using the SPR to bail him out for his disastrous energy policies. In less than 2 years, President Biden and his administration have drained 250 million barrels from the SPR. You are going to hear that over and over again today. Guess what? Gas prices are still over 40 percent higher today than they were before the President took office. {time} 1315 Americans are suffering through the worst energy crisis in decades. To make matters worse, the SPR, once the largest stockpile of fuel anywhere in the world, is now at its lowest level since 1984. It is time to end this madness and commit to replenishing the SPR, and Republicans have a plan to do that. Our legislation would tie any future nonemergency drawdowns from the SPR to a concrete plan of action to increase oil and gas production on Federal lands. The bottom line is this administration needs a plan to refill our SPR. Quite frankly, it is a dereliction of duty that they do not have a plan to restore our energy security. The CHAIR. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.
