The United States was energy independent under former President Donald Trump, and it's time for President Joe Biden to announce, during Tuesday's State of the Union address, that he will return to his predecessor's policies after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Rep. Rick Allen said on Newsmax Monday.
"I have written a letter to the president, to be delivered today, [for him] to announce in the State of the Union that he is going to return to the Trump administration's policies and what we did in Congress when we had the majority to make this nation energy independent," the Georgia Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "It is critical in this day and time to have that kind of power and influence in this world."
Meanwhile, Allen said Biden was slow to sanction Russia during the build-up of troops at the Ukraine border, because the orders will cost the American people money at the pumps, where prices were already climbing because of Biden's energy policies.
"We must stand with the Ukrainian people against Vladimir Putin and this unjustified war," said Allen. "There need to be additional sanctions. The sanctions should have been initiated earlier."
Biden's polls are underwater, Allen added, because of his hesitancy on Ukraine.
"He's not been aggressive; he's just been responsive," said Allen. "I think Putin has totally outplayed him and the people around him, as far as our intelligence is concerned. Why in the world did we sit there while they were assembling troops around Ukraine and do nothing? I mean, were they believing that Putin was not going to do this?"
Meanwhile, the United States is still buying hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from Russia every day, rather than continuing to export energy to Europe.
"We were in the position to step that up," said Allen. "What are we doing? We're buying anywhere from 700,000 barrels a day from Russia. I mean, what kind of energy policy is that?"
via newsmax