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S. 2873

U.S. Senate•In Senate Committee

Summary

S. 2873, the Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025, was introduced in the Senate on Sep 18, 2025 by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) with 1 co-sponsor. It was referred to Commerce, Science, And Transportation, and last saw action on Sep 18, 2025: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Record

Text

S. 2873 has 1 co-sponsor.

sb2873/introduced-in-senate.txt
119 S2873 IS: Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025
 U.S. Senate
 2025-09-18
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 2873  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   September 18 (legislative day, September 16), 2025   Mrs. Blackburn  introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation    A BILL
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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025  .
2.
Prohibition on requiring authorizations for undersea fiber optic cables previously authorized by Federal or State agencies
The National Marine Sanctuaries Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. ) is amended by inserting after section 310 ( 16 U.S.C. 1441 ) the following:
310A.
Prohibition on requiring authorizations for undersea fiber optic cables previously authorized by Federal or State agencies
(a)
In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Secretary may not prohibit or require any authorization for the installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary if a license, lease, or permit has been issued by a Federal or State agency authorizing such installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery.
(b)
Interagency cooperation
The Secretary may direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to engage in interagency cooperation under section 304(d) in any Federal agency action described in that section and involving the installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary.
 .

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-09-18
  2. Passed Senate
  3. Passed House
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in Senate Sep 18, 2025

sb2873/introduced-in-senate.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (09/18/2025)

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.

Sponsors

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) sponsors S. 2873, and 1 member has co-sponsored it.

Committees

S. 2873 went before 1 committee: Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Referred To · Sep 18, 2025 · 458 Bills

Actions

S. 2873 has taken 2 actions since Sep 18, 2025.

ChamberAction
Sep 18, 2025
Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
Sep 18, 2025
—
Introduced in Senate

Votes

S. 2873 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to S. 2873, as Identical bill.

Titles

S. 2873 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025 — Display Title
  • Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • A bill 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. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

3 clients hired 3 firms and 21 registered lobbyists who named S. 2873 in 12 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Budget/Appropriations, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, District of Columbia, Food Industry (safety, labeling, etc.), Foreign Relations.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIO—District of Columbia17—
PC LANDING CORP.Telecommunications, TechnologyCalifornia13$140K
NEC CORPORATION OF AMERICA—Texas12—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO17—
WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON US LLP13$140K
NEC CORPORATION OF AMERICA12—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 21.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
DANIEL HOROWITZ117
ELLIOT FRIEDMAN117
FIONA KOHRMAN117
HERB SMITH117
KEITH ABOUCHAR117
LISA SWIRSKY117
SERGIO ESPINOSA117
ANTHONY LIVINGSTON116
GABRIEL PEDREIRA116
GRANT SCHOTT116
JUSTIN PERPICH116
KEVIN LIDDELL116
RYAN MIMS116
SHANNON FAULK116
STEVEN CAMPISI116
BENJAMIN KING113
KRISTINA MOORE113
MARTIN STERN113
MATT MUCHOWSKI113
ARIELLE THOMAS112

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 fourth_quarter$450.4K4th Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2026 first_quarter$410K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2026 second_quarter$390K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Amendme…
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Amendme…
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Report
PC LANDING CORP.WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON US LLP2026 first_quarter$90K1st Quarter - Report
NEC CORPORATION OF AMERICANEC CORPORATION OF AMERICA2026 second_quarter$85K2nd Quarter - Report
NEC CORPORATION OF AMERICANEC CORPORATION OF AMERICA2026 first_quarter$85K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 fourth_quarter$45.8K4th Quarter - Amendme…
PC LANDING CORP.WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON US LLP2025 fourth_quarter$30K4th Quarter - Report
PC LANDING CORP.WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON US LLP2025 third_quarter$20K3rd Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 2873 under Transportation and Public Works, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; S. 2873’s is Transportation and Public Works.

s2873/policy-areas.txt
Transportation and Public WorksAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationWater Resources Development

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com