II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 548 

To enhance the security of the United States and its allies, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BRAUN, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. COTTON, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. DAINES, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. 

HOEVEN, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. LANKFORD, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. SCOTT of 

South Carolina, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. HAWLEY, and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To enhance the security of the United States and its allies, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Security Co5 operation with Allied Partners in Europe Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States— 


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1 (1) to reduce the dependency of allies and part2 ners of the United States on Russian energy re3 sources, especially natural gas, in order for those 

4 countries to achieve lasting and dependable energy 

5 security; 

6 (2) to condemn the Government of the Russian 

7 Federation for, and to deter that government from, 

8 using its energy resources as a geopolitical weapon 

9 to coerce, intimidate, and influence other countries; 

10 (3) to improve energy security in Europe by in11 creasing access to diverse, reliable, and affordable 

12 energy; 

13 (4) to promote energy security in Europe by 

14 working with the European Union and other allies of 

15 the United States to develop liberalized energy mar16 kets that provide diversified energy sources, sup17 pliers, and routes; 

18 (5) to continue to strongly oppose the Nord 

19 Stream 2 pipeline based on its detrimental effects on 

20 the energy security of the European Union and the 

21 economy of Ukraine and other countries in Central 

22 Europe through which natural gas is transported; 

23 and 


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1 (6) to support countries that are allies or part2 ners of the United States by expediting the export 

3 of energy resources from the United States. 

4 SEC. 3. NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION. 

5 The President should direct the United States Per6 manent Representative on the Council of the North Atlan7 tic Treaty Organization (in this Act referred to as 

8 ‘‘NATO’’) to use the voice and influence of the United 

9 States to encourage NATO member countries to work to10 gether to achieve energy security for those countries and 

11 countries in Europe and Eurasia that are partners of 

12 NATO. 

13 SEC. 4. TRANSATLANTIC ENERGY STRATEGY. 

14 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that the United States and other NATO member 

16 countries should explore ways to ensure that NATO mem17 ber countries diversify their energy supplies and routes in 

18 order to enhance their energy security, including through 

19 the development of a transatlantic energy strategy. 

20 (b) TRANSATLANTIC ENERGY STRATEGY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary of State, in coordination with the Adminis24 trator of the United States Agency for International 

25 Development and the Secretary of Energy, shall subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S548.IS S548

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1 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

2 transatlantic energy strategy for the United 

3 States— 

4 (A) to enhance the energy security of 

5 NATO member countries and countries that are 

6 partners of NATO; and 

7 (B) to increase exports of energy from the 

8 United States to such countries. 

9 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘ap11 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

13 the Senate; and 

14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

15 the House of Representatives. 

16 SEC. 5. EXPEDITED APPROVAL OF EXPORTATION OF NAT17 URAL GAS TO UNITED STATES ALLIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas 

19 Act (15 U.S.C. 717b(c)) is amended— 

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘For purposes’’; 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘nation with which there is in 

22 effect a free trade agreement requiring national 

23 treatment for trade in natural gas’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘foreign country described in paragraph (2)’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) A foreign country described in this paragraph 

2 is— 

3 ‘‘(A) a nation with which there is in effect a 

4 free trade agreement requiring national treatment 

5 for trade in natural gas; 

6 ‘‘(B) a member country of the North Atlantic 

7 Treaty Organization; 

8 ‘‘(C) subject to paragraph (3), Japan; and 

9 ‘‘(D) any other foreign country if the Secretary 

10 of State, in consultation with the Secretary of De11 fense, determines that exportation of natural gas to 

12 that foreign country would promote the national se13 curity interests of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(3) The exportation of natural gas to Japan shall 

15 be deemed to be consistent with the public interest pursu16 ant to paragraph (1), and applications for such expor17 tation shall be granted without modification or delay 

18 under that paragraph, during only such period as the 

19 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, signed at 

20 Washington January 19, 1960, and entered into force 

21 June 23, 1960 (11 UST 1632; TIAS 4509), between the 

22 United States and Japan, remains in effect.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply with respect to applications for the 

25 authorization to export natural gas under section 3 of the 


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1 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) that are pending on, 

2 or filed on or after, the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 6. MANDATORY SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE 

4 DEVELOPMENT OF PIPELINES IN THE RUS5 SIAN FEDERATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose five 

7 or more of the sanctions described in section 235 of the 

8 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act 

9 (22 U.S.C. 9529) with respect to a person if the President 

10 determines that the person knowingly, on or after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act, makes an investment de12 scribed in subsection (b) or sells, leases, or provides to 

13 the Government of the Russian Federation, or to any enti14 ty owned or controlled by that government, for the con15 struction of Russian energy export pipelines, goods, serv16 ices, technology, information, or support described in sub17 section (c)— 

18 (1) any of which has a fair market value of 

19 $1,000,000 or more; or 

20 (2) that, during a 12-month period, have an ag21 gregate fair market value of $5,000,000 or more. 

22 (b) INVESTMENT DESCRIBED.—An investment de23 scribed in this subsection is any contribution of assets, in24 cluding a loan guarantee or any other transfer of value, 

25 that directly and significantly contributes to the enhanceVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S548.IS S548

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1 ment of the ability of the Government of the Russian Fed2 eration, or any entity owned or controlled by that govern3 ment, to construct energy export pipelines. 

4 (c) GOODS, SERVICES, TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION, 

5 OR SUPPORT DESCRIBED.—Goods, services, technology, 

6 information, or support described in this subsection are 

7 goods, services, technology, information, or support that 

8 could directly and significantly facilitate the maintenance 

9 or expansion of the construction, modernization, or repair 

10 of energy export pipelines by the Government of the Rus11 sian Federation or any entity owned or controlled by that 

12 government. 

13 (d) PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER AUTHORITY AND NOTICE

14 TO CONGRESS.— 

15 (1) PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

16 President may waive the application of sanctions 

17 under this section if the President determines that 

18 it is in the national security interests of the United 

19 States to waive such sanctions. 

20 (2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—Not less than 15 

21 days before taking action to waive the application of 

22 sanctions under paragraph (1), the President shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

24 the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 


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1 the House of Representatives a notification of, and 

2 written justification for, the action. 

3 (e) EXCEPTION FOR IMPORTATION OF GOODS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authority to impose 

5 sanctions under subsection (a) shall not include the 

6 authority to impose sanctions with respect to the im7 portation of goods. 

8 (2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

9 term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade 

10 substance, material, supply or manufactured prod11 uct, including inspection and test equipment, and ex12 cluding technical data. 

Æ 


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