As the Colonial Pipeline comes back online, Biden asks Americans not to buy more gas than they need

During remarks at the White House on Thursday, President Biden urged Americans not to hoard gasoline now that the Colonial Pipeline has resumed operations after a cyberattack. He also warned gas stations not to engage in price gouging. He said he doesn’t believe the Russian government was involved in the attack, but “we have strong reason to believe that the criminals who did [it] are living in Russia.”

Video Transcript

JOE BIDEN: I know seeing lines at the pumps or gas stations with no gas can be extremely stressful. But this is a temporary situation. Do not get more gas than you need in the next few days. As I said, we expect the situation to begin to improve by the weekend and into early next week. And gasoline supplies coming back online. And panic buying will only slow the process.

And I also want to say something to the gas stations. Do not, I repeat, do not try to take advantage of consumers during this time. I'm going to work with governors in the affected states to put a stop to price gouging wherever it arises. And I'm asking our federal agencies to stand ready to provide assistance to state-level efforts to monitor and address any price gouging at the pump.

Nobody should be using this situation for financial gain. That's what the hackers are trying to do. That's what they're about, not us. That's not who we are. And as for the people who carried out this attack, the FBI has released details on the attack so others can take steps to prevent from being victimized like Colonial has been.

We do not believe-- I emphasize-- we do not believe the Russian government was involved in this attack. But we do have strong reason to believe that the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia. That's where it came from, were from Russia. We have been in direct communications with Moscow about the imperative for responsible countries to take decisive action against these ransomware networks.

And we're also going to pursue a measure to disrupt their ability to operate. And our Justice Department has launched a new task force dedicated to prosecuting ransomware hackers to the full extent of the law. And finally, let me say that this event is providing an urgent reminder of why we need to harden our infrastructure and make it more resilient against all threats, natural and man made.