"The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a vital piece of our nation's infrastructure that bolsters our energy and national security. While the reserve has been a policy Band-Aid for rising gas prices and the global unrest caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the reserve is, above-all, meant to help the United States and our allies through difficult times, not to help China power its economy," Manchin, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wrote in a statement.

He continued: "This bill would ensure that we are not risking our energy security by selling our petroleum reserves to China, and the bipartisan support this legislation has received shows just how important it is for America to be energy secure and independent."

"The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was intended to ensure that America had sufficient oil reserves in the event of an emergency. Under no circumstances should we sell any part of this stockpile to the Chinese Communist Party or any company under its control.

"We need to immediately act to stop this from happening in the future and unleash American energy, and I'm proud to work with my colleagues and Sen. Joe Manchin on this important, bipartisan issue," Cruz said in a statement.