U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-GA, says he is in favor of efforts by House Republicans to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable. Earlier this week, Allen gave his full support to legislation that will create a Select Committee investigating China and prohibit the sale of fuel from the United States’ national reserves to China.
“We need to get tough on China, but we’ve seen nothing of the sort from President Biden and his administration,” said Allen after his vote. “President Biden’s decision to sell part of our oil reserves to China when gas prices at home were near all-time highs speaks to the weakness and unseriousness which has characterized his administration’s foreign policy.”
According to Allen, House Resolution 11 would allow for the creation of the Select Committee in the House of Representatives on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. As a result of this legislation, the committee will be tasked with investigating the CCP’s role as a supplier and producer of fentanyl as well as its “deceptive trade practices, intellectual property theft, supply chain dominance, acquisition of U.S. farmland, and more.”
The Congressman explained that the Select Committee will also submit policy recommendations on how to counter the CCP’s malign influence and lobbying efforts at the state, local, and federal levels.
H.R. 22 – another part of the broader efforts – would prohibit the Secretary of Energy from selling U.S. emergency oil reserves to any entity affiliated with the CCP or any entity that intends to export it to China. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was established in 1975 to ensure a continuity of energy supply in the event of a weather emergency or national security threat. However, Allen said, President Biden “has drained one-third of the SPR in just two years, bringing the stockpile to its lowest levels since 1984”.
This legislation comes after the Biden administration sold nearly a million barrels of oil from the national stockpile to Unipec America – a subsidiary of Sinopec, a Chinese-owned oil and gas company – last year.
“The American people have just cause to be concerned about a rising Communist China and what it means for the future of our world,” said Allen. “Rest assured, the new House Republican majority will stand tall against the CCP’s malign influence and defend America’s interests – something the President is evidently unable, or unwilling, to do.”
