U.S. Senate committee backs Russia energy bills, delays
vote on sanctions 'from hell'
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[December 12, 2019] By
Patricia Zengerle and Kirsti Knolle
WASHINGTON/
VIENNA (Reuters) - Underscoring
U.S. lawmakers' continuing unhappiness with Russia, a Senate committee
on Wednesday advanced legislation seeking to hamper Russian energy
pipelines and boosting NATO but delayed voting on a measure nicknamed
the "sanctions bill from hell" that would punish Moscow for meddling in
the 2016 U.S. election.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved four energy bills,
including the "Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in
Europe Act of 2019," which opposes Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline,
encourages NATO countries not to buy Russian gas and expedites U.S.
natural gas exports.
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The bill also calls on President Donald Trump to impose sanctions under
existing law for sales of equipment or investment used for the
construction of Russian energy export pipelines.
That vote, like the others, sent the act to the full Senate, but there
has been no indication yet of when the chamber's Republican leaders
would allow votes given the crowded schedule as the year nears its
close.
The legislation must pass the full Senate and House of Representatives
before they can be sent for Trump to sign into law or veto.
Lawmakers, including some of Trump's fellow Republicans, have been
pushing the president to take a harder stance against Russia over
election interference, aggression toward Ukraine and involvement in
Syria's civil war.
The committee also approved an act directing the State Department to
prioritize assistance in developing European energy infrastructure.
And it passed legislation that would require State to determine whether
Russia should be designated a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as a
measure requiring congressional approval if the president seeks to
withdraw from NATO.
"We are aware of the political debates as well as of the ongoing legal
procedure in the U.S. Congress," a spokesman for Nord Stream 2 said. "We
cannot comment on any implications for our project."
Rainer Seele, CEO of Austrian energy company OMV, which is a financial
partner with Russia's Gazprom and others in Nord Stream 2, has condemned
the bill.
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"Sanctions against Nord Stream 2 are a hit to Europe and Germany, a close ally
(of the United States). It’s time for Berlin and Brussels to take a clear
political stance and to retaliate," Seele said in a statement on Thursday.
Nord Stream 2, which will double the existing Nord Stream's capacity from its
current 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year, is owned by Gazprom, which is
taking on half of the planned costs of 9.5 billion euros.
The rest is divided among five European energy companies - OMV, Germany's Uniper
and Wintershall, Royal Dutch Shell and France's Engie.
DASKA VOTE POSTPONED
The committee did not consider the Defending American Security from Kremlin
Aggression Act, known as DASKA, introduced in February by Republican Senator
Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the foreign relations
panel. Graham dubbed DASKA the sanctions bill "from hell" because it would
impose strict and broad penalties.
Targets of DASKA sanctions would include: Russian banks that support efforts to
interfere in foreign elections; the country's cyber sector and new sovereign
debt. It also would impose strict measures on Russia's oil and gas sector.
Senate aides said the committee delayed DASKA because Graham was chairing a
Judiciary Committee hearing and unable to attend the Foreign Relations meeting.
Republican Senator Jim Risch, the foreign relations committee's chairman, said
the panel would consider it next week. Aides said that could slip into 2020, as
lawmakers are due to leave next week for their year-end holiday recess.
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ClearView Energy Partners analyst Kevin Book said he did not regard the bills
passed on Wednesday as having significant impacts on energy, "but we regard
their collective passage as a signpost of continuing congressional anti-Russia
sentiment."
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle Washington and Kirsti Knolle in Vienna;
additional reporting by Timothy Gardner; writing by Patricia Zengerle and Katya
Golubkova; editing by Steve Orlofsky and Jason Neely)
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