HR 7061 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Protecting American Energy Security Act of 2026
To amend the Natural Gas Act to require that a certification issued by the Secretary of Energy be in effect in order to export natural gas to a covered nation.
Summary
The bill amends the Natural Gas Act to require a certification from the Secretary of Energy for exporting natural gas to certain designated countries known as "covered nations." Exporters would need to obtain this certification, in addition to existing export authorization, confirming that the export would be in the public interest. The certification is valid for one year and can be revoked by the Secretary of Energy prior to the end of that period.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Elfreth, Sarah [D-MD-3] (D-MD)
3 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Sarah Elfreth’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NAI MICHAEL $16,450
- CI RENEWABLES $11,100
- HASI $10,600
- BUCH CONSTRUCTION $10,000
- SHALOM TIKVAH $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Sarah Elfreth → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jan 14, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
- Jan 14, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 14, 2026
Ms. Elfreth (for herself, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Salazar, and Mr. Huffman) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Natural Gas Act to require that a certification issued by the Secretary of Energy be in effect in order to export natural gas to a covered nation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting American Energy Security Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR EXPORTS OF NATURAL GAS TO COVERED NATIONS.
Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(g) Certification Required for Certain Exports.—No person shall export any natural gas from the United States to a covered nation (as such term is defined in section 4872(f) of title 10, United States Code) without having in effect, in addition to an order authorizing such export issued under subsection (a), a certification issued by the Secretary of Energy that such export would be in the public interest. Upon issuance, such a certification shall be in effect for a period of one year unless the Secretary of Energy revokes the certification prior to the conclusion of such period.”. <all>
Comments