Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R, NJ-07) cast one of his first House votes on Thursday in favor of a bill which bars both the sale and export of crude oil to China from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
“Over the past two years, we learned the hard way the harsh impact an Anti-American energy agenda can have on prices at the gas pump,” said Kean. “The resources available to us here at home need to be used here at home, and certainly not shipped abroad to help China’s bottom line at our expense. American energy production is now among the most efficient and economical in the world, we must keep those resources on our shores.”
As of September 30th of last year, the SPR had hit its lowest level since the Reagan Administration — a mere 416.4 million barrels — following a decision by the Biden Administration to release an additional 6.2 million barrels from the U.S. domestic emergency stockpile. China has invested heavily in gobbling up released U.S. reserve for its own supplies.
H.R. 22 prevents the Secretary of Energy from selling any products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to any entity owned or under the control or influence of the Chinese Communist Party or to any other entity that intends to export the products to China. The bill passed 331-97.
Kean also joined 10 of 12 New Jersey members this week supporting the establishment of a select committee to probe Chinese activities including cyber warfare and intellectual property theft.
