The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced bipartisan legislation that would establish a State Department office tasked with shoring up energy and mineral supply chains.
The committee approved an amended version of S. 4392, the “Energy Security Pacts Act,“ from Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) as part of an en bloc package. Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) are co-sponsors.
The legislation would set up an Office of Energy Security Pacts to be led by someone appointed by the secretary of State. The office would be required to coordinate with other parts of the federal government — including the Energy, Interior and Commerce departments — to establish 10-year pacts with low- and middle-income partner countries to develop their energy and electricity sectors. The bill also calls on the president to appoint a council to oversee the creation of those pacts.
The Senate measure is a partial companion to H.R. 7037, the “Developing Overseas Mineral Investments and New Allied Networks for Critical Energies (DOMINANCE) Act,” from Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.).
