{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bice.house.gov/media/press-releases/bice-leads-letter-biden-granholm-opposing-tapping-strategic-petroleum-reserve", "Bice Leads Letter to Biden, Granholm Opposing Tapping Strategic Petroleum Reserve", "2021-11-22", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "House", "OK", "Stephanie I. Bice", "B000740", "bice.house.gov", "bice", "https://bice.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Friday, Representative Stephanie Bice (OK-05) led a letter to President Biden and Energy Secretary Granholm opposing their plan to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to help solve the administrations\u2019 self-inflicted rising fuel costs.\n\n\u201cRising fuel prices are placing an undue burden on Americans at a time when few can afford the extra expense,\u201d said Bice. \u201cInstead of unleashing oil and gas leasing on federal lands or asking U.S. companies to increase crude supplies, the president has repeatedly asked OPEC, as well as pressuring China, Japan, Korea and India, to increase oil production. We should not rely on foreign supplies to lower U.S. gas prices, nor should we use our emergency reserves.\u201d\n\nBice was joined by Reps. Tom Cole (OK-4), Liz Cheney (WY-AL), Andrew Clyde (GA-9), Roger Williams (TX-25), August Pfluger (TX-11), Garret Graves (LA-6), Kevin Brady (TX-8), Julia Letlow (LA-5), Ann Wagner (MO-2), Yvette Herrell (NM-2), Greg Steube (FL-17), Jake LaTurner (KS-2), Markwayne Mullin (OK-2), Michael Guest (MS-3), Jody Hice (GA-10), Don Young (AK-AL), Randy Weber (TX-14), Earl L. \u201cBuddy\u201d Carter (GA-1), Glenn \u201cGT\u201d Thompson (PA-5), Kevin Hern (OK-1), Michael Cloud (TX-27), Jodey Arrington (TX-19), Alex Frank Lucas (OK-3), Alex Mooney (WV-2), Tracey Mann (KS-1), Andrew Garbarino (NY-2), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-2), Bob Good (VA-5), Brian Babin (TX-36), Steve Scalise (LA-1), Bruce Westerman (AR-4) and Tom Emmer (MN-6).\n\nThe representatives wrote: \u201c\u2026We should not extract oil from the SPR to address a self-inflicted crisis caused by this administration. We must continue to reserve the world\u2019s largest supply of emergency crude for national emergencies that cannot otherwise be prevented.\u201d\n\nThey continued: \u201cThere is no reason to use our country\u2019s safety net to bail out President Biden\u2019s failed policies and poor planning. Rather, it would be in our best interest to reopen oil and gas production on federal lands, which would equate to a 20 increase in our domestic oil production. If we were to withdrawal barrels from the SPR that are currently priced at $29/per barrel and forced to replace it at a cost of over $80/per barrel (and growing), we would be creating another economic nightmare for taxpayers.\u201d\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found here and below.\n\nPresident Biden and Secretary Granholm:\n\nAs your Administration considers tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to help slow rising gas prices, we write to express our concern and opposition to this proposed plan of action. Gas prices have and will continue to rise due to production restrictions on federal lands, cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, and heightened environmental regulations, including those on methane emissions. In addition, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recently rejected President Biden\u2019s request for more crude exports to the U.S. We should not extract oil from the SPR to address a self-inflicted crisis caused by this administration. We must continue to reserve the world\u2019s largest supply of emergency crude for national emergencies that cannot otherwise be prevented.\n\nThe SPR was created in 1975 in response to the oil embargo created by OPEC. America had become increasingly dependent on foreign oil and was left in economic turmoil before President Nixon and President Ford worked to create an energy strategy to boost domestic production and reduce our country\u2019s vulnerability to oil imports and fuel shortages. This led to the creation of the SPR, which has since protected our country from oil shortages after natural and economic disasters.\n\nDuring the winter storms that descended upon Texas and Oklahoma this past winter, oil reserves were used due to the incapacity of pipeline operations. In other emergencies, the SPR released 1.5 million barrels of crude oil to aid Louisianans after Hurricane Ida and 11 million in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. At times when our country could not produce enough for domestic demand, we could rely on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to protect our economy and our people.\n\nThere is no reason to use our country\u2019s safety net to bail out President Biden\u2019s failed policies and poor planning. Rather, it would be in our best interest to reopen oil and gas production on federal lands, which would equate to a 20% increase in our domestic oil production. If we were to withdraw reserves from the SPR that are currently priced at $29/per barrel and forced to replace them at a cost of over $80/per barrel (and growing), we would be creating another economic nightmare for taxpayers.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bice.house.gov/media/press-releases/bice-leads-letter-biden-granholm-opposing-tapping-strategic-petroleum-reserve"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4854632318019867, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}