H.R. 495 · 119th Congress

Subterranean Border Defense Act

Introduced on Jan 16, 2025 by Elijah Crane (R-AZ-2). 8 cosponsors, 2 of them from another party. Latest action (Mar 11, 2025): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Jan 16, 2025
Cosponsors
8
2 from the other party
Policy area
Immigration
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 require annual reports on counter illicit cross-border tunnel operations, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Border security and unlawful immigration
  • Government information and archives

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Jan 16, 2025). Public domain.

Subterranean Border Defense Act

This bill requires recurring annual reporting by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the implementation of a strategic plan to counter illicit cross-border tunnel operations. Currently, CBP is only required to report once no later than one year after the plan's development.

Sponsor and cosponsors

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

Elijah CraneR-AZ-2Sponsor

Democrats · 2

Republicans · 6

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 Suspend the Rules and Pass
    Mar 10, 2025· House· Passage· Passed 402–1

History

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

  1. Jan 16, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Jan 16, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Jan 16, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
  4. Jan 16, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement.
  5. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseMr. Green (TN) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  6. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H1045-1046)
  7. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 495.
  8. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  9. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H1057-1058)
  10. Mar 10, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 402 - 1 (Roll no. 63). (text: CR H1046)House · Roll call 63
  11. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 402 - 1 (Roll no. 63). (text: CR H1046)House · Roll call 63
  12. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  13. Mar 11, 2025 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

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. ALLISON TRANSMISSION INC.1 report
    $30K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ALLISON TRANSMISSION INC$2.8M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%

Reports filed in 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 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 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 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 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.