U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) appeared on Fox Business Network on Thursday to question President Joe Biden's use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve shortly before the 2022 midterm elections, which he said suggested political motivations were at play.
Carl argued the reserves were intended for a national crisis and not as a mechanism to lower gasoline prices.
"We should've never used the reserve for political reasons," he said. "And that's the reason where the situation we're in now, on natural resources, will give them fair warning. When they started shutting the pipeline down, what was going to happen? It's just been a domino effect. Now we're in a situation where we're going to pay more for it."
"The prices are projected," Carl continued. "I saw that same article that you saw, obviously the Wall Street Journal. I believe it was in at $4 a gallon. We've got to get our reserves back up. This administration has made the mistake over and over and over again of poor judgment. But this one we need to do. We need to get that reserve back up and leave it alone."
"It's there for a purpose," he added. "It's not for the purpose of raising or lowering the fuel prices for the consumers. It's for our national defense, and we've got to hold the President's feet to the fire on that. He used it for political purposes, bringing the prices down for election time. And, of course, now it started back up. Everyone has told him what was going to happen on the Republican side and all the committees, but no one seems to listen, no one seems to listen."
Jeff Poor is the executive editor of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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