Today, March 8th, 2022, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) joined Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) to introduce the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act. The bill will ban the United States from importing Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal.
This legislation is the House companion to S. 3757, which was introduced by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the Chair and Republican Leader of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“There is no question that we should ban all imports of Russian energy. Russia is using this oil money to help fund their illegal and futile invasion of Ukraine and the United States cannot stand by and help pay for Putin’s war,” said Miller-Meeks. “Ensuring American energy independence is crucial to our national security and that of our allies around the world. If we are serious about supporting the people of Ukraine, cutting off Russia’s main source of income is a massive step. We need to bring the Russian economy to its knees and increase American energy production.”
“By continuing to import oil from Russia, the U.S. is supporting Russian energy coercion and helping Putin to bankroll his brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine,” said Fitzpatrick. “We must put an end to the importation of Russian energy products now. Our bipartisan Ban Russian Energy Imports Act will send Putin and his cronies a clear message: the U.S. will secure our own energy independence, and we will not partake in Russia’s energy manipulation tactics. I implore House and Senate leadership to swiftly bring this legislation to the floor for a vote.”
“We can’t subsidize Putin’s war in Ukraine with American dollars. The Russians are killing innocent civilians, violating cease fires in refugee corridors, and escalating assaults,” said Gottheimer. “We need to hit Putin where it hurts. By banning the import of Russian oil here to the U.S., we have the opportunity to stick it to Putin, work with our allies to stabilize the energy market across the world, safeguard our nation’s energy security, and boost America’s energy independence. I’m also glad the Administration announced a global utilization of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — 60 billion barrels — to help get gas prices globally down. Existing wells are coming back online. We’ve seen that now for 18 straight weeks. Overall, the number of active rigs is up more than 60 percent since the beginning of the Administration. This should all help relieve global gas prices.”
“The entire world is on edge as Vladimir Putin terrorizes the sovereign democratic nation of Ukraine. The U.S. cannot continue to purchase more than half a million barrels of oil per day because in doing so, we are emboldening Putin to continue using his greatest weapon of war – energy exports,” said Manchin. “The Ban Russian Energy Imports Act would declare a national emergency with respect to Russian aggression and immediately prohibit the importation of Russian energy products. Importantly, this bipartisan bill shows our strong commitment to stand behind the valiant efforts of the Ukrainian people and the measures our allies in Europe are taking to rebuke Putin and his continued aggression. I urge Leader Schumer to quickly bring this bipartisan bill to the floor and urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.”
“The world is watching in shock as Russia wages an unprovoked war on Ukraine, killing innocents as it attempts to destroy a fragile democracy. While the Biden administration has taken noteworthy steps to try to convince Vladimir Putin and his regime to stand down, we need an all-encompassing approach that uses every viable tool at our disposal,” said Murkowski. “By leaving Russia’s energy exports untouched, the United States is ignoring one of our most potent options to stop the bloodshed. We must ban Russia’s energy imports into the U.S. so that Americans aren’t forced to help finance their growing atrocities and halt the Russian aggression. I’m proud to sponsor this bill with Senator Manchin and urge the Senate to pass it immediately.”
Background:
In 2021, the United States imported an average of 670,000 barrels of oil and petroleum products, with a high of 848,000 barrels per day in June 2021, with imports up 24% in 2021 over 2020. The U.S. has also imported Russian LNG and coal despite having some of the largest reserves domestically. This import strategy puts American national security at risk and supports Vladimir Putin’s ability to stay in power.
The Ban Russian Energy Imports Act would:
- Declare a national emergency specifically with respect to the threat to our national security, foreign policy, and economy that exists as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine and directs the President to prohibit imports of crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, LNG, and coal from Russia.
- The President has had the authority to take these actions since 1917; this legislation does not grant additional authority. This approach is modeled on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
- The ban would be in place during the national emergency and either the President or Congress would be able to terminate the emergency and the import ban.
- The bill exempts product that is already loaded or in transit at the time of enactment.
On January 25th, Miller-Meeks cosponsored H.R. 2046, the Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in Europe (ESCAPE) Act. This legislation would advance American energy exports to the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and reduce their reliance on Russian energy. Additionally, it mandates sanctions on Russian pipelines, including Nord Stream 2, which were signed into law in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, but have not been enforced by the Biden Administration.
On March 2nd, Miller-Meeks cosponsored the American Energy Independence from Russia Act, which would require President Biden to make an energy security plan within 30 days and take action to unleash America’s oil and natural gas production to offset Russian imports. This bill would also immediately approve the Keystone XL pipeline, unleash U.S. LNG exports to boost natural gas production, restart oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, and protect energy and mineral development from attacks by the Biden administration.
Original source can be found here
