Hoeven Statement After Voting to Ban Russian Oil Imports, Suspend Normal Trade Relations With Russia and Belarus

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today issued the following statement after the Senate approved legislation to ban imports of Russian energy products, and legislation to suspend permanent normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus:

“Given Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is clear that we should ban imports of Russian energy products. Preventing imports of Russian oil, gas and coal is vital to cutting off funding for Russia’s war effort. There’s no reason an energy-rich nation like ours should be getting energy from Russia. Now, we need the Biden administration to take the handcuffs of our domestic energy producers so we can produce more energy for consumers here at home as well as to help our allies,” said Hoeven. “Additionally, we also approved legislation to suspend trade relations with Russia and Belarus, which is another important step in holding both countries accountable for the unprovoked attacks against Ukraine.”

Over the past month, Hoeven has been working to stop Russian energy imports while promoting U.S. energy production. The senator joined Senator Roger Marshall in introducing legislation to ban the U.S. from purchasing Russian oil and to remove Russian fuels from American supply chains, and also cosponsored legislation introduced by Senators Manchin and Murkowski prohibiting the imports of Russian oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas and coal. 

At the same time, Hoeven introduced the American Energy Independence from Russia Act, bicameral legislation that takes immediate action to increase U.S. energy production and reduce reliance on Russian energy. This includes: 

• Authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL pipeline.
• Removing regulatory hurdles to increase liquefied natural gas exports.
• Prohibiting any presidential moratoria on new energy leases.
• Requiring the U.S. Department of the Interior to hold a minimum of 4 oil and natural gas lease sales in each state with land available for leasing in fiscal year 2022.
• Prohibiting the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from drawdowns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) until the Secretary of the Interior issues a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands and waters. 

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