WASHINGTON, June 14 (RIA Novosti) – A conservative US lawmaker has introduced legislation requiring the Pentagon to keep closer tabs on Russia’s military might and energy resources, arguing that both pose a threat to the United States and its NATO allies.
“Given that Moscow is spending $750 billion over a decade to modernize its military, and they occupy areas of Georgia and they’re supporting the Assad regime in Syria, and they’re certainly not helpful, in fact problematic when it comes to Iran… it’s time to keep a closer eye on Russia,” Rep. Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma said at a congressional hearing this week.
In a statement, Bridenstine’s office said the freshman representative, elected with strong backing from the ultra-conservative “Tea Party” wing of the Republican party, submitted two amendments to the 2014 defense budget bill that would require regular Pentagon reports on Russia’s military and energy resources.
One of those amendments calls for the Department of Defense to submit an annual report assessing Russia’s development of military technology, its military strategy and operational concepts; proliferation activities; nuclear weapons modernization and military-to-military contacts with the United States, Bridenstine said.
“I want to know, what is the threat over the next 20 years. When they spend $750 billion, what are they getting for that?” he asked during the hearing.
The lawmaker from Oklahoma also wants the Department of Defense to submit a report to Congress on oil and gas development in the Caspian Sea as a way of “circumventing and reducing Russian control over Central and Eastern European energy markets,” he said in a statement.
The energy report would include an assessment of NATO allies' dependence on Russian energy, the impact developing new Caspian resources would have on boosting the energy independence of former Soviet republics which currently rely heavily on Russian gas and oil and recommendations to support energy security for NATO members.
“Diversifying Europe's energy supply away from Russia is a NATO and US national security imperative,” Bridenstine said.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, Russia holds the world's largest natural gas reserves, and, even though it does not have the largest oil reserves, it was the biggest producer of crude oil in 2011, pumping about 9.8 million barrels a day.
Repeated rows with former Soviet Republic Ukraine over the price Russia asks for natural gas have led to Moscow shutting the spigots of pipelines linking Siberian gas fields to consumer markets in Europe, halting the flow of fuel on several occasions in the dead of winter.
