Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso question Sec. Rubio
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) questioned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Venezuelan oil-for-loan deals to China, Iranian oil shipments to China, and bipartisan legislation he introduced with Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to protect subsea cables from adversaries.
Secretary Rubio testified at today’s Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing.
“Mr. Secretary, great to see you, congratulations.
“What you and President Trump have demonstrated in the past year is clearly ‘peace through strength.’
“And, I appreciate the leadership from both of you.
“We’ve been talking a lot about Venezuelan oil.
“You know, I focus a lot on energy going to China, and three-quarters of all the oil that went from Venezuela out of the country there — last year, seventy-five percent of it went to China.
“They got it at deep discounts — lots of money back to Venezuela through oil-for-loan deals.
“Since the start of this blockade, basically, Venezuelan crude shipments to China have fallen dramatically.
“Can you talk a little bit about the impact this has on China’s broader energy strategy?”
On Preventing Iranian Oil Shipments:
“Since you mentioned Iran, and Senator McCormick mentioned Iran as well, a lot of oil is still going from Iran to China.
“Over one million barrels a day last year.
“Lots of that money goes back to Iran, to the dictators — the people who are actually killing others on the street.
“Can you talk a little bit about what we can do to prevent that from continuing to go? And what we’re doing to support the Iranian people?”
“Since you mentioned the words ‘shadow fleet,’ Senator Shaheen and I have legislation on subsea cables.
“I’ve asked you about that the last time we were here, the sabotage being done, directly being targeted.
“I know that Sweden and Finland have both detained Russian ships along those lines.
“We’re going to have a markup on that bill tomorrow.
“Is that something that you continue to support our efforts to go after?”
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