WASHINGTON – Kansas U.S. Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, M.D. today teamed up to urge President Biden to ban the U.S. purchase of Russian oil. Additionally, the senators joined efforts to introduce legislation that would ban the import of Russian oil should President Biden fail to act. The senators’ efforts come ahead of President Biden’s address to the nation and in response to Russia’s unjustifiable war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine. The senators issued the following statements:

“Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine must be a wake-up call to the Biden administration to maximize home-grown energy and not diminish America's energy independence,” said Sen. Moran. “Russia is America’s third largest supplier of oil. Each day the U.S. and our European allies are sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Russia for its energy resources. We can no longer subsidize Russian aggression. We need an all-of-the-above approach to energy independence, and it can’t be accomplished without enabling our oil and gas producers to play a larger role. The Biden administration must reinstate the Keystone XL Pipeline and promote sensible solutions that boost jobs at home and keep money out of the pockets of our adversaries.”

“First and foremost, President Biden needs to restart America’s energy production and quit financing Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine by continuing to purchase crude oil from Russia. Under the previous Administration, our nation was energy independent but President Biden reversed course and turned hostile nations like Russia into America’s gas station,” said Sen. Marshall. “Make no mistake, if President Biden fails to act, we will continue to work in Congress to hold Vladimir Putin accountable.”

The full letter can be found here with excerpts below.

Senator Moran and Marshall’s bill swiftly moves to stop financing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and removes Russian fuels from American supply chains. The prohibition in the bill would take effect 15 days after enactment and would exclude shipments that are already in transit at that time. Just yesterday, Canada announced it banned imports of crude oil from Russia. This legislation was cosponsored by Energy Committee Republican Leader Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.

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