S. 283 · 119th Congress

Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act

Introduced on Jan 28, 2025 by Ted Cruz (R-TX). 4 cosponsors, 1 of them from another party. Latest action (Oct 5, 2026): Presented to President.

Stage
Sent to the President
Introduced
Jan 28, 2025
Cosponsors
4
1 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. Passed both chambers
  5. Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

A bill to require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of seafood to support enforcement against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Congressional oversight
  • Fishes
  • Food supply, safety, and labeling
  • Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
  • Seafood

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in Senate, Jan 28, 2025). Public domain.

Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act

This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to jointly develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of seafood to support enforcement against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing). It also authorizes technical assistance to other countries to help combat IUU fishing and transnational organized crime.

NOAA and NIST must consult with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard in developing the methodology, which must use chemical analysis to identify the country of origin of seafood. The methodology must be consistent with the needs of federal and state law enforcement agencies in combating IUU fishing. The methodology must also include a portable field kit and, to the extent practicable, be appropriate for testing prepared food (including raw preparations of seafood such as sushi). The agencies must conduct pilot studies of the methodology on red snapper and tuna.

Within two years after the bill's enactment, NIST must report to Congress regarding the methodology and a plan for operationalizing it. The report must explain any aspects of its methodology that are impracticable, whether additional research would make the methodology practicable, and whether an alternate approach might be practicable.

The bill also authorizes the Department of Defense to use operation and maintenance funds to provide technical assistance to maritime forces of other countries to help combat IUU fishing and transnational organized crime (e.g., by providing observers or data analysis).

Sponsor and cosponsors

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

Ted CruzR-TXSponsor

Democrats · 1

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

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

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

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

  1. Jan 28, 2025Introduced in Senate
  2. Jan 28, 2025 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  3. Feb 5, 2025 · SenateCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
  4. May 21, 2025Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz without amendment. With written report No. 119-24.
  5. May 21, 2025 · SenateCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz without amendment. With written report No. 119-24.
  6. May 21, 2025 · SenatePlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 86.
  7. Jul 14, 2025Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  8. Jul 14, 2025 · SenatePassed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S4341; text: CR S4341-4342)
  9. Jul 15, 2025 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  10. Jul 15, 2025 · HouseReceived in the House.
  11. Jul 15, 2025 · HouseHeld at the desk.
  12. Sep 14, 2026 · HouseMr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  13. Sep 14, 2026 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5557-5558)
  14. Sep 14, 2026 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 283.
  15. Sep 14, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5557-5558)
  16. Sep 14, 2026 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5557-5558)
  17. Sep 14, 2026 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  18. Sep 15, 2026 · SenateMessage on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendment to Senate bill.
  19. Sep 24, 2026Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate agreed to the House amendment to S. 283 by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S5020)
  20. Sep 24, 2026 · SenateSenate agreed to the House amendment to S. 283 by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S5020)
  21. Sep 28, 2026 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  22. Oct 5, 2026Presented to President.
  23. Oct 5, 2026 · HousePresented to President.

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. Southern Shrimp Alliance3 reports
    $135K reported (all issues)
  2. Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders' Alliance1 report
    $20K reported (all issues)

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 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 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 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 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.