The measure
The official bill title and text published by Congress and GovInfo.
119th Congress · 2025–2027
H.R. 261
Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025
Public Lands and Natural Resources House 7 cosponsors
Latest action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. · February 12, 2026 Understand the measure
What this bill does
Congressional Research Service · Official summary · Last checked November 2, 2026
Summary for Introduced in House
January 9, 2025 · Summary last updated July 3, 2025
Version of the bill text this summary covers: Introduced in House · January 9, 2025
A later version of the bill text is on file (February 12, 2026). This summary describes an earlier legislative action.
This summary from the Congressional Research Service is matched to an exact version of the bill text using the official record. We link a vote to that text only when the official record for the vote points to the same text.
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.
Read the complete summary
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.
Read summaries at Congress.gov ↗ · Official GovInfo record ↗ · How we write summaries
The movement
Every committee, chamber, and clerk-recorded action attached to its date.
The votes
Every roll call on this measure, or a notice when no individual vote exists.
Where it stands
The measure's progress
Passed House
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Recorded February 12, 2026, as the clerk wrote it
Sponsor
Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1]
Committee
Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
Recorded votes
2 on this measure
The official record
- Congress.gov bill page
- The bill text, as published by GPO GovInfo
- Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution: how a bill becomes law
- Status, sponsor and actions from the official GovInfo record, read October 11, 2026 · see sources
Cite this record
- Reference number
bill-119-hr261- Permanent link
- https://powerandpolitics.co/cite/bill-119-hr261
- Official source
- Congress.gov ↗
- Last checked
- Status and actions last read from the official GovInfo BILLSTATUS record
AP style
Power & Politics, "H.R. 261 (119th Congress): Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025," last checked Oct. 11, 2026, citing Congress.gov, https://powerandpolitics.co/cite/bill-119-hr261
APA
Power & Politics. (2026, October 11). H.R. 261 (119th Congress): Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025 [Bill record]. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://powerandpolitics.co/cite/bill-119-hr261
Chicago
Power & Politics. "H.R. 261 (119th Congress): Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025." Last modified October 11, 2026. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://powerandpolitics.co/cite/bill-119-hr261.
BibTeX
@misc{votefiles_bill_119_hr261,
author = {{Power & Politics}},
title = {{H.R. 261 (119th Congress): Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://powerandpolitics.co/cite/bill-119-hr261}},
note = {Reference number bill-119-hr261; official source: Congress.gov, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/261; last checked October 11, 2026; accessed November 5, 2026}
}Plain link
https://powerandpolitics.co/cite/bill-119-hr261
Cite the official source for the underlying fact. Power & Politics reference number never changes for this record. AP, APA and Chicago are standard citation styles for news and academic writing, and BibTeX is the format reference-manager programs read.
Official analyses
CBO cost estimates and CRS reports on H.R. 261
No official record has been found at this time. We are watching for updates.
Listed only where the Congressional Budget Office names this bill number in its estimate's title and that title matches the bill's own, or where the Congressional Research Service lists this bill among a report's related materials. Titles and dates are the publishers' own. All watchdog and scorekeeper reports
Official records