WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) issued the following statement on President Biden’s announcement that the United States is banning Russian oil imports:

“Some of President Biden’s first actions in office were canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline and reducing our capacity for domestic energy production, short-sighted decisions that have exacerbated the steady rise in energy prices, which are now at record levels. While the President keeps saying there are 9,000 unused drilling permits, he doesn't mention that it can take up to a decade to discover the energy source and extract the oil and gas. The President’s boastful claim about producing more oil than the previous administration also leaves out the fact there was a decreased demand for oil during the first year of the pandemic, and that the Biden administration still didn’t manage to fully unwind the previous administration's pro-energy policies last year.

“I absolutely support the decision to ban Russian oil imports so we don’t inadvertently help fund Putin’s illegal invasion, but it cannot be an empty gesture to ban oil from one ruthless dictatorship and in turn replace it with oil from another ruthless dictatorship. The President will find broad bipartisan consensus if he moves away from his failed energy policies by immediately expanding production here in America.” 

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