WASHINGTON – Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) released the following statement on the House passage of H.R. 21, the Strategic Production Response Act, which would help ensure the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is available during an emergency and not abused for non-emergency, political purposes.
“The Biden administration abused the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a political ploy in an attempt to hide the damage of its failed energy polices. The SPR was drained to a near 40 year low, leaving us vulnerable in the event of an emergency. The Strategic Production Response Act will rein in the abuse of our reserves and set us on a path to empower energy producing states like North Dakota to provide reliable and needed energy,” said Congressman Armstrong
H.R. 21 would require any future non-emergency SPR releases to be accompanied by a plan from the Secretary of Energy to increase the percentage of federal lands and waters leased for oil and gas production. Specifically, the domestic energy production plan:
- Is only required for non-emergency drawdowns of the SPR, as the Biden administration did for political purposes in the lead up to the 2022 election
- Should be used to increase domestic production to make up for the amount of oil drawn down in the non-emergency release
- Requires the Secretary of Energy to consult with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, and Defense
- Does not affect existing statutory or regulatory restrictions that may prohibit drilling in federal waters
