Representative Bob Latta

Dear friend,

There is no doubt about it; gas prices in Ohio and across the nation are high. I've heard from countless people in Ohio's Fifth District about hard choices they've had to make, like filling up their car's tank or buying all the groceries their families need. That is unacceptable.

This crisis didn't occur by pure happenstance. Since being sworn in, President Biden has waged war on American energy independence. Quite frankly, unilateral actions throughout his presidency can be attributed to the energy and affordability crisis plaguing communities across our country.

This shouldn't have come as a surprise, though. During his presidential campaign, President Biden said, "No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore, no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period."

To understand why energy prices are so high, we must revisit some of the president's actions. To date, the president and his administration have:

canceled the Keystone Pipeline, preventing 830,000 barrels of oil per day from coming to the U.S. from Canada, effectively killing 11,000 American jobs;
placed a moratorium on new oil and gas exploration and production;
canceled oil and gas lease sales in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico;
allowed Vladimir Putin to forge ahead to build his dangerous Nord Stream 2 Pipeline in Europe;
planned to scale down sanctions on Venezuela's authoritarian regime to gain access to their oil exports; and
authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue new regulations that make it harder to invest in oil and gas projects.

And in a last-ditch effort to bring down gas prices, the Biden Administration continues to drain our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), an emergency stockpile for use in times of war and extreme crisis. In just one year, Biden has reduced our SPR by well over 200 million barrels of oil, now at its lowest point since 1984.

Thanks to these concerted efforts to stamp out American energy production, Biden recently traveled to Saudi Arabia, hat in hand to OPEC, the foreign energy cartel, requesting Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. This was a sharp departure from a few short years ago when Biden called the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a "pariah."

During the four years under the Trump Administration's pro-American energy policies, OPEC was virtually sidelined. Now, not even two years into the Biden Administration, OPEC has reestablished itself as a key player in the world's oil and gas markets.

Here's the reality: the United States should never be dependent on a foreign country, let alone a cartel like OPEC, to supply our oil and gas. As a member of Congress and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I'm working to push for an all-of-the-above energy strategy that establishes energy independence in the U.S.

I'm championing legislation in Congress like the American Energy Independence From Russia Act, which would:

require President Biden to make American energy security a priority;
approve the Keystone XL pipeline;
unleash U.S. LNG exports to boost natural gas production;
restart oil and gas leasing on federal lands; and
protect energy and mineral development from further attacks by the Biden Admin.

I've also introduced the Powering America through Domestic Energy Act, which would:

prohibit American importation of crude oil and petroleum products from the Russian Federation;
prohibit the president from declaring and implementing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing or on oil and gas leases; and
declare the policy of the U.S. to support, and not limit access to, all domestic sources of energy development.

We must also shore up other vital forms of domestic energy, including reinvesting in our domestic nuclear industry and establishing a national strategic uranium reserve. I've introduced the NO RUSSIA Act of 2022, which would cut America's reliance on Russian uranium and support nuclear innovation right here in the U.S.

Reliance on foreign nations to supply oil and gas, uranium, and other forms of energy will never provide for a secure future, which is why it's critical we work to become North American energy independent.

It's an honor to serve you in Congress. For timely updates on my work on behalf of Ohio's Fifth District, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As always, if you have any comments, questions, or ideas for me and my team, please do not hesitate to call, write, or click here to send a direct message.

Sincerely,

Bob Latta
Member of Congress