Andy Barr: “While I rise in support of the rule, and I thank Chairman Burgess for his leadership on giving Members the opportunity…”

“While I rise in support of the rule, and I thank Chairman Burgess for his leadership on giving Members the opportunity to vote on these packages, I also rise to express my profound disappointment that the Biden administration and Democrats in this Chamber have blocked from being ruled in order my amendment to cut off a blank check to Russia's war machine. President Biden, the U.S. Treasury Department, and congressional Democrats are so concerned about my amendment that they have prevented it from even being considered or debated before this body. Last October, the Biden administration renewed General License 8, which authorizes certain energy-related transactions involving Russian financial institutions. This license has now been renewed eight times since the start of Russia's full-scale, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and it continues to undermine measures designed to curtail Russia's energy revenues. This license, which is the architecture of the Biden foreign policy on Ukraine has become a lifeline for Vladimir Putin. It is the symbol of President Biden's weakness on Russia, the primary avenue through which he is financing Russia's war machine. It is the most prominent example of how the Biden administration's radical climate agenda has collided with its stated policy to counter Russian aggression, and it shows how the Biden administration's climate policy conflicts with our national security.…”