At a press conference earlier today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) joined his fellow Republicans in discussing the actions taken by the Biden administration that have led to increasing gas prices and rising inflation across the country. While the administration blames Russia for rising gas prices, Portman pointed out 68 percent of the rise in the cost of oil and gas came before the invasion and can be attributed to the administration’s actions that have stifled domestic energy production.
Portman also discussed the need for NATO countries to end their imports of Russian oil and gas to further cripple Russia’s war machine. Currently, Russia’s war against Ukraine is being primarily funded by energy revenues. While the U.S. has banned the import of Russian oil, gas, and coal, it is not enough. Portman encouraged President Biden to talk with his NATO colleagues to convince them to embargo the Russian energy as well. He highlighted that U.S. producers can play a key role in not only supporting our domestic energy security, but also supporting our allies overseas transition away from their reliance on Russian energy.
A transcript of his remarks can be found below and a video can be found here.
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