America First Energy Act

Key Points

• Webster introduced a bill to change the rules for the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation. This foundation is a non-profit group created to help the Department of Energy work with the private sector to develop and fund new energy technologies.
• The bill requires that every board member, leader, and employee of the foundation must be a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or a refugee. This is intended to ensure that people with primary loyalty to foreign governments do not hold key positions in American energy research.
• It also bans current Department of Energy employees from being voting members on the foundation's board. This creates a clear separation between the government agency and the private foundation it works with.
• The foundation would be required to follow strict federal security rules designed to protect American research. These rules are meant to prevent sensitive scientific information and new inventions from being stolen by foreign competitors.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.