The situation between Russia and Ukraine has caused worldwide instability, but it was President Joe Biden and his administration's "asinine political decisions" to stop domestic production of natural gas and oil in the United States that are behind the swift rise of energy prices, Rep. Tom Reed said Friday on Newsmax.
"This is bigger than Russia and Ukraine," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "We were the world's largest producer of natural gas and oil with our natural reserves that we had access to."
Reed blasted the actions of President Joe Biden and his administration as "stupid" moves that have "driven prices up through the roof."
"That's hard-working Americans who are paying for this at the pump," and who are paying higher utility bills, said Reed, adding that his constituents are "up in arms over this."
Reed also discussed plans for a convoy reportedly starting next week in California and heading to Washington, D.C. in protest of COVID-19 mandates, in an echo of the massive trucker convoy that is continuing in Canada.
"What you're going to see is those that disagree with the mandates like myself, who are going to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest and this will be very disruptive," said Reed. "This will be something that will further disrupt our supply chains.
"It's going to cut off those limited supplies we already have access to because these truckers are moving these commodities. If they're not engaged in the process, or worse than that interfering with that process, we're going to have a problem."
The better course of action would be for states to move forward with lifting mandates and allow people to make their own decisions.
"I've taken the personal decision to take the vaccine," said Reed. "I studied it and I feel it's safe and the benefits outweigh the risks."
It would be better for the government to encourage such decisions, he added, rather than to force "heavy-handed mandates."
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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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