[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7207 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7207
To prohibit the importation of petroleum products from Venezuela, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 24, 2022
Mr. Donalds (for himself, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Gibbs, and Mr. Diaz-
Balart) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the importation of petroleum products from Venezuela, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Prohibit Venezuelan Oil Importation
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) From 1959 to 1999, Venezuela, officially known as the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, had a form of government that
embraced democratic principles.
(2) In 1999, Hugo Chavez was elected as the President of
Venezuela, where he maintained power by redistributing the
country's vast oil reserves towards social welfare programs,
suppressing dissent and independent media, and corrupting
Venezuela's democratic institutions, while simultaneously
nationalizing the country's private businesses, which he did so
until his death on March 5, 2013.
(3) On April 24, 2013, Nicolas Maduro became President of
Venezuela, notwithstanding multiple claims of election fraud
and constitutional violations against Maduro.
(4) During this time, Venezuela's economy had become
strongly dependent on the exportation of oil, with crude
accounting for 86 percent of its exports.
(5) However, in 2014, Venezuela entered into an economic
recession, which led to the Venezuelan regime's partnership
with Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), a state oil company,
to combat the highly fluctuating price of oil in Venezuela
along with the country's overall steep decrease in oil
production.
(6) In 2015, Venezuela's economic struggles continued, with
Venezuela having the world's highest rate of inflation that
surpassed 100 percent, resulting from the Maduro regime's
socialist economic policy that ultimately redistributed the
oil-generated wealth to Venezuela's oligarchs.
(7) In January 2016, Maduro declared an ``economic
emergency'' due to the country's inability to provide for basic
human needs to its citizens, leading to riots in the streets of
Venezuela.
(8) In 2017, Maduro announced that leading opposition
parties would be barred from taking part in the country's
Presidential election, which led the United States and other
countries formally recognizing Juan Guaido as the President of
Venezuela, although countries such as China, Russia, Cuba, and
Iran still continued to recognize President Nicolas Maduro.
(9) In August 2019, President Donald Trump signed an
Executive order to impose tough sanctions against Maduro's
totalitarian regime.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that Congress--
(1) recognizes that Venezuela has been impacted by
hyperinflation, rampant crime, and significant government
corruption;
(2) condemns the totalitarian Maduro regime and calls for
the return of constitutional democratic government to Venezuela
similar to the form of government that existed in the country
from 1959 to 1999; and
(3) calls on President Joseph Biden to use relevant
constitutional and statutory authorities that grant emergency
powers to waive unnecessary environmental permitting
requirements until the United States can reliably produce
enough oil and natural gas to recapture America's global energy
dominance.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It shall be the policy of the United States--
(1) to support the desire of the people of Venezuela for
freedom and democracy;
(2) to promote its national security interests by
prohibiting the importation of petroleum products from
Venezuela in the midst of the ongoing Russian attack on
Ukraine;
(3) to stress the importance of American energy
independence, particularly from countries such as Russia and
Venezuela; and
(4) to implement America-first energy policies that
contradict President Biden's overall energy policy approach.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FROM
VENEZUELA.
(a) In General.--The President shall prohibit the importation of
all petroleum products (as such term is defined in section 3 of the
Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6202)) originating from
Venezuela into the customs territory of the United States (as such term
is defined in General Note 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule).
(b) Modification or Removal of Prohibition.--The President may
modify or remove the prohibition under subsection (a) with respect to
some or all petroleum products described in such subsection only if the
President--
(1) reimplements and maintains the sanctions imposed
against Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA);
(2) directs the Executive Office of the President to
conduct and submit to the appropriate congressional committees
and leadership a study that--
(A) outlines the impacts and implications of
Executive Order 13990 of January 20, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg.
7037; relating to protecting public health and the
environment and restoring science to tackle the climate
crisis), specifically pertaining to the decision to
revoke--
(i) Executive Order 13766 of January 24,
2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 8657; relating to expediting
environmental review and approvals for high
priority infrastructure projects);
(ii) Executive Order 13778 of February 28,
2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 12497; relating to restoring
the rule of law, federalism, and economic
growth by reviewing the ``Waters of the United
States'' rule);
(iii) Executive Order 13783 of March 28,
2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 16093; relating to promoting
energy independence and economic growth);
(iv) Executive Order 13792 of April 26,
2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 20429; relating to review of
designations under the Antiquities Act);
(v) Executive Order 13795 of April 28, 2017
(82 Fed. Reg. 20815; relating to implementing
an America-first offshore energy strategy);
(vi) Executive Order 13868 of April 10,
2019 (84 Fed. Reg. 15495; relating to promoting
energy infrastructure and economic growth); and
(vii) Executive Order 13807 of August 15,
2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 40463; relating to
establishing discipline and accountability in
the environmental review and permitting process
for infrastructure projects);
(B) provides the necessary and appropriate
recommendations for the President to reimplement an
America-first offshore energy strategy, as in effect on
January 19, 2020;
(C) reports on the effects of President Biden's--
(i) decision to institute a moratorium on
offshore and onshore oil and gas leasing on
Federal land, including the directive to the
Department of the Interior to pause all oil and
gas lease sales on Federal lands;
(ii) actions that threaten to raise royalty
rates for any onshore and offshore projects
relating to the oil and gas industry;
(iii) statements that create significant
regulatory uncertainty, including the
President's threats of implementing new
excessive and burdensome regulations on the oil
and gas industry;
(iv) decision to stop the lease sales in
the Coastal Plain (as defined in section
20001(a)(1) of the Public Law 115-97 (16 U.S.C.
668dd note(a)(1))) of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum
Reserve-Alaska;
(v) directive to the Department of Energy
to delay the review of certain liquified
natural gas export licenses;
(vi) allocation of authority to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission to change its
certificate policy statement governing
interstate natural gas pipeline reviews;
(vii) decision to shut down critical mining
projects, such as Twin Metals copper-nickel
mine in Minnesota;
(viii) guidance to the Department of the
Treasury that prevents the Department of
Energy, the United States Agency for
International Development, and the Department
of State from investing in loans or grants for
fossil fuel projects abroad;
(ix) refusal to permit mining projects,
such as Resolution Copper in Arizona;
(x) decision to reinstitute National
Monuments, including Bears Ears National
Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument, to prevent the development of fossil
fuel projects; and
(xi) response to the Bureau of Land
Management's ongoing backlog of pending
applications for permits to drill on Federal
land;
(D) includes supplemental background information
pertaining to the President's decision to implement a
temporary moratorium on all Federal activities relating
to the implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas
Leasing Program (as established by the Record of
Decision signed August 17, 2020) in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge; and
(E) describes the potential impacts of pausing all
new discretionary regulatory policy that would
negatively impact the oil and gas sector, including--
(i) the proposed rule titled ``Standards of
Performance for New, Reconstructed, and
Modified Sources and Emissions Guidelines for
Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector
Climate Review'' and published on November 15,
2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 63110);
(ii) the Environmental Protection Agency's
decision to reconsider the previous
Administration's decision to retain, without
revision, the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for particulate matter and ozone;
(iii) the development by the Environmental
Protection Agency of a new definition of the
term ``waters of the United States'' for any
purpose that affects the oil and gas sector;
and
(iv) the modification by the Corps of
Engineers of nationwide permit (NWP)
regulations under section 404 of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344)
and section 10 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (33
U.S.C. 403);
(3) renews the authorization of the Keystone XL pipeline
for the purpose of importing oil from Canada to the United
States, as described in the Presidential permit of March 29,
2019 (84 Fed. Reg. 13101);
(4) resumes oil and gas leasing on Federal land; and
(5) notifies the appropriate congressional committees and
leadership that, in the determination of the President, such
modification or removal is appropriate given the situation in
Ukraine, and includes with such notification--
(A) an explanation of the rationale for such
modification or removal; and
(B) if the modification does not result in the full
removal of the prohibition, a description of the
criteria to be met by Venezuela for further
modification or removal of remaining elements of the
prohibition.
(c) Penalties.--The President is authorized to use appropriate
authorities to impose such civil or criminal penalties as may be
necessary to enforce the prohibition under subsection (a).
(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees and Leadership Defined.--
For purposes of this section, the term ``appropriate congressional
committees and leadership'' means--
(1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President pro tempore of the Senate;
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Appropriations, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the
Committee on Armed Services, and the Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and
(3) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Appropriations, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
the Committee on Armed Services, and the Select Committee on
Intelligence of the Senate.
<all>