I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6960 

To prohibit the importation of fossil fuels from the Russian Federation, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2022 

Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself, Mr. UPTON, Ms. MACE, and Mr. CARTER of 

Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on 

Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Reform, Financial Services, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Armed Services, Transportation 

and Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit the importation of fossil fuels from the Russian 

Federation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regaining Energy 

5 Freedom and Undeniable SEcurity and Preserving U.S. 

6 Trade Interests Now Act’’ or the ‘‘REFUSE PUTIN 

7 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDING; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that exports of lique3 fied natural gas from the United States to Europe have 

4 a lifecycle emissions profile that is 41 percent lower than 

5 natural gas that is exported from the Russian Federation 

6 to Europe. 

7 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that— 

9 (1) any prohibition on the importation of fossil 

10 fuels, including crude oil, petroleum, petroleum prod11 ucts, liquefied natural gas, and coal, from the Rus12 sian Federation must be offset by an increase in the 

13 production of those fossil fuels in the United States; 

14 (2) United States allies in Europe should take 

15 similar steps to prohibit the importation of Russian 

16 fossil fuels so that the Russian Federation cannot 

17 benefit from production of those fossil fuels; and 

18 (3) energy independence is critical to national 

19 security and should include the production, use, and 

20 export of all available energy sources, including coal, 

21 natural gas, oil, nuclear, and renewables, as well as 

22 strategic minerals critical to electric vehicles and 

23 other clean energy sources. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON THE IMPORTATION OF FOSSIL 

2 FUELS, INCLUDING CRUDE OIL, PETROLEUM, 

3 PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, LIQUEFIED NAT4 URAL GAS, AND COAL, FROM THE RUSSIAN 

5 FEDERATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, effective beginning on the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the President shall prohibit the importa9 tion of any fossil fuels, including crude oil, petroleum, pe10 troleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal, from the 

11 Russian Federation. 

12 (b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition under subsection 

13 (a) shall not apply with respect to fossil fuels, including 

14 crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural 

15 gas, and coal, that are loaded for transit or in transit to 

16 the United States on the date of the enactment of this 

17 Act. 

18 (c) REQUIREMENTS OR OTHER RESTRICTIONS ON

19 THE EXPORT OF CRUDE OIL.—During any time in which 

20 the prohibition under subsection (a) is in effect, the Presi21 dent may not use the authority under section 101(d) of 

22 division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 

23 (42 U.S.C. 6212a(d)) to impose a ban on the export of 

24 crude oil from the United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE AND AGENCY ACTION. 

2 On the date of enactment of this Act, the President 

3 shall— 

4 (1) rescind the following executive and secre5 tarial orders: 

6 (A) Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 

7 7619; relating to tackling the climate crisis at 

8 home and abroad); 

9 (B) Executive Order 13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 

10 7037; relating to protecting public health and 

11 the environment and restoring science to tackle 

12 the climate crisis); and 

13 (C) Secretarial Order 3395 (relating to 

14 temporary suspension of delegated authority); 

15 and 

16 (2) direct each Federal agency (including the 

17 Council on Environmental Quality) to, not later than 

18 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act— 

19 (A) identify and repeal any regulation pro20 mulgated by the Federal agency that has the 

21 intent or effect of substantially reducing the en22 ergy independence of the United States; and 

23 (B) issue regulations and guidance to— 

24 (i) reduce the regulatory burden for 

25 energy producers in the United States; and 


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1 (ii) increase the energy output by 

2 those producers. 

3 SEC. 5. INCREASING UNITED STATES PRODUCTION FOR AL4 LIES. 

5 (a) APPLICATIONS FOR THE EXPORT OF LIQUEFIED

6 NATURAL GAS.—Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 717b) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c); 

9 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

10 subsections (a) and (b), respectively; 

11 (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub12 section (c), and moving such subsection after sub13 section (b), as so redesignated; 

14 (4) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by 

15 amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘(1) The 

16 Commission shall have the exclusive authority to ap17 prove or deny an application for the siting, construc18 tion, expansion, or operation of a facility to export 

19 natural gas from the United States to a foreign 

20 country or import natural gas from a foreign coun21 try, including an LNG terminal. Except as specifi22 cally provided in this Act, nothing in this Act is in23 tended to affect otherwise applicable law related to 

24 any Federal agency’s authorities or responsibilities 


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1 related to facilities to import or export natural gas, 

2 including LNG terminals.’’; and 

3 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(d)(1) Nothing in this Act limits the authority of 

6 the President under the Constitution, the International 

7 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

8 seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 

9 seq.), part B of title II of the Energy Policy and Conserva10 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.), the Trading With the 

11 Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), or any other provi12 sion of law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or 

13 foreign government (including any provision of law that 

14 prohibits or restricts United States persons from engaging 

15 in a transaction with a sanctioned person or government), 

16 including a country that is designated as a state sponsor 

17 of terrorism, to prohibit imports or exports of natural gas. 

18 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor of ter19 rorism’ means a country the government of which the Sec20 retary of State determines has repeatedly provided sup21 port for acts of international terrorism pursuant to— 

22 ‘‘(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Con23 trol Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A)); 

24 ‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 

25 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 


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1 ‘‘(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act 

2 (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 

3 ‘‘(D) any other provision of law.’’. 

4 (b) STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE.—Section 161 

5 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 6241) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 subsection: 

8 ‘‘(k) PLAN.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except in the case of a se10 vere energy supply interruption described in sub11 section (d), the Secretary may not execute the first 

12 drawdown of petroleum products in the Reserve 

13 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

14 whether through sale, exchange, or loan, until the 

15 Secretary has developed a plan to increase the per16 centage of Federal lands (including submerged lands 

17 of the Outer Continental Shelf) under the jurisdic18 tion of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 

19 Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Sec20 retary of Defense leased for oil and gas production 

21 by the same percentage as the percentage of petro22 leum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that is to 

23 be drawn down in that first and subsequent 

24 drawdowns, subject to the limitation under para25 graph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The plan required by para2 graph (1) shall not provide for a total increase in 

3 the percentage of Federal lands described in para4 graph (1) leased for oil and gas production in excess 

5 of 10 percent. 

6 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall pre7 pare the plan required by paragraph (1) in consulta8 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary 

9 of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense.’’. 

10 (c) KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE.— 

11 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—TransCanada Keystone 

12 Pipeline, L.P. may construct, connect, operate, and 

13 maintain the pipeline facilities at the international 

14 border of the United States and Canada at Phillips 

15 County, Montana, for the import of oil from Canada 

16 to the United States as described in the Presidential 

17 Permit of March 29, 2019 (84 Fed. Reg. 13101 

18 (April 3, 2019)). 

19 (2) PRESIDENTIAL PERMITS.—No Presidential 

20 permit or any other Executive order shall be re21 quired for the construction, connection, operation, or 

22 maintenance of the pipeline facilities described in 

23 paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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