The Senate Banking Committee advanced a bill removing the federal government’s ban on oil exports Thursday, but with a catch that could kill the bill.
The legislation lifting the ban, introduced by Democrat Heidi Heitkamp of the shale energy-producing state of North Dakota, would repeal the ban on oil exports imposed in the 1970s in response to the Arab oil embargo. But on Thursday, an amendment was added to it that Heitkamp called a “poison pill.”
The amendment requires that Iran pay all court judgments to U.S. citizens injured by terror attacks backed by the Islamic State before lifting sanctions next year on the country as part of President Obama’s nuclear weapons deal.
Heitkamp said she was “disappointed that we’re taking this turn,” but “I think that we can still move this ball forward.”
The bill, approved 13-9, now moves to the Senate floor. A similar measure was passed by the energy committee in July.
The House is expected to vote on a bill lifting the ban next week, according to aides.
“I think we will continue to have this broader discussion … taking a look at how we can, in fact, do the right thing,” Heitkamp said.
