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Today Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) made the following statement upon the release of the Omnibus Appropriations act for Fiscal Year 2016. Congressman Cuellar fought to have a provision included that would repeal the longstanding ban on the export of U.S. crude oil.

“The omnibus appropriations package includes a provision I have been advocating for to lift the 1975 prohibition on the export of U.S. crude oil. This policy comes from a different era and now hurts our economy. By including this provision in the appropriations language, we can move toward a more prosperous U.S. energy sector.

“As the representative for the active Eagle Ford Shale, I understand the importance of the energy industry to my district, the state and the nation as a whole. The United States is now one of the world’s leading energy producers, and the domestic benefits of lifting this ban are numerous. They include creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, increasing our GDP by $134 billion, raising government revenues by $29 billion and likely lowering gas prices. Repealing this ban will also benefit our national security by providing another tool in our foreign policy arsenal to allow the U.S. to compete against OPEC and prevent Russia and Iran from claiming an outsize market share among our allies.

“I would like to give special thanks to Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX-6) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) for their leadership and support on this issue. I would also like to thank the bipartisan group of representatives and senators who have supported us in our efforts to end this decades-old ban.”