HR 261referred119th Congress

Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025

Introduced Jan 9, 2025House billPolicy area: Public Lands and Natural ResourcesLast action Feb 12, 2026Sponsor: Earl L. "Buddy" Carter(R-GA)

energyPublic Lands and Natural Resources

Commerce, Science, and Transportation CommitteeNatural Resources CommitteeWater, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee

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Official summaryUpdated Feb 12, 2026

What the bill does

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.

Latest official action

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Lobbying Filings Citing It

$41.3M

Reported on Those Filings, All Issues

Lobbying Clients

100

Recorded Votes

Timeline

Jan 9, 2025bill

Bill introduced

Apr 21, 2025lobbying

Lobbying filed by CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.

Jul 21, 2025lobbying

Lobbying filed by CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.

Jul 21, 2025lobbying

Lobbying filed by MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Feb 11, 2026vote

John J. McGuire III voted yea

Feb 11, 2026vote

Official Congressional Actions

Feb 12, 2026IntroReferral

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

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Feb 11, 2026Floor

On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 214 - 216 (Roll no. 66).

Natural Resources Committee

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Feb 11, 2026Floor

POSTPONED 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.

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Feb 11, 2026

Lobbying Activity

Registrant	Client	Amount	Filed	Period	Issues
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.	CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.	$19.3M	Jul 21, 2025	2025Q2	AERAUTAVI
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.	CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A.	$19.3M	Apr 21, 2025	2025Q1	ENVFINFOR
MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Votes on This Bill

Member	Party	Position	Date
John J. McGuire III	R	yea	Feb 11, 2026
George Whitesides	D	nay	Feb 11, 2026
James R. Walkinshaw	D	nay	Feb 11, 2026
Rudy Yakym III	R	yea	Feb 11, 2026

About this page

The lobbying table lists Senate LDA quarterly reports (LD-2) that cite this bill by number and cover a quarter of the 119th Congress. An LD-2 names a bill as “H.R. 1234” with no Congress, so a report on another Congress, which can only concern a different bill with the same number, is left out, even when it was filed after this Congress began. The amount is what the registrant reported for the whole filing, across every issue on it, not spending on this bill. Official actions and the bill summary come from Congress.gov, and votes from the roll-call record. This page no longer pairs the bill with members' stock trades: matching lobbying clients to traded companies by name, and trades to a bill by date, is not something the records establish.