Political Quotes

“My friend from Texas and I are going to get to continue talking about a few tanks. My amendment would require the Secretary of Energy to determine whether curtailing U.S. oil exports would be more effective than drawing from the SPR to stabilize U.S. oil prices and protect U.S. energy security. If it is determined that curtailing oil exports would be more effective, the increased drilling on Federal lands otherwise required by H.R. 21 would not be allowed. Mr. Chair, H.R. 21 is based on the false premise that a drawdown from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve weakens our energy security and therefore must be made up for by expanding drilling on Federal land. Let's run through a little history here. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in 1975 in response to the first OPEC price shocks to provide a domestic buffer against future global market volatility and supply constraints. We had that oil in our country, and we wanted to use that to bolster domestic supplies. The conditions under which it was created changed in October 2019. That was the month when the United States, for the first time, became a net oil exporter, and we have remained one since. That means that, for the last 4 years, we have had not one but two tools we could use to protect ourselves domestically from global volatility.…”