Press Releases

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) issued the following statement after House Republicans passed the Strategic Production Response Act, H.R. 21:

“President Biden and his administration have been waging war on American energy production since day one of his administration by cancelling the Keystone XL Pipeline, suspending new federal oil and gas leases, and pushing the Federal Reserve to implement climate change policies – all of which have contributed to skyrocketing gas prices. But Biden doesn’t want you to believe his administration is the cause for soaring gas prices, he’d rather blame everyone else, like Putin and American oil companies. Unfortunately, the president would rather drain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) or broker oil deals with countries like Venezuela, Iran – the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world – or Saudi Arabia, who he once called a ‘pariah,’ than work with American energy companies to increase production here at home.

“This is why House Republicans are working quickly and have already passed two bills that will protect our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and increase energy production at home. Last week, House Republicans passed the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act, which would prohibit the U.S. from selling oil from the SPR to China. And, today, we passed the Strategic Production Response Act, which would prohibit the U.S. from tapping the SPR for reasons other than a severe energy supply interruption until there is a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands and waters. The SPR wasn’t designed so it could be sold to our adversaries, and it surely wasn’t designed to be drained for political purposes. We must protect our emergency energy supplies and embrace commonsense energy proposals that will return America to energy independence and lower the crushing cost of gas for hardworking Americans.”