WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa) joined Sen. Roger Marshal (R-Kan.) in introducing
legislation to ban purchases of Russian oil. The legislation comes ahead of
President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address and in response to
Russia’s unjustifiable war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
“As Putin continues bombing Ukraine and
murdering innocent civilians, there is no reason we should be supporting any
sector of Russia’s economy. We must immediately halt all imports of Russian
oil, and instead return to being energy independent by undoing President
Biden’s harmful energy policies,” Grassley
said.
“First and foremost, President Biden
needs to restart America’s energy production and quit financing Vladimir
Putin’s war on Ukraine by continuing to purchase crude oil from Russia. Under
the previous Administration, our nation was energy independent but President
Biden reversed course and turned hostile nations like Russia into America’s gas
station,” said Marshall. “Make no
mistake, if President Biden fails to act, we will continue to work in Congress
to hold Vladimir Putin accountable.”
Energy Committee ranking member Sen. John
Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Rick
Scott (R-Fla.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and John Cornyn
(R-Texas) are also cosponsors of the legislation.
In 2021, the U.S. imported nearly 700,000
barrels of oil a day from Russia. This proposal would swiftly move to stop
financing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and remove Russian fuels from
American supply chains. The prohibition would take effect 15 days after
enactment and would exclude shipments that are already in transit at that time.
Just yesterday, Canada announced it
banned imports of crude
oil from Russia.
Grassley helped
introduce the
American Energy
Independence Act of 2022, which seeks to reverse Biden’s shutdown of the
American energy sector and return American energy to full production. He has
also called on Russia to be
removed
from the United Nations Security Council, and he urged Treasury Secretary Janet
Yellen to
block
Russian access to any additional financing through the International Monetary
Fund (IMF).
To view the full text of the legislation,
click
HERE.
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