Lizzie Fletcher: “Energy security is a key component of our national security. Our energy exports have a security impact around the world…”

“Energy security is a key component of our national security. Our energy exports have a security impact around the world as they do here at home. That is why I am disappointed this morning to hear many of my friends across the aisle criticizing and blaming President Biden for taking action to lower gas prices for American consumers and to weaken Russia's ability to fund its unconscionable and unjustified war that is unprovoked against Ukraine by selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR is a critical foreign policy tool and energy security tool, and it has been for more than 40 years. The SPR was created for this precise purpose for this moment that we are living in, and these recent sales--like every sale of crude in the U.S.--are made on the open market to any entity wishing to purchase it. The effective utilization of the SPR has successfully lowered costs at the pump for Americans over the last year. In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Government made roughly $4 billion in profits last year from the sale of crude oil out of the SPR. This is an important point to remember because it is the direct work of this body. In 2015, the Energy and Commerce Committee under Republican leadership lifted the 40-year ban on crude oil exports.…”