PARSIPPANY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement regarding the President’s decision to ban U.S. imports of Russian oil as gas prices continue to rise:
“I remain unwavering in my support of Ukraine and its people in their fight for freedom, the preservation of their democracy, and their ability to remain a sovereign nation free from coercion by Putin’s Russia. A few weeks ago, I visited Ukraine, spoke with President Zelensky, and have since been in close contact with the large Ukrainian American community in my district. They are united in their calls for the United States and the international community to continue to put pressure on Russia to end their unprovoked invasion, remove their troops from Ukraine’s borders, and end the humanitarian crisis.
“And while we must do everything we can to stand up to Putin as Russia continues to wage a premeditated, unprovoked war on a fragile democracy, I am also fighting hard to address affordability here at home. That’s why as we end all importation of Russian oil, I am calling for a gas tax holiday to ease prices at the pump.
“While stepping up our sanctions on Russia is necessary to preserve freedom and democracy abroad, I deeply understand Americans’ real and legitimate concerns about the potential effect this could have on gas prices. I will continue to push for additional steps our country can take to further bring down gas prices. We can do so by releasing more of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is stored for exactly this sort of crisis and will also lead to a prompt decrease in fuel prices, examine ways to increase production in the short term, and take aggressive steps to secure our energy independence by accelerating our transition to clean energy, so that we are never again dependent on hostile foreign powers for our fuel. Energy independence is a matter of national security and I will continue my efforts to make sure we can rely on energy that is produced in America, often with technology that is developed and manufactured in North Jersey.”
Rep. Sherrill is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Navy for almost 10 years as a helicopter pilot and Russian policy officer. As a Russian policy officer, she worked on the implementation of our nuclear treaty obligations and oversaw the relationship between the US Navy and Russian Federation Navy. She now serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she serves as the Vice-Chair of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee.
Rep. Sherrill traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine in January to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, and other top Ukrainian officials. She is a member of the bipartisan Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and hosted former Randolph mayor and leader in the NJ-11 Ukrainian American community Roman Hirniak to be her virtual State of the Union guest. The Congresswoman is an original co-sponsor of the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act, which codifies the ban on Russian exports, as well as the Gas Prices Relief Act to put into place a gas tax holiday.
