{"id":1567482,"date":"2022-07-23T07:55:09","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T11:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1567482"},"modified":"2022-07-23T08:19:23","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T12:19:23","slug":"seven-house-republicans-formally-launch-investigation-into-bidens-strategic-reserve-oil-sales-to-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/seven-house-republicans-formally-launch-investigation-into-bidens-strategic-reserve-oil-sales-to-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven House Republicans Formally Launch Investigation Into Biden&#8217;s&#8217; Strategic Reserve Oil Sales to China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fseven-house-republicans-formally-launch-investigation-into-bidens-strategic-reserve-oil-sales-to-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1567482&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>The Biden Administration released oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease high gas prices \u2014but <a href=\"https:\/\/redstate.com\/nick-arama\/2022\/07\/07\/smoking-gun-bidens-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-reserve-went-to-chinese-company-connected-to-hunter-biden-n590680\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">then sold<\/a> 950,000 million barrels of it to our chief international competitor, China. When I first read about it, I thought, \u201cwhat in the world is going on?\u201d Yet that\u2019s exactly what happened, and now a group of House Republicans wants to know why.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/republicans-investigate-biden-admin-for-selling-china-oil-from-us-reserves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington Free Beacon<\/a><\/em>, seven GOP members of the House, including representatives Ronny Jackson (Texas) and Ralph Norman (South Carolina), have launched a formal investigation of the administration, writing <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/07.22.22_Letter-to-POTUS-re-SPR-Exports-to-China.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in a letter<\/a> to Biden Friday:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Policies and actions by your Administration have deviated the SPR [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] off course from its original intent to provide cover for your war on domestic energy production.<\/p>\n<p>It is clear that your administration wishes to use the the SPR as a stopgap for your polices\u2014policies that that that have crippled American energy independence\u2026<\/p>\n<p>It is troubling that the United States is exporting SPR crude to China as China continues to align itself with our adversaries.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The creation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was authorized in 1975 by then-President Gerald Ford when he signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/fecm\/strategic-petroleum-reserve-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Energy<\/a>, the SPR is now a \u201ccomplex of four sites with deep underground storage caverns created in salt domes along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts.\u201d Those deep storage caverns are just a little less full than they used to be, though. Since Biden began tapping the SPR, the reserves have fallen below 500 million barrels, the lowest level since 1986.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s Joe crowing about his achievement of prices supposedly dropping half a dollar:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019ve been releasing about 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and rallied our global partners to release a combined 240 million barrels of oil onto the market.<\/p>\n<p>Our actions are working, and prices are coming down. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5zrBPGvRJv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/5zrBPGvRJv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 President Biden (@POTUS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS\/status\/1549403917439700995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July 19, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I wish he could explain how selling our oil to Communist China helps ease prices at American gas pumps.\u00a0The seven House Members members want to know, too. Rep. Jackson told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The American people can\u2019t afford to put gas in their tanks and our Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at its lowest level in decades, yet Joe Biden is wasting our money and resources by sending oil that\u2019s intended for emergencies to the Chinese Communist Party. Helping our adversaries and setting America up for failure in the event of a major disaster or national security threat is no way for an American president to govern. Taxpayers deserve better.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>They are asking for the White House to turn over a \u201ctrove\u201d of documents regarding the decision-making process behind the China sales, while demanding to know if there have been any other sales of the SPR oil to other \u201cforeign adversaries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The White House shot back Friday, with spokesman Ian Sams telling <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/white-house-fires-back-gop-191301628.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a> that Biden had \u201cno personal involvement\u201d in the sales. I have a feeling one could say that about a lot of White House decisions. Sams continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Some Republican members of Congress are suggesting that the president and the Biden administration are funneling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to specific foreign companies for nefarious reasons. This accusation is ridiculous and false, and if they took the initiative to examine some basic facts, they would see that.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Note the parsing of his words, though. At first, it seems as if he\u2019s saying that these sales never happened\u2014but that\u2019s not what he\u2019s saying at all. He\u2019s not denying that the sales happened, he\u2019s just saying the Administration didn\u2019t make them for \u201cnefarious purposes.\u201d Smooth. He then complained that the Administration\u2019s hands were tied:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Sams explained that when oil is released from the SPR,\u00a0<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/energy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:the U.S. Department of Energy\" data-rapid_p=\"20\" data-v9y=\"1\">the U.S. Department of Energy<\/a>\u00a0is \u201crequired by law to sell it \u2018in a competitive auction to the highest bidder,\u2019 regardless of whether that bidder is a foreign company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis independent process has been consistent across administrations,\u201d Sams said, adding that the Trump administration also sold crude oil from the SPR through this \u201ccompetitive bidding process.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Three problems with this:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>If the law states that the Energy Department is required to sell it at auction to the highest bidder, then why release it all since it won\u2019t help us?<\/li>\n<li>When Trump sold oil to China, gas was far cheaper than it is today, and\u2026<\/li>\n<li>House Democrats just voted down a proposal to ban the sale of our Strategic Reserve to our enemies. As the head of the party, I\u2019m sure Joe could have changed that outcome if he cared.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">House Democrats Block Legislative Amendment To Prevent US Oil Sales To China <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IwEoFWuAuv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/IwEoFWuAuv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 zerohedge (@zerohedge) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zerohedge\/status\/1550541340555247616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July 22, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Also, doesn\u2019t Biden sign an executive order for just about everything? I\u2019m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that he could have demanded that the oil be used only in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s absolutely insane that during a period of wild inflation and ridiculous gas prices we would be selling our precious reserves to China. Hopefully, these GOP congressmen can get to the bottom of the matter, and make sure this doesn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE FROM REDSTATE:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden Administration released oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease high gas prices \u2014but then sold 950,000 million barrels of it to our chief international competitor, China. When<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1575243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1567482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1567482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1567482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1567482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1575243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1567482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1567482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1567482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}