Rep. Claudia Tenney said Thursday on Newsmax that while she voted for the House bill to ban imports of Russian oil, she has "serious doubts" about voting for the legislation at a time when the Biden administration is "in a war with energy and fossil fuels."
"I'm worried about voting for that bill last night, knowing that these Democrats are so ignorant and so unwilling to unleash our potential, not to mention the economic strength it would give us to be energy independent again," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
The bill passed by a vote of 414-17, and Tenney said in a statement on her congressional website that while the legislation wasn't as strong as an earlier agreement she strongly supported, "this bill is nonetheless a step in the right direction to stop funding Putin's war machine."
But still, Democrats, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, are continuing to ban the "safe, regulated exploration of natural gas," the congresswoman said.
Tenney noted that her New York congressional district has abundant natural gas resources that have been capped by state Democrats, but allowing the resources to be used would provide prosperity to New Yorkers and energy security.
"We would be able to backfill some of the problems that we are having and keeping the price of energy reasonable," said Tenney. "We cannot just, you know, launch into a green energy economy and eliminate fossil fuels. A lot of this, ironically, has been driven by Vladimir Putin who reportedly has spent millions moving the U.S. and moving the Europeans and the Germans off of fossil fuels, using scare tactics and lack of science."
Further, she said that many seniors are being hit hard both by their loss of investments and by the high costs of inflation.
"The cost of heating oil, putting gas in their cars, is making it impossible for them to pay their bills and make ends meet," said Tenney. "They're very concerned. These are Americans whose families served in our past wars and served in our military … we cannot just eliminate fossil fuels that we are so dependent on."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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