President Joe Biden recently announced a national ban on Russian energy imports. House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response:
“Banning Russian oil and gas imports is the right thing to do. However, President Biden's solution, turning to Venezuela and Iran for energy resources and trading one dictator for another to meet America's energy needs is wrong [emphasis added]. Instead, we should harness the full potential of America's abundant natural resources to increase our energy security and support our allies abroad. We have seen the consequences when nations rely on their adversaries for energy, and we cannot afford to follow the same path. We must unleash American domestic resources and increase production of American energy now.”
Rep. Mark Greene (R-Tenn.), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere subcommittee, added that Biden should extend the ban on Russian oil to Venezuelan and Iranian oil. (RELATED: How Biden's Policies Deliberately Increase Energy Costs)
Per The Hill:
“The United States should not be directly or indirectly funding Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine by purchasing their oil and gas,” Green said.
“At the same time, it would be outrageous to even consider buying oil from Iran or Venezuela. It's preposterous that the Biden administration is even considering reviving the Iran Nuclear Deal,” he said. “It's past time for us to take advantage of America's abundant natural resources and become energy independent—and it's time to cut off tyranny and totalitarianism at the knees around the globe.”
Both regimes in Caracas and Tehran have abysmal human rights records.
Yet The Hill adds that White House officials met with their Venezuelan counterparts last weekend, in the latest sign that they're at least open to the idea of easing sanctions on Venezuelan crude oil to help offset Russia's cutoff from global markets. (RELATED: These Senate Dems Oppose US Energy – But Pocketed Maximum Cash Donations From Russian Government's Nord Stream 2 Lobbyist)
The developments have even rattled some of President Biden's strongest congressional allies, like Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.):
“If the reports are true that the Biden administration is brokering the purchase of Venezuelan oil, I fear that it risks perpetuating a humanitarian crisis that has destabilized Latin America and the Caribbean for an entire generation,” Menendez said in a statement Monday.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
We have a traitor in the White House. Biden has given incredible economic, and therefore, military power to Russia by buying its oil, after severely limiting ours. Now, he wants to give Iran the same economic reward so that it can go on another terror spree and get the bomb. He is “negotiating “with Iran regarding its quest to be a nuclear power, through Russia! Since Iran has, or soon will have, intercontinental ballistic missiles, imagine how it will threaten the western world when it can send us the bomb on those missiles.