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Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, the recent decision to waive oil sanctions on Russia and Iran in an attempt to stabilize oil prices frees up both of these adversaries to sell their oil at market prices.

Waiving oil sanctions now enriches the very countries that we wish to harm. It advantages the countries that wish to do us harm.

Iran and Russia are actively working to place Americans and other innocent lives at risk. Iran has provided Russia with critical drone technology to use in terrorizing Ukrainians. And Russia is reportedly providing intelligence that allows Iran to target U.S. facilities and critical infrastructure throughout the Middle East.

I urge the administration to immediately delist these waivers and not renew them once they expire after 30 days.

Last October, President Trump took the extraordinary step of imposing sanctions on Russia's two largest energy producers, LUKOIL and Rosneft. This move was long overdue, and it corrected yet another error of President Biden's handling of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Here in this body, in the Senate, more than 80 Senators have added their names to legislation to further sanction Russian oil, and there is significant support to get this legislation passed.

In the months following President Trump's new sanctions, Russia's revenue dropped significantly. Vladimir Putin was beginning to feel the budgetary pressures, forcing him to choose between which domestic program to cut to sustain his war of aggression in Ukraine.

The effect of President Trump's sanctions policy is now at risk of being reversed. To combat rising oil prices, the Treasury Department recently lifted sanctions for a period of 30 days on Russian oil already at sea.

The Financial Times estimates that Russia is earning $150 million a day, or nearly $2 billion, since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed at the start of the month. In the span of a 30-day waiver, Russia could reap nearly $5 billion in a single month.

Similarly, with the waivers for Iran announced last Friday, one report says Iran could make as much as $14 billion from their sales. It makes no sense. It makes no sense to provide financial relief to a country that we are currently fighting.

The impacts of these waivers will be immediate. Russia can now more easily fund its war machine, from producing more drones and ballistic missiles to offering more pay for enlistees.

The influx of cash is a gift to one of our Nation's greatest adversaries intent on continuing its war in Ukraine; dividing NATO; and cooperating with China, Iran, and North Korea to undermine American interests.

The infusion of money for Tehran will enable it to rebuild capabilities that have been degraded over the past several weeks. Iran can also fund its proxy networks that threaten our interests in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. The waivers signal desperation to the Iranian regime and reinforces that their strategy of taking the Strait of Hormuz hostage is working.

Since Putin began his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he has wagered that he can outlast the United States of America. He can outlast Europe and other nations supporting Ukraine.

Likewise, the Iranian regime believes it can endure pain for longer than its neighbors and the United States. It is up to us to make sure that that bet they both lose.

Here at home, Americans are not immune to the sacrifices that come from waging war. Certainly, our servicemembers and their families are paying a price, but it is not expected that Americans can go without suffering as well.

This is a reminder of the urgent need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen domestic energy production. Energy touches every aspect of daily life, whether heating our homes, irrigating our crops, operating a business, or simply filling up the tank.

To secure a stable and affordable energy future, we must pursue a long-term strategy that expands and diversifies our domestic energy portfolio. That includes drilling more oil domestically, permitting reform and advancing biofuels, hydrogen, and the next generation of nuclear technologies and hydropower resources that can bolster our resilience and reduce vulnerabilities to global markets.

I have long supported allowing the year-round, nationwide sale of E15. Expanding access to this affordable fuel blend gives consumers more choices at the pump and strengthens markets for our Nation's farmers and ethanol producers.

Now is the time to continue to invest in our own energy production so we are not dependent upon foreign countries to supply us with energy.

In both Russia and in Iran, the economic pressures of sanctions had begun to bite. Russia cannot achieve a breakthrough on the battlefield, and more money is needed to bribe ordinary Russians to fight.

In Iran, mismanagement of the economy under sanctions led to major protests over the past decade.

President Trump's sanctions are an essential component to the efforts to pressure Putin into ending his war and forcing Iran to come to the negotiating table. This tool is more important now than ever. Now is the time to keep the pressure on through the use of sanctions and choke off Russia and Iran's oil revenues that is funding their military operations. They are our adversaries. We should keep the sanctions on.

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