Will Biden Choose Moscow Over Midland?

OPINION — The threat landscape facing our Nation and world is extremely grim. We are under threat from terrorism and cyber-attacks. Russia has gone rogue, the Chinese Communist Party is increasing its military prowess, stealing American IP, and threatening our ally Taiwan. The countless threats we now face require extreme vigilance and strength.

Unfortunately, America’s Commander-in-Chief exudes weakness.

Since day one of President Joe Biden’s tenure, he has taken serious strides to dismantle American energy production. Unfortunately, instead of exporting American resources produced by U.S. blue-collar workers, Mr. Biden illegally waived congressionally mandated Nord Stream II pipeline sanctions and handed Vladimir Putin even more power over the global energy market. Now, our allies in Europe are more dependent on Russian oil and gas than ever. This shortsighted action, together with the Afghanistan catastrophe and Mr. Biden’s timid response to the Colonial Pipeline hack, have convinced Mr. Putin that America is weaker and that he has an opportunity to strike.

President Donald Trump was able to keep the pressure on Mr. Putin by sending Ukraine lethal aid, investing in our military, and most of all, by supporting America’s energy industry. When Mr. Trump left office, for the first time in modern history, the United States was energy independent—we produced more energy domestically than we consumed. The Trump administration’s pro-energy policies created thousands of jobs in Texas and Indiana and, crucially, meant our European allies didn’t have to rely on Mr. Putin to keep the lights on.

At moment of such serious consequence, it is remarkable that this administration continues to keep this powerful tool of American energy production on the “do not use” shelf. The Wall Street Journal was right in saying that the Left’s assault on U.S natural gas is one of the most self-destructive acts in history. But Mr. Biden has a forty-year record of being the wrong side of our Nation’s most pressing foreign policy decisions. This is no different. Congress must correct course.

We introduced the Midland Over Moscow Act to use American resources to keep the United States and our allies safe and no longer dependent on our adversaries for energy. It will force the Biden Administration to develop an energy security strategy and fuel the world with American—not Russian—energy. Midland Over Moscow will halt the Nord Stream II pipeline and unleash American liquid natural gas exports to fill the needs of our allies.

Vladimir Putin was once fearful of our energy industry and the American innovators that continually push the industry forward. That is no longer the case. At a time when our world is increasingly destabilized, our nation needs to lead from the front. The Permian Basin is too important of an asset to be left out of our national security toolkit, and we must use this unique asset to our benefit around the world.

The White House must abandon its ill-conceived green energy pipe dreams, leverage America’s valuable resources, and enhance our security. If we don’t think critically about developing a national energy strategy, the consequences will not just be limited to Europe. An even greater adversary in China will surely move to exploit this vulnerability.

It’s time for President Biden to put Midland Over Moscow.

This piece was jointly published by Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) and Congressman Jim Banks (IN-3).