Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) issued the following statement after the U.S. and members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced they would release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency stockpiles, sending an influx of new crude supplies into the market as prices continue to rise:
"I have repeatedly said that we must use every tool we have to lower costs for New Hampshire families, particularly the cost of gas and heating oil, to combat inflation and protect our economy from any potential adverse impacts as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The announcement that the United States and members of the IEA are releasing these supplies is an important step to help lower costs and bring financial relief for our families. Moving forward, I continue to encourage the Administration to use every resource available to mitigate rising domestic food and oil prices, and shore up our supply chains."
Background:
In 2021, Pappas called for the Biden Administration to take action to lower energy costs for families, including releasing inventory from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR) and Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Yesterday, Pappas sent a letter to President Biden asking him to take all measures necessary to ensure that Vladimir Putin's premeditated, illegal invasion of Ukraine does not derail the momentum of the U.S. economy's recovery and maintain the historic economic gains being made following the pandemic's economic downturn, including releasing inventory from our Heating Oil and Petroleum Reserves to lower energy costs, taking all possible actions to mitigate the potential rise in domestic food prices including releasing American Rescue Plan funds earmarked to help lower meat prices, protect businesses, governments, and individuals from the risk of Russian cyberattacks by shoring up our cyber security infrastructure and releasing funds dedicated to bolstering cyber security defenses passed through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment to Jobs Act, and protecting domestic manufacturing and supply chains by working to pass and sign into law the America COMPETES Act as quickly as possible.
Original source can be found here.
