go up further. i am going to do everything i can to minimize this at home. we already announced we are releasing 60 million barrels of oil from our joint oil reserves, half of that, 30 million, coming from the united states. we are also going to keep working with every tool at our disposal to protect american families. to the oil and gas companies and the finance firms that back them, will understand putin's war is causing prices to rise, that is self-evident. but, but, but it is no excuse to exercise excessive increases to explain the situation or american consumers. russia's aggression has cost us

all and it is no time for profiteering or price gouging. i want to be clear about what we will not tolerate but i also want to acknowledge those firms and oil and gas industries pulling out of russia and joining other businesses that are leading by example. this is a time where we have to do our part. host: more from that and you can see that at the website or our app. you can make comments for the first half hour until we see our first guest. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. the wall street journal looks at the decision by the president and how refiners and those who produce gas or petroleum might be affected. there are two ways in which the ban on russian imports hurts refiners. it hurts margins because they're looking for replacement barrels in an already tight market. u.s. markets are 12% below for

the year. two, u.s. refiners will have to outbid other buyers in the market. changing the type of crude oil going through the refining system makes it less productive. "there were better ones out there," that was matthew blair. the wall street journal writing about how people at home might be affected and what states might do to counteract that. lawmakers and advocacy groups in numerous states including new york, california, ohio, illinois and rhode island have suspended gas taxes. california, which has the highest at $.51 per gallon, they proposed lifting the levy while democrats gavin newsom put off

the increase in the tax plan. philadelphia, pennsylvania, you are next. caller: thank you for taking my call. i applaud president biden for stepping forward and issuing the ban against russia. what is doing is killing innocents and he needs to stand trial. i applaud president biden. host: danny from yuma, arizona, republican . caller: i want to chime in and say what biden did, he was forced to do it by everybody. it is a little too late on what he is doing. we can be self-sufficient.

we can be supplying our allies. he is going to iran, he is going to venezuela, these are dictating countries. these people in ukraine, women and children are living in bound shelters under the ground. they have no water, no food, where do they go to the bathroom? this is unacceptable what is going on. host: that was danny in arizona. the washington post talks about the president's decision but also congressional action on this as well citing an effort by the democratic house saying it is speaker pelosi's aggressive timetable making the sanctions bill that ran into trouble as they unfurled a version that admitted one of the more severe punishments lawmakers had hoped to levy. a bipartisan end was scrapped

by the white house after officials aired concerns about coordinating trade policy with allies. according to three people familiar with the matter. also today in the house a bill to fund the federal government which faces a deadline on friday. that could be filed as early as this morning. a vote was scheduled initially for this week so look for that. as part of that bill $14 billion in aid going to ukraine. tom, florida, democrats align. caller: good morning. biden is doing a good job banning russian oil. it is unfair to blame biden. who started the war? putin. he invaded ukraine. 72% of american people don't mind paying a little bit more

for gas. it would be wise for me to get a smaller car or something like that. other countries are giving countries -- ukraine needs planes. a lot of women and children are dying. it is unnecessary. we need to stop hitler pugin. host: bill and orange park, florida. caller: i cannot believe that last caller. he is going to get a four-door or a motorcycle. good luck to him.

i think we should have handled putin like the bully he is. when you have a bully you hit him in the nose. i would have armed all the countries with a nuclear warhead and then have the bul

from our republican lines this math in the maryland. go ahead. >> hey. caller: hey. they shut down the keystone pipeline so they shoot themselves in the foot and then complain about it? we're not ready to go green. we're not ready to get all electric cars. we're just not ready. so you know, gas prices, i hope the gas price thing wakes people up and like, ok maybe we should pump some more of our own oil, become more energy independent, you know, globalism, whatever. and then this whole ukraine thing is making me so sick to my stomach. putin's a horrible person. i'm disgusted with russia you

can't protest without going to jail for 20 years but with the january 6 insurrection or whatever you want to call it, the u.s. doesn't look that much better. then they want to do this aid package to russia and these senators that had -- the head ones approving to the aid package, good children are going off to ukraine and getting paid millions and millions of dollars to sit on boards they're not a part of. ukraine is the most -- we should not be giving them any money at all. host: math in the maryland. the "washington post" takes a look at the keystone pipeline which some have raised. they make this point. the keystone x.l. was less than 10% complete when president biden took office. it would not now or in the near future be ready. while some drilling has been stopped, companies are sitting on thousands of undrilled

permits. let's go to sammy in new york, independent line. go ahead. caller: yes, i just want to make a comment. there's one russian leader stated denial is the first impulse of a traitor. that's who putin is. that person who stated that was a former russian leader. josef stalin. so putin is a pig, is a low-life. i hope he rots in hell. host: the president's decision on imports of oil, what do you think about that? caller: you know, america used to be one of the most prominent countries about oil and everything before. i do not know why they have to depend on outside resources. it's a shame and a disgrace what the u.s. government is also

doing. and we should be self-sufficient. we should be independent. to make this country great again. thank you. host: let's hear from earl in nashville, georgia, democrats line, earl, go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span, let me say good morning to all the american people, my brothers and sisters in christ. i disagree, i disagree that getting oil from russia, how can you sanction russia and then you're going to get oil from them? and now i would say that i disagree with the president, he should not go to russia and get nothing from russia. host: the ban is russian oil coming to the united states. that was put into place yesterday, just to clarify. caller: i know but we should not get to oil from russia.

russia is a dictator. they've been a dictator. so we shouldn't even go there b. why you want to go and buy oil from a dictator that's doing what he's doing? that don't sound right. you know. the president shouldn't even think that way. he's the president of the united states. and please don't cut me off about this border. president trump promised to build that wall. host: i'll stop you there because it goes beyond what we're talking about today. in reaction, russia as far as responding to yesterday's announcement, said they're going to enact a ban on some of their commodities saying russia is the third largest oil producer in the world, biggest exporter of natural gas and the west was believed to be too dependent on them to quit easily. you yain that is changed that. russia alsocy asupplis metals like palladium and nickel.

"the wall street journal" reporting that. one of the people responding to efforts in the house of representatives to impose bans on russia's oil was kevin mccarthy, house republican leader, he was on the floor tuesday talking about the sanctions bill coming from the democrats. mr. mccarthy: most americans have little choice but to spend $1,300 extra on gas. to fill up their cars over the course of the next year. today the price of gas hit an all-time high. democrats want to blame surging prices on russia but the truth is, their out of touch policies are why we are here in the first place. remember what happened on day one with one party rule. the president canceled the keystone pipeline and then stopped new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters. then he gave the green light to putin's pipeline.

these knee jerk decisions have damaging effects up and down the supply chain. now democrats are creating a fake choice between sanctioning russia and lowering gas prices. in their twisted think, americans must feel the pain at the pump in order to punish putin. it doesn't have to be this way. with democrats, one party rule started last year. they inherited abenergy independent america. average prices at the pump were $2.53 per gallon. oh, do we wish we had those days again. it's still possible to get back to that, though. which is why republicans offered a bill last week that would approve the keystone pipeline, fast track oil and gas production on federal lands and waters, and remove all hurdles to exporting american natural gas. the american people wonder what happened when we offered that. 220 democrats voted against that.

then we offered targeted solutions to the immediate crisis like approving the six natural gas export permits being held up by the department of energy. just approving those six permits could increase u.s. natural gas exports by 25%. but democrats refused to listen. they think our nation's future is better with leaving our resources in the ground. even if that requires us to buy oil from iran or venezuela. and batteries from china. host: as many twitter feeds have been showing you about what's going on in ukraine, a couple just to show you some pictures come og out of this, this one from ukraine world showing some of the aftermath particularly from the damage being done there. also when it comes to roads, bridges and other thing beings destroyed by bombardments, this is ukraine news as well. showing those pictures. tony in connecticut, democrats line, go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro.

what a day, huh? you know, i'm a lifelong democrat, i voted for obama twice, voted for president biden, and i don't know. i'm one of those 60% or so of people that have voter remorse. i feel like i got blood on my hands. i voted for this guy and he has done nothing but pay for putin's problems over there. now he's going to venezuela, going to do some kind of deal with iran. this is crazy. i feel so much -- i will never vote democrat again. i have -- host: the president's decision yesterday, what did you think specifically about that? caller: he's a day late and a dollar short. when he did the state of the union address and announced it, the markets went up for oil $5. during his speech. $5 a barrel of oil.

this is terrible. as a democrat, i have blood on my hands. that's terrible. host: let's hear from flonld beeville, texas, independent line. caller: hello, pedro. i just want to comment that i'm so glad that we have a politician in office that takes his time and thinks about his decisions and doesn't just boldly dive in there. the environmental, not environmental, i'm sorry, the oil from russia was kind of overdue, i'm glad he was able to make that decision, and that -- i just wanted to say how proud i am of joe biden. he's taking care of business. host: ronald in texas. independent line. "washington times" this morning takes a look at what could

happen from this decision when it comes to economic decisions. could force the federal reserve into no good choice, suggesting we'll have to raise rates more aggressively and recession rates will rise very, very quickly. representative maxine waters who chairs the committee and several of her witnesses blamed inflation on corporate mergers decreasing competition and corporations setting prices artificially high. those echo the sentiments of president biden and tyler goodspeed, former adviser under the trump administration, said than for goods in march of 2021 shot up 240% just as democrats approved mr. biden's $1.9 trillion american rescue plan.

we had a massive increase in dhapped and impaired supply, said mr. goodspeed, going on to say that difference has to go into prices. the "washington times" is where you can find that story. kathleen next in seattle beach -- satellite beach, florida, democrats line. caller: yes, i'm a first-time caller but all these call they keep saying that we should drill more. i was listening to the stock market show yesterday and they were talking about how with these record prices, the exxon and mobile and -- and mobil and all these other companies are buying back their stock instead of drilling, instead of starting drilling on those 9,000 lees they already have. so everybody, it's not biden, it's the energy companies just pocketing the profits and not

drilling on those 9,000 leases on federal lands. wake up. host: what do you think about the president's decision yesterday, the ban? caller: i agree with it. host: why so? caller: because i don't like the idea of giving money to putin either. and as far as the europeans doing the same thing, you know, they get way more than we ever take from russia. so that's all i really wanted to say this morning. thank you. host: ok. let's go to lori in north carolina. independent line. caller: good morning pedro. i just wanted to say i don't think all of this was thought through thoroughly before biden enacted his ban on russian oil. i just don't think there was enough infrastructure for gas and oil put in place prior to conducting this ban and as a

result everything is going to go up, gas prices are going to go up. it takes transportation and diesel fuel to move all this stuff, all our goods around. and that's going to go up. our country is just going to end up bankrupt over ukraine and russia and they've been at war with each other for hundreds of years. host: are you saying no action is needed there? caller: no, i'm not saying action isn't needed, pedro but how far do we go before we say ok, we've done all we can do? host: lori in whittier, north carolina, one of the other statements coming from the biden administration yesterday came from the commerce secretary, this was reported by "the new york times," saying the secretary of commerce issuing a stern warning to chinese companies that might defy u.s. restrictions against exporting

to russia saying the united states would cut them off from american equipment and software they need to make their products. the biden administration could, quote, essentially shut, close quote, down any chinese companies that defy sanctions by continuing to supply. the chaplain: s -- chips or vanceed tech nothing to russia, she said in an interview with "the new york times." jim on the democrats line from highland park, new jersey. caller: the democrat line, right? pedro, how are you doing this morning? host: fine, thank you. caller: fine. well, what is happening obviously is russia is trying to control and dominate the entire world along with china as putin's partner. consequently, what our president

and also our allies are doing are fair, proper and maybe some other things should happen too. like our get into it. i know it's going to -- it's going to cause more problems, however, they have to be stopped once and for all. host: the ban yesterday is something you agreed with? he hung up. we'll hear next from jaime in new york, republican line. caller: good morning. host: you're on c-span, go ahead. caller: hi. let me just say i don't agree with the ban yesterday. if the sanctions were kept in place that were under the previous administration, we wouldn't have the issue that is going on right now where putin

could think he could just take over, you know, the whole ukraine ordeal, but if -- really i think it's more to it. obviously different news places are covering different stories but i mean, i don't know if other people are aware of the bioweapons places that were targeted which were u.s., you know -- host: let's stick to what happened yesterday? what specifically did you think about the decision to ban imports? caller: it's going to hurt us. it's going to hurt us drastically. where the price is now, it's going to probably double and it's not going to help the u.s. in any means and where are we going to now get our oil from?

you know. it was -- you got some that are reporting it's only 10%. others reporting it's 60%. you got others reporting it was 70%. what are the real numbers? because now they want to get from venezuela. so i just don't understand what this current administration, what their end goal is. ms. pelosi: good afternoon, everyone. this has been quite a day. i have to tell you that we began the day, this being women's history month, honoring women in history. and one of them is in the present, billie jean king, came, we all basked in the glow of billie jean king as we honored patsy mink. in the next couple of months we'll observe the 50th