,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #ajce  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,march #ac1    
#bjbe,mr4 ,sullivan introduced the      
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,energy  
and ,natural ,resources  ,a ,,bill  ,to 
prohibit certain exports of natural gas 
produced or refined in the ,united      
,states1 and for other purposes4  #a4   
,findings ,congress finds that-- 7#a7   
natural gas that is produced or refined 
in the ,united ,states should be        
exported from domestic terminals given  
the economic and national security      
concerns associated with exporting that 
natural gas from countries with corrupt 
governments such as ,mexico2  7#b7      
,mexico is ranked #adjth out of #ahj    
countries in the #bjbd ,transparency    
,international ,corruption ,perceptions 
,index1 with corruption permeating      
political and economic segments of      
society in ,mexico2  7#c7 according to  
the #bjbd ,investment ,climate          

,statement of the ,department of ,state1
 ,mexico's current executive            
administration has been said to erode   
the autonomy and publicly question the  
value of specific antitrust and energy  
regulators and it has proposed          
dissolving some of them to cut costs4   
,furthermore1 reporting suggests that   
corruption continues to affect equal    
enforcement of some regulations42  7#d7 
the corruption permeating ,mexico is    
illustrated by the significant fuel     
theft in ,mexico1 which is so rampant   
that-- 7,a7 ,roberto ,daz de ,len1 the  
former ,president of the ,national ,fuel
 ,retailers ,association in ,mexico1    
referred to fuel theft networks as main 
competitors of gas station owners2  7,b7
 according to ,roberto ,daz de ,len1    
there were at least #d illegal fuel     
stations for every #a of the #ac1jjj    
legal fuel stations in ,mexico1 as of   
#bjbj2 and  7,c7 the former president of
 ,mexico1 ,andrs ,manuel ,lpez ,obrador1
 suggested that as much as #d_/e of fuel

 theft is orchestrated by elements of   
the ,mexican state1 and fuel thieves    
depend on complicit politicians1 police1
 and insiders at state-controlled oil   
companies to make fuel theft possible2  
7#e7 employees of the ,mexican          
state-owned petroleum company1 ,pemex1  
have reportedly been threatened1        
kidnapped1 and tortured by criminal     
cartels in ,mexico to provide           
information on pipelines2  7#f7 ,pemex  
has faced frequent allegations of       
corruption1 and1 in #bjah1 ,adrin       
,lajous ,vargas1 the former chief at    
,pemex1 stated that corruption was      
rampant and everywhere in all areas and 
at all levels of the hierarchy2  7#g7   
,mexico has centralized governmental    
power in its executive branch1 including
 through judicial reforms in ,september 
#bjbd that asserted political control   
over the judiciary of ,mexico by        
subjecting all judges to replacement    
through elections that favor the ruling 
political party2  7#h7 the              

politicization of the judicial branch in
 ,mexico imperils the principle of      
impartiality and casts doubt on whether 
laws will be applied without favor1     
contracts will be honored1 and trade    
disputes will be fairly resolved2  7#i7 
,mexican judicial reforms are expected  
to result in changes to regulatory      
agencies that are critical to upholding 
labor1 environmental1 and trade         
standards enshrined under the ,united   
,states-,mexico-,canada ,agreement2     
7#aj7 ,mexico has also been in violation
 of its energy commitments under the    
,united ,states-,mexico-,canada         
,agreement through violations such as-- 
7,a7 granting ,mexican state-owned      
energy companies priority over private  
investors1 including adopting several   
measures to favor ,pemex and the        
state-owned electrical utility1 the     
,comisin ,federal de ,electricidad1 at  
the expense of foreign investors1 the   
,united ,states1 and ,canada2 and  7,b7 
erecting new barriers to foreign trade  

and investment2 and  7#aa7 the export of
 natural gas that is produced or        
processed in the ,united ,states and    
exported to terminals located in        
,mexico-- 7,a7 is not in the national   
interest of the ,united ,states2 and    
7,b7 is a national security and trade   
concern to the ,united ,states4  #b4    
,prohibition on exports of natural gas  
,notwithstanding any other provision of 
law1 no person shall export any natural 
gas produced or refined in the ,united  
,states to a foreign country with the   
intent of further exporting that natural
 gas through a foreign ,,lng terminal   
7as defined in section #b of the        
,natural ,gas ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4       
#gag;a774