Press Releases

Washington, DC – March 3, 2022….Today, Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) and lawmakers part of the House Energy Action Team (HEAT) sent a letter to President Biden demanding an end to his war on American energy and detailing actions he can take immediately to reverse his anti-American energy policies that have given Vladimir Putin a critical source of leverage to carry out his attack on Ukraine. The members blasted President Biden for doubling down on these failed energy policies despite the Russian invasion, and they called on the Administration to ramp up U.S. energy production to lower prices for American families, eliminate Putin's revenue stream, and ensure greater energy security in the United States and for American allies abroad. 

“Your economic and energy policies project weakness abroad and hurt American families,” the letter reads. “Yet even given the current Russian invasion, your Administration continues to double down on this failed agenda. The Russian economy is heavily reliant on oil and gas revenues, and due to spiking prices could see $65 to $73 billion in additional revenue this year. Each day, Russian energy sales provide hundreds of millions of dollars for Russian President Putin to wage his war. While Europe, which receives nearly 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, seeks alternatives, your press secretary effectively renounced U.S. oil and gas resources, by saying that the U.S. will address the Russia-Ukraine crisis with failed Green New Deal policies, which plays right into Putin’s hands.

“It is time to reverse these harmful policies and institute an energy plan that sends an unmistakable signal to the world. We have the world’s largest oil and gas reserves; we can produce these energy resources more cleanly and efficiently than anywhere else in the world; and we should produce them. We will make clear that more U.S. production means greater energy security for our allies, lower prices for consumers at home, and more strength abroad as we undermine the Russia-China alliance.”

The letter points out key policy failures by the Biden Administration that have created the current energy crisis, like canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, banning oil and natural gas leasing on federal lands and waters, and imposing significant regulatory burdens on American energy production. The Biden Administration should take immediate action to remove Vladimir Putin's leverage and show the world that the United States is serious about making its energy resources a tool for freedom.

Read the full letter here.

Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) has represented Arkansas’s Third Congressional District since 2011. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

womack.house.gov

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