Andy Barr: “My amendment would prohibit the Treasury Department from issuing General License No. 8H, which was issued by the Office…”

“My amendment would prohibit the Treasury Department from issuing General License No. 8H, which was issued by the Office of Foreign Asset Control on October 25. It represents a fundamental policy shift in our approach to Russia and ending its aggression against Ukraine. This amendment is a recognition that the Biden Treasury Department's Russian oil price cap policy has failed. It is not curbing Moscow's war spending because the cap has proven unenforceable, especially outside of the G7. Russian oil is trading well above the cap, funneling billions of dollars and, in fact, trillions of rubles into Putin's war machine. {time} 1215 It is also a recognition that President Biden and Climate Czar John Kerry's climate agenda and war on American energy has come in direct conflict with our national security and our efforts to counter Russian aggression. Their climate policies have limited the tools available to them and pushed our country into pursuing a woefully ineffective price cap strategy in lieu of closing the huge loophole they created for energy-related transactions in their sanctions on Russian banks. That is right. For the Americans watching on television who have been given the impression that President Biden is being tough on Moscow, the truth is, they are allowing oil sales to finance the war. That is the Biden policy, to create a huge loophole for energy-related transactions that allows Putin to finance this war.…”