(RoyalPatriot.com )- According to reports, the Republican-controlled House passed legislation prohibiting the sale and export of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to China.
Over a hundred Democrats joined their Republican counterparts in raising concerns about the Biden administration’s sale of nearly one million barrels of oil from the reserve to a Chinese state-owned oil firm last year.
The final vote count for the “Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act” was 331 to 97. Six members did not vote. The bill was introduced by Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Media reports reveal that despite receiving support from both parties, the bill is unlikely to be considered by the Senate under Democrat leadership. Nonetheless, the vote was one of two bipartisan acts focused on Beijing during this new Congress session under Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) leadership. Nearly 150 Democrats joined Republicans in establishing the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
The legislation prohibits the energy secretary from drawing down or selling petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to any entity under the ownership, control, or influence of China’s Communist Party.
Reports show the Biden administration announced in July 2022 several contracts for purchasing crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a 180-million-barrel drawdown designed to stabilize global oil markets and combat rising gasoline prices. A contract for approximately 950,000 barrels was awarded to Unipec America, a subsidiary of the Communist Party-owned Sinopec Corp.
According to the Energy Department, these sales were intended to address the significant global supply disruption caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, act as a bridge for increased domestic production, and help stabilize volatile energy costs for American families. However, in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, House Republicans expressed concern over the possibility of U.S. oil being used by China to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and warned of the possibility of the president’s adult son, Hunter Biden, receiving money from the deal due to the financial ties between his private equity firm and the Chinese energy sector.
Joe Biden doesn’t even try to hide from his scandals.
