H.R. 261 · 119th Congress

Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025

Introduced on Jan 9, 2025 by Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1). 7 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Feb 12, 2026): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Jan 9, 2025
Cosponsors
7
0 from the other party
Policy area
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to prohibit requiring an authorization for the installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary if such activities have previously been authorized by a Federal or State agency.

Subjects

  • Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
  • Marine and coastal resources, fisheries

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Jan 9, 2025). Public domain.

Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025

This bill prohibits the Department of Commerce from enforcing certain permit requirements for activities related to undersea fiber optic cables in national marine sanctuaries.

Specifically, Commerce may not prohibit or require an authorization for any covered activities related to undersea fiber optic cables if a license, lease, or permit has been issued by a state or federal agency to authorize the covered activity. Covered activities are the installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary.

The bill also authorizes Commerce to direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to engage in interagency cooperation regarding federal agency actions that are likely to destroy, cause the loss of, or injure a resource in a national marine sanctuary and involve covered activities.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Earl L. "Buddy" CarterR-GA-1Sponsor

Republicans · 7

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Motion to Recommit
    Feb 11, 2026· House· Procedural· Failed 214–216
  2. On Passage
    Feb 11, 2026· House· Passage· Passed 218–212

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jan 9, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Jan 9, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Jan 9, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
  4. Jan 21, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.
  5. Jan 23, 2025 · HouseSubcommittee Hearings Held
  6. Jun 25, 2025 · HouseSubcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Discharged
  7. Jun 25, 2025 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  8. Jun 25, 2025 · HouseOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 18.
  9. Jul 2, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-181.
  10. Jul 2, 2025 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-181.
  11. Jul 2, 2025 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 146.
  12. Feb 9, 2026 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1042 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 2189, H.R. 261 and H.R. 3617. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 2189, H.R. 261, and H.R. 3617 under a closed rule and provides for one hour of debate and one motion to recommit on each bill.
  13. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1057 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of S. 1383, H.R. 2189, H.R. 261 and H.R. 3617. The resolution provides for consideration of S. 1383, H.R. 2189, H.R. 261, and H.R. 3617 under a closed rule and provides for one motion to recommit H.R. 2189, H.R. 261, and H.R. 3617, and one motion to commit S. 1383.
  14. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseConsidered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1057. (consideration: CR H2161-2166)
  15. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseRule provides for consideration of S. 1383, H.R. 2189, H.R. 261 and H.R. 3617. The resolution provides for consideration of S. 1383, H.R. 2189, H.R. 261, and H.R. 3617 under a closed rule and provides for one motion to recommit H.R. 2189, H.R. 261, and H.R. 3617, and one motion to commit S. 1383.
  16. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 261.
  17. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseThe previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  18. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseMr. Carbajal moved to recommit to the Committee on Natural Resources. (text: CR H2166)
  19. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseThe previous question on the motion to recommit was ordered pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX.
  20. Feb 11, 2026 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 261, the Chair put the question on motion to recommit and by voice vote, announced the noes had prevailed. Mr. Carbajal demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  21. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H2169-2171)
  22. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseOn motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 214 - 216 (Roll no. 66).House · Roll call 66
  23. Feb 11, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 218 - 212 (Roll no. 67).House · Roll call 67
  24. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseOn passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 218 - 212 (Roll no. 67). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H2162)House · Roll call 67
  25. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  26. Feb 11, 2026 · HouseThe title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
  27. Feb 12, 2026 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. MICROSOFT CORPORATION5 reports
    $12.1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: MICROSOFT CORPORATION$443M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  2. Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A.4 reports
    $70.3M reported (all issues)
  3. PC Landing Corp.3 reports
    $140K reported (all issues)
  4. CloudFactors LLC2 reports
  5. Earthjustice Action2 reports
    $300K reported (all issues)
  6. META PLATFORMS, INC.2 reports
    $13.1M reported (all issues)
  7. NEC Corporation of America2 reports
    $170K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: NEC CORPORATION OF AMERICAAI match · 100%

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.