Jeff Bingaman: “this amendment that we are offering would avoid further sales of petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It…”

“this amendment that we are offering would avoid further sales of petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It accomplishes this goal by providing alternative sources of funding for the Interior bill to replace the planned sale of $207.5 million that is now in the bill as reported by the Appropriations Committee. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established under the Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975. It is our Nation's primary insurance policy against market chaos if there is an international oil supply disruption. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act and Strategic Petroleum Reserve were authorized earlier this year in the Senate by unanimous consent. For the past several years, the Interior Appropriations Act has included sales of the oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as an offset to Federal spending in that bill. I recognize that such sales have been proposed in the past by the administration, that they have been undertaken reluctantly by the Appropriations Committee. But depleting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, even to fund the worthy programs in this bill now before the Senate is an unwise policy.”