WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on the Biden Administration’s deal with Germany on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline:
“This proposed “agreement,” to allow the completion of Nord Stream 2 between the United States and Germany is full of promises and assurances, but offers little in the way of meaningful measures to address the key national security threats Nord Stream 2 poses to U.S. allies and interests. It was negotiated without the participation and consent of key allies like Ukraine and Poland, and does not guarantee a single concrete consequence if Russia uses Nord Stream 2 as the geopolitical weapon it is. The United States and Germany should not determine the energy security of another country without their deep and substantive input.
“Not a single member of Congress supports the completion of this pipeline and the administration’s willingness to look the other way and let Russia and Germany complete this pipeline undermines the bipartisanship necessary on this important security issue. Regardless of the foreign policy outcome the administration thinks it has achieved, there are still mandatory sanctions the administration has not imposed and it has not consulted with Congress on the waiver of these mandatory sanctions under both the Protecting European Energy Security Act (PEESA) and the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
The administration has still failed to respond adequately to my letter asking why it has not imposed mandatory sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG under CAATSA. In addition, the next PEESA report is due on August 11, and the administration will have to provide a written justification for why it would be in our national interest to continue to waive sanctions. Congress must act where the administration has failed, and I will continue working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to impose meaningful costs on this malign Russian project before it becomes operational.”
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