As part of the U.S. Senate approved National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Pentagon could be forced to look for new energy supplies to avoid using Russian resources in Germany.
The legislation, passed by the Senate on Wednesday, includes an amendment that prohibits distributing funds to obtain energy at the new Rhine Ordnance Barracks Army Medical Center until the Pentagon has approved the source of the power, a Stars and Stripes report states.
The U.S. military has built this new hospital in southwest Germany to receive aeromedical evacuees from combat areas, and this provision is aimed to “minimize the use of fuels sourced from inside the Russian Federation,” the NDAA states.
The legislation says it will use American energy sources first and whenever possible, however, it also says it will use an array of other energy sources “to sustain mission critical operations during any sustained energy supply disruption caused by the Russian Federation,” according to the report.
A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to the Department of Defense on July 25 urging Secretary James Mattis to decrease the dependency on Russian-sourced energy by the U.S. military in Europe.
“These efforts are critical because Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness and capacity to intimidate and manipulate countries, such as Ukraine and European Union nations, by threatening to reduce or cut off energy exports,” said the letter, written by Pennsylvania Sens. Pat Toomey, a Republican, and Bob Casey, a Democrat.
President Donald Trump met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on July 22 at the White House where they agreed on the importance of using American natural gas. (RELATED: Trump’s Promise Of LNG To Europe Will Undercut Russia’s Energy Dominance)
This partnership could also potentially have significant implications for Russia, which currently benefits greatly from exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU.
Earnings from natural gas and oil account for over one-third of Russia’s federal budget revenues, with over 75 percent of its natural gas exports going to Europe in 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The new military hospital is being built near the Ramstein Air Base and is expected to be finished by the end of 2023 and operational by summer 2024.
Email tips to hanna@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.