WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced the Protecting Our Well-being by Expanding Russian Sanctions (POWERS) Act, legislation to build on recently-passed bipartisan sanctions against Russia and reinstate sanctions the Biden administration is waiving on Russian people and entities involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The bill follows last night’s announcement the State Department has reversed its previous stance and is lifting sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, the entity in charge of the pipeline, and Matthias Warnig, its CEO.
“President Biden blocks American pipelines, putting thousands of Americans out of work, but greenlights a Russian pipeline to send their higher-emitting gas to Europe. This is more of the backwards energy policy we see from this administration. Nord Stream 2 is a national security risk and strengthens the Putin regime. The sanctions should never have been lifted,” said Dr. Cassidy.
“Days after Russian hackers successfully attacked an American pipeline, President Biden decided to give Vladimir Putin his own pipeline and hand him a major geopolitical win that cuts right through the NATO alliance,” said Senator Cramer. “At the risk of weakening America’s global standing, the Biden Administration is acquiescing to a misguided German strategy which will give Putin a grip on our allies in Europe. The Putin Pipeline must be stopped, and I urge my colleagues to join this effort before the Administration makes the United States learn the hard way why energy security means national security.”
If enacted, the POWERS Act would:
- Build on sanctions passed in the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed in December 2019 by President Trump, by expanding the sanctions to subcontractors of any entity which works on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
- Reinstate any sanctions against the company managing the project as well as its corporate officers whose sanctions were waived by President Biden’s administration.
Joining Cassidy and Cramer as original cosponsors are Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Rick Scott (R-FL), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Cornyn (R-TX), Joni Ernst (R-IA), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
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