National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as we begin this very important discussion
about how we go about the business of defending our country and
preserving the peace and our national security, I think it is really
important we look at all of the elements of American power. We are very
familiar with the fact that we have the world's best military--best
equipped, best trained, with the most technologically advanced weapons
systems. But we also ought to look at America's other sources of great
power, and that means things such as soft power.

Let me explain. Here is the problem. Many NATO countries--our allies
in Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries--many of
which are former satellites of the Soviet Union and are now being
intimidated by the Russian Federation, rely heavily on energy resources
from Russia, creating what I think can euphemistically be called a
strategic vulnerability. Many of them are just downright scared about
what it means in terms of their ability to survive a Russian
intimidation.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed by former National
Security Advisor Steven Hadley and former Secretary of Defense Leon
Panetta, 14 countries that are a part of NATO buy 15 percent or more of
their oil from Russia.

The distinguished chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who is
not on the floor right now, famously said: Russia is a gas station
masquerading as a nation. It produces prodigious sources of energy,
but, unfortunately, they view energy as one of their weapons.

So the fact that 14 of these NATO countries buy 15 percent or more of
their oil from Russia is a real vulnerability for them. Several other
countries in Eastern and Central Europe buy more than 50 percent of
their energy supply from Russia. As I said, Russia has huge sources of
oil and gas, but they are using them not only as a source of economic
strength and to provide for the Russian people, but they are using them
as a source of intimidation and coercion.

For example, in January of 2009, Russia effectively turned off the
natural gas to Ukraine. This affected at least 10 countries in Europe
that rely upon natural gas that crosses Ukraine from Russia. According
to a report released last fall from the European Commission, several
countries in Europe could lose up to 60 percent of their gas supply if their supply lines from
Russia are disrupted. That is the problem.

Here is what I propose is one of the things we can do about it. The
United States, of course, has experienced an energy renaissance in
recent years, thanks to the technology produced by the private sector--
most specifically, the use of fracking in conjunction with horizontal
drilling--which has turned America into an energy powerhouse. Not that
many years ago, people were talking about peak oil. In other words,
they basically were making the argument that all the oil that could
have been produced was being produced, and we would now then be in a
period of decline. That proved to be wrong.

Now, thanks to this huge production of American energy, we know we
can use our ample energy resources not only to supply our own needs
here at home but to use the surplus to reassure our allies and our
partners and to reduce their dependence on bad actors, such as Russia
and Iran.

If we think about it, some of the sanctions which we have deployed
against both Iran and Russia for their bad behavior--one of the most
effective ones is the indirect sanction of lower oil and gas prices
because, frankly, Mr. Putin has calculated that oil prices would remain
very high, and when they get low, that means he doesn't have the
financial wherewithal in order to make some of the mischief that he and
Iran are so noted for.

The United States, of course, has significantly diversified our
energy resources. The United States has consumed the lowest level of
imported petroleum in the last 30 years. That was this last year. Let
me repeat that lest it be lost.

Last year, the United States consumed the lowest level of imported
petroleum in the last 30 years. According to the International Energy
Agency, today the United States is the largest oil and natural gas
liquids producer in the world, surpassing Saudi Arabia, for example.

I have filed a number of amendments, and I intend to call up one of
those in a moment, but let me describe briefly the amendments we have
filed that I think help provide some progress toward a solution for the
problem I have described.

In light of this new geopolitical landscape, I have offered several
amendments that would further our strategic position in the world while
also strengthening our allies, making them less vulnerable to the
intimidation and bullying tactics of the Russian Federation under
Vladimir Putin. These amendments aim to help NATO and our other allies
in Europe diversify their energy resources and lessen their dependency
on energy supplies of some of our major adversaries such as Russia and
Iran.

The first amendment would point out the existing authorities the
President already has under current law related to energy exports if he
determines it is in our national interests. Of course, this is an
authority under current law that applies not only to the present
occupant of the White House but would also apply to his successor.

This amendment expresses the sense of the Congress that the President
should exercise these current authorities to aid our allies and
partners in Europe and elsewhere. To help the United States get smart
on how Russia currently uses its energy program as a weapon against our
allies and partners, this amendment would mandate also an intelligence
assessment to better understand the vulnerabilities of NATO and our
other allies and partners in Europe. Then, it would also expand the
requirements of the Pentagon's annual Russia military power report to
mandate analysis of Russia's ability to use energy supplies as a tool
of coercion or intimidation against our allies and partners in Europe.

So this would restate the present authorities the President of the
United States currently has to produce and sell oil and gas to our
allies in Europe, such as Ukraine and other NATO allies. It would
require an additional intelligence assessment to make sure we
understand fully the implications of this vulnerability that Europe and
our NATO allies have to Russia and its intimidation tactics. Third, it
would expand the requirements of a current report that the Pentagon
makes on an annual basis called the Russian military power report to
mandate an analysis of Russia's ability to use energy supplies as a
tool of coercion or intimidation.

Two other amendments which we filed--which I will not call up at this
time--would help reduce the need for U.S. allies to purchase energy
from Russia and Iran. It would do this by adding a specific exception
to the law that would allow crude and natural gas exports to allies and
partners when their energy security is compromised.

For example, if a NATO ally or partner--such as Ukraine or Japan--
requests additional energy exports from the United States, the
President must approve it in a timely fashion if he finds it to be in
the national interests of the United States. This would provide our
allies and our partners with an additional source of fuel and a little
additional reassurance that if they are subjected to the kind of
intimidation and coercion I mentioned a moment ago, that we, as their
friend and their ally, would supply them with an alternative source of
energy they need in order to keep the lights on and keep their economy
running.

Finally, we filed an amendment that would amend the Natural Gas Act
to require the Secretary of Energy to approve liquefied natural gas
exports to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries and other
named partners and allies. This uses the same preferential treatment
that is already given to our free-trade agreement partners, which are
automatically deemed to be in the public interest.

In conclusion, these amendments are designed to address a very
specific problem and a very specific vulnerability of some of our
closest allies in Europe and to relieve them from some of the pressure
of Russian intimidation and coercion when Russia attempts to use energy
as a weapon. We can use this as an important element of our soft power
to help our allies relieve this coercion and intimidation.

These amendments would strengthen the strategic hand of the United
States in a world that grows more complicated by the day, not to
mention more dangerous.

I encourage my colleagues to support them and, by doing so, take a
long-term view of our own national security as well as the peace and
stability of some of our most trusted allies and partners.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending
amendment in order to call up amendment No. 1486.

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I appreciate the courtesies of the
chairman and the ranking member to allow this amendment to be called up
and to give me a chance to explain its importance and how it fits into
the national security strategy of the United States. I know we don't
typically tend to think of our energy resources as being an element of
our national strength and power that we can project beyond our borders
in a way that helps aid our allies and friends and reduces the
influence of our adversaries, such as Iran and Russia, but I hope my
colleagues will take a close look at this amendment and, when the time
comes, vote to support it.

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