Prohibit the importation of petroleum and petroleum products from the Russia (S.3718)

(Washington, D.C., March 1, 2022) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. released the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address. Earlier today, Senator Marshall introduced legislation to ban the U.S. purchase of Russian oil. The legislation was in response to Russia’s unjustifiable war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

“President Biden had the opportunity tonight to announce a ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil but instead he continues to use Russia as America’s gas station,” said Senator Marshall. “Having done nearly 100 town hall meetings across Kansas, it’s clear we have a Commander-in-Chief who is not commanding and the state of our union is not what he painted it as this evening. The American people are fed up with having to deal with crisis after crisis created by this Administration. Whether it’s skyrocketing inflation, our porous southern border, embracing socialism, foreign policy disasters in Afghanistan and Ukraine, and more, President Biden’s radical policies and weakness have put our nation’s prosperity and global standing in jeopardy. Make no mistake, President Biden can turn things around by immediately showing strength on the world stage, putting a stop to reckless spending, unleashing America’s energy independence, and immediately banning the U.S. purchase of Russian oil.”

Background:

In 2021, the U.S. imported nearly 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia. As a nation we have been unnecessarily contributing to the industrial success of a hostile competitor that has repeatedly shown a willingness to weaponize their energy exports. Senator Marshall’s bill swiftly moves to stop financing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and removes Russian fuels from American supply chains. The prohibition in the bill 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.

You may click HERE to view Senator Marshall’s legislation.

Sen. Marshall’s plan to Unleash America’s Energy Independence:

• Immediately Restart the Keystone XL Pipeline.
• Remove burdensome regulations from America’s energy producers.
• Increase natural gas exports to European allies and other global partners.
• Give certainty to oil and gas producers that credit will remain available to them by maintaining the independence of the Federal Reserve and withdrawing the nomination of Sarah Raskin.
• Encourage FERC to reverse their decision to add new barriers to natural gas pipeline approvals.
• Directly instruct the Department of the Interior to allow new oil and gas leases on public lands.

“It was never a good idea to scale back on domestic energy production, and spiking gas prices amid Putin’s invasion of Ukraine should make that blatantly obvious,” Sen. Rubio said. “The United States has to revitalize domestic energy production immediately and stop importing oil from a country that is financing its war crimes with revenues from petroleum products.”