Memo To Media: Menendez Has Serious Questions to Answer on Crude Oil Export Ban
Since Allied Progress began airing its television ad Tuesday hitting New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez for appearing to waver in his support of the crude oil export ban, a variety of news outlets have quoted his spokespeople defending their boss:
NJ.COM, August 26, 2015
“The senator’s record is crystal clear on this issue: he is a strong advocate for using U.S. resources to keep gas prices down and rebuild American jobs,” Pachon said. “There is no change in the Senator’s position regarding the export ban, as this type of exportation is already allowed under current law as a ‘national interest’ exception.”
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Pachon said that those exports would reflect a unique situation, not a reversal of Menendez’s long-held position.
“In no way does he support a blind expansion of crude exports to enhance the profits of Big Oil and possibly force U.S. consumers to pay even more at the pump,” Pachon said.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE’S FUEL FIX BLOG, August 25, 2015
Juan Pachon, a spokesman for the senator, stressed that Menendez’s view on the overall oil export ban has not changed, noting that existing policy already allows exceptions to be made when in the “national interest.”
“In no way does he support a blind expansion of crude exports to enhance the profits of Big Oil and possibly force U.S. consumers to pay even more at the pump,” Pachon said.
E&E, August 25, 2015
“The senator’s record is crystal clear on this issue; he is a strong advocate for using U.S. resources to keep gas prices down and rebuild American jobs,” Allyson Kehoe, a spokeswoman for the senator, said in an email. “There is no change in the senator’s position regarding the export ban, as this type of exportation is already allowed under current law as a ‘national interest’ exception.”
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But Kehoe said the senator’s speech doesn’t changes his steadfast position on the crude export ban.
“In no way does he support a blind expansion of crude exports to enhance the profits of Big Oil and possibly force U.S. consumers to pay even more at the pump,” she said.
The Senator’s spokespeople are right that he has been a champion of the ban. But what Sen. Menendez has said of the ban in the past and what he is now saying, don’t match up.
As recently as June of this year, Sen. Menendez made his position crystal clear writing in a letter to President Obama that we should be wary of any effort to “repeal or weaken this longstanding U.S. law.” In another letter sent to the President in 2013, Sen. Menendez wrote that he had “deep concerns” that the Administration was “considering easing the ban on exporting domestically-produced crude oil.” He continued, “Easing this ban might be a win for Big Oil, but it would hurt American consumers.” (Emphasis added.)
Fast forward to last week. During a speech at Seton Hall University, Senator Menendez said “we should…consider licensing the strategic export of American oil to allied countries struggling with supply.”
The Senator’s comments raise serious questions that deserve clear answers. Does he support the crude oil export ban as it is currently written with the same unwavering vigor that he has in the past? When he speaks of additional exceptions that might be made in the national interest, are these to be made under the current law or does the Senator support amending the law to include additional exceptions?
If Sen. Menendez is in fact willing to consider a change in the law to allow for additional exceptions, that is by its very definition an “easing” or weakening of the ban.
We respect Senator Menendez for his history of support for the crude oil export ban – that is why his recent comments indicating he would be open to additional exceptions are so troubling.
The minute the Senator clarifies his remarks and says that he does not support any change to the current law, Allied Progress will gladly pull its ads off the air.
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