WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) today released the following statement after joining a group of Republican colleagues to introduce legislation that would ban the United States from purchasing Russian oil in response to its invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign democracy:
“There is absolutely no reason for a country as resource-rich as the United States to be reliant on Russia for oil, sales of which are funding their military campaign against Ukrainian sovereignty,” said Sen. Cornyn. “We should not be financially supporting Russia’s mission to rebuild the Soviet Union, especially when domestic oil production in states like Texas can help provide energy without enriching Putin’s authoritarian state.”
The legislation, led by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), was also cosponsored by Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rick Scott (R-FL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and John Hoeven (R-ND). Text of the bill is available here.
Background:
In 2021, the U.S. imported hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day from Russia, unnecessarily contributing to the industrial success of a hostile competitor seeking to weaponize its energy exports. This legislation would stop financing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and remove Russian fuels from American supply chains. This prohibition would take effect 15 days after enactment and exclude shipments already in transit at that time. Canada has already taken this important step to ban imports of crude oil from Russia.