Scott, Rubio file to ban natural gas, oil imports from Venezuela and Iran

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio reintroduced the Preempting Misguided Appeasement and Financing of Destabilizing Regimes Act.

The bill prohibits the U.S. from purchasing crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products and liquefied natural gas from Iran and Venezuela.

“It is about time we strengthen our oil and natural gas sanctions against genocidal regimes like Iran and Venezuela, and I applaud the previous administration for leading the charge in this fight,” Scott said.

“It’s a no-brainer,” he added. “The current administration is turning to genocidal regimes, like Maduro in Venezuela and Iran, in an attempt to bring in more oil, when Biden should put America first and build up our own energy independence.”

“The U.S. cannot depend on one murderous dictator over another, we must depend on ourselves,” he said.

The push came after the Biden administration was reported to be easing sanctions on Venezuela to seek freer presidential elections in the country.

“The United States is blessed to have a plentiful supply of oil and natural gas — we should be using it,” Rubio said.

“American-produced energy is cleaner and provides good paying jobs for American workers, yet the Biden Administration would rather appease dictatorships in Iran and Venezuela in return for hostage swaps, bad deals, and false promises,” he added.

“Under no circumstance should we be funneling money into the hands of dictators and narco-terrorists who are aiding Vladimir Putin’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” Rubio said.

He finished by saying that enough is enough and “it’s time to being energy production back home.”

The bill was also co-sponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., John Hoeven, R-N.D., James Lankford, R-Okla., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

“Throughout his presidency, Joe Biden has undermined American energy producers at every turn and instead turned to hostile foreign nations like Russia to provide these critical resources,” Marshall said.

“Energy security is national security, and President Biden’s war on American energy is dangerous,” Daines said. “Instead of begging foreign adversaries like Venezuela and Iran to produce more oil, we should be focused on producing made-in-America energy.”