Scalise Calls on Biden to Immediately Reverse War on American Energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) released the following statement regarding the crisis in Ukraine and the consequences of President Biden's war on American energy independence:

"The United States stands with the brave people of Ukraine in the face of Vladimir Putin's barbaric aggression.

"This invasion will have enormous consequences here in the United States, where hardworking Americans are already facing sky-high gas prices and escalating home heating costs that are made worse with this war.

"As President Biden scrambles to react rather than lead, tough action is needed quickly to undermine Putin's leverage. As a critical first step, I am calling on President Biden to immediately reverse his war on American energy so that the United States and our allies can have access to affordable and secure energy, while taking away a critical source of leverage and funding Putin is using to carry out his unprovoked attack on Ukraine. President Biden wasted too much time appeasing Putin while shutting down energy exploration and production here in America. That strategy failed, and needs to be reversed immediately.

"After-the-fact sanctions alone will not deter Putin's evil aggression. We need to take away the leverage Putin has over Europe and America by once again becoming energy independent. Putin's actions have pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel, but we can reverse that and help our European allies by going back to the policies in place less than two years ago that allowed us to provide for American energy security while also exporting energy to our allies around the world.

"It is past time for President Biden to back up tough words with swift action that not only punishes Russia for their attack on Ukraine, but also takes away Putin's leverage over us and Europe."