Congressman Steve Womack (R-AR) today joined House Select Climate Committee Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA), House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), and other Republican members in sending a letter to President Joe Biden expressing concern over the Biden Administration’s decision to waive sanctions and allow Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline to move forward. The representatives call on the White House to reconsider the waiver and fully implement congressionally mandated sanctions on the project.
The lawmakers wrote, "The completion of Nord Stream 2, which was slowed during the Trump Administration, will be a gift to Putin and his efforts to increase geopolitical influence in Europe. Waiving sanctions for Nord Stream 2 'because it’s almost completely finished' is the wrong message to our allies and partners and undermines our credibility and global leadership. This action, which will send more Russian natural gas to Europe, also puts U.S. resources at a distinct competitive disadvantage, costing American jobs and reducing America’s geopolitical influence."
The letter continues, "For four years, congressional Democrats obsessed over unfounded claims of Russian influence over Trump Administration policies. Democrats would have quickly called for an investigation had President Trump waived sanctions on a friend of Putin that also resulted in making American resources less competitive, increased Russian global influence, transported dirtier Russian fossil fuel to our allies in Europe, and increased global greenhouse gas emissions."
Congressman Womack has long been an opponent of this Putin-led pipeline and the instability it will cause in Europe. He was an original cosponsor of the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Clarification Act, which included secondary sanctions mandates on pipeline supporting entities, and was vocal about his opposition to President Biden’s weak stance toward Russia when the sanctions waiver was announced.
Original source can be found here.
