Ted Cruz Introduces Bill to Block Biden Selling U.S Emergency Oil Reserves to China
Joe Biden has been selling Strategic Petroleum Reserves to Hunter's Chinese company
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Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has proposed a bill that seeks to block Democrat Joe Biden from selling America's much-needed Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil to China and other foreign nations.
The move comes after Biden was caught selling the emergency reserves to a Chinese Communist Party-owned company that's linked to his son Hunter.
Biden released part of the reserve that was supposedly meant to help tackle high gas prices as American families battle soaring costs.
However, he instead chose to enrich his own family by selling off the oil to foreign nations in deals linked to his son.
On Wednesday, Cruz proposed legislation that would block Biden from selling Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
The move from Cruz comes as it emerged that Joe Biden has drained the SPR to the lowest level in decades.
Cruz sponsored the No Emergency Crude Oil for Foreign Adversaries Act, a bill that would block the United States from selling to adversarial nations.
It permits a waiver for national security reasons and requires the Department of Energy to report the destination of exported oil from recent SPR auctions.
The Texas conservative told Breitbart News in a statement that America should not drain its SPR to benefit China.
"At a time of skyrocketing inflation and record gas prices, and with SPR drained to its lowest level since 1986, it is reckless and inexplicable that President Biden would allow oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be exported to China,” Cruz said.
"This practice poses a direct threat to American national security, not least of all because the Chinese Communist Party is currently stockpiling oil for strategic use, and the Biden administration is aiding their effort.”
Sens. James Inhofe (R-OK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), James Lankford (R-OK), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) cosponsored the bill.
“Under no circumstances should Joe Biden be selling American oil to our adversaries,” Blackburn said in a statement.
"Instead of making deals to prop up the Chinese Communist Party, Joe Biden needs to put America first.
"It’s time for him to stop doing everything in his power to undermine our country and instead kickstart an Operation Warp Speed for energy independence.”
"President Biden crushed American energy production and then sold our strategic oil reserves to China, all while claiming to care about the high prices Americans were paying at the pump,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said in a statement.
"This should never have been allowed to happen. Congress must pass legislation to ensure it doesn’t happen again."
"America’s strategic petroleum reserve protects our country during national emergencies,” Kennedy said in a statement.
"Selling off American oil to countries that hate us undermines the security that the oil reserve is supposed to deliver, and we can’t let it happen again."
Lankford remarked, “While Oklahomans are forced by this Administration’s bad policies to pay more for gas and diesel, Biden continues to block US energy production.
"Now he’s outrageously selling our emergency oil supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to nations like China.
"This is absolutely unacceptable.
"We should help American families afford gas and groceries, by increasing domestic production, rather than handing over our emergency reserves to bad-actor nations.”
“I am continually disappointed with President Biden’s inability to lead and his plan to allow the export of Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil to China is yet another irresponsible decision on his part,” Inhofe said.
“According to the 2022 National Defense Strategy, China is our greatest threat.
"We should be holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their actions, not assisting them in their efforts to stockpile oil as another means to challenge the United States and our allies.
"That’s why I am glad to introduce the No Emergency Crude Oil for Foreign Adversaries Act alongside Sen. Cruz to help ensure our SPR reserves are not sold to our adversaries and that we prioritize our energy needs here at home first and foremost.”
Cruz unveiled his legislation as a Washington Free Beacon report found that Biden’s Department of Energy sold one million barrels to Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec.
Sinopec is wholly owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party.
According to the report, Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, reportedly has financial ties to the CPP-owned Sinopec.
A private equity firm Hunter cofounded reportedly purchased a roughly $2 billion stake in Sinopec Marketing in 2015.
There remain many unanswered questions surrounding reports that Biden’s administration sold SPR oil to the Hunter Biden-linked Chinese oil firm.
That is one of the reasons leading Republicans such as Cruz and House Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) want to take action on these reports.
Comer told Breitbart last week that when Republicans take control of the House, they plan on investigating these reports, and demand testimony and documents from Biden officials, including Energy Department Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm has not responded to inquiries from Oversight Republicans about the SPR sales and when the administration plans to refill the SPR.
“When Republicans control the gavel, we will get answers,” Comer declared.
