Schumer floats adding Iran, Russia, North Korea to House-passed ban on SPR oil sales to China

Prior to Schumer's comments, the White House had dismissed the bill banning sales to China from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as addressing a "non-issue," and it's unclear if their position has changed.

By Nicholas Ballasy

Published: February 3, 2023 4:03pm

Updated: February 4, 2023 11:10pm

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is floating the idea of adding Iran, Russia, North Korea and other countries to a bill the GOP-led House passed that would ban sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China.

The bill passed in the House 331-97 with the support of 113 Democrats.

"Last month, the House passed a bill to prohibit the sale of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China," Schumer said Thursday in statement. "I've seen the proposal, but here's my question: why stop at China? What about Russia? North Korea? Iran? If we're going to do this, why not do it right and see if we can add a few more countries to the list? It’s certainly worth taking a look at.

"So, that's what we're doing. We're taking a look at this proposal and hopefully find ways to make it stronger"

Prior to Schumer's comments, the White House had dismissed the bill banning SPR sales to China as addressing a "non-issue."

"This bill addresses a non-issue; we're very clear on that," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week when asked if President Biden supports the bill.

Just the News asked the White House on Friday if Biden supports amending the bill to cover more countries, as Schumer suggested, but we did not receive a response before press time.