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Sen. Cruz Applauds Trump Administration Action To Counter Putin’s Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

Vows to move forward with bipartisan legislation to provide administration broadest possible authorities to counter Russia’s attempts to evade U.S. sanctions

HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement today in response to the announcement by Secretary of State Pompeo that the United States considers Russian energy export pipelines in Europe, including the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, subject to sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA):

"I applaud the Trump administration's announcement that Nord Stream 2 and other Russian pipelines are subject to the sanctions passed by Congress in CAATSA. Today's action again confirms that there is a unified bipartisan, bicameral, inter-branch consensus across the whole of the United States government to ensure Putin's pipeline never comes online.

"Nevertheless, the Kremlin will no doubt continue its frantic efforts to circumvent American sanctions, and so it is imperative that Congress provide the administration the broadest possible authorities to counter these ever-changing attempts at evasion. We will do so expeditiously. In the coming weeks, Congress will take up new bipartisan language clarifying and expanding the mandatory sanctions that Sen. Shaheen and I authored last year and that President Trump signed into law in December, including for insurance and certification companies entangled in Nord Stream 2.

"Today's announcement by the Trump administration, coupled with these existing and forthcoming Congressional sanctions, should serve as a reminder that any person or company that facilitates in any way pipe-laying for Nord Stream 2 will face the full force of U.S. sanctions."

Sen. Cruz has led a months-long bipartisan and bicameral fight to stop Putin's pipeline, which if completed, would vastly strengthen Russia at the expense of the rest of the free world. Learn more here.

WATCH: Putin's Pipeline Must Never Be Completed

In June 2020, Sens. Cruz and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H) introduced new legislation clarifying and expanding the sanctions of their bipartisan bill, the Protecting Europe's Energy Security Act, which advanced out of the Foreign Relations Committee with overwhelming support and was signed into law in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 last year.

Their new legislation clarifies that U.S. sanctions apply:

  • To vessels engaged in all pipelaying activities;
  • To persons and companies who facilitate providing those vessels;
  • To persons and companies who provide insurance for, or port facilities for retrofitting or tethering services of, those vessels, and;
  • To persons and companies that provide certification for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to begin operations.

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