H.R. 1998 · 119th Congress · International affairs
Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025
How the House voted
Yea from the left, nay from the right, each side by party
House · Jun 23, 2025
Roll call ↗392
14
Passed the House.
Passed the House on June 23, 2025.
Latest action: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
- IntroducedMar 10, 2025
- CommitteeMar 10, 2025
- Passed HouseJun 23, 2025
- Passed Senate
- Became law
On the record
- Cosponsors
- 4
- 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans
- Committees
- House Committee on the JudiciarySenate Committee on Foreign RelationsHouse Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Lobbying
- None read
- No filing read so far names H.R. 1998
What it does
The bill requires the President to impose sanctions on any foreign person the President determines knowingly engages in piracy, defined as any act violating chapter 81 of title 18 of the U.S.
How each member voted
The House roll call, passed the House, June 23, 2025
Yea unless marked
D · House · NC-12
R · House · AL-4
D · House · CA-33
R · House · MO-4
R · House · GA-12
The bill requires the President to impose sanctions on any foreign person the President determines knowingly engages in piracy, defined as any act violating chapter 81 of title 18 of the U.S. Code. The sanctions are two. The President may block all property and interests in property of the person that are in the United States or in the control of a U.S. person, using International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorities. And any such alien is barred from entering the United States, made ineligible for a visa, and has existing visas revoked immediately. The bill carves out exceptions: for admissions required by U.S. obligations to the United Nations, for humanitarian assistance and the sale of food, medicine, and agricultural goods, and for authorized intelligence, law enforcement, and national security activities. It excludes any authority to sanction the importation of goods. In court challenges, classified information behind a determination may be submitted to the judge in secret. The President may waive a sanction by certifying to the foreign affairs committees, at least 15 days ahead, that the waiver is crucial to national security. The bill also records congressional findings on the surge in Somali and Houthi attacks and states a sense of Congress that the United States should work with allies to stop piracy.
Each stop is a step the bill’s own record states, with the date it happened. A ring is a step not yet taken. A bill becomes law when the President signs it or Congress overrides a veto.
No organization named this measure in a lobbying filing we could read with confidence. That is not a finding that nobody lobbied it. The disclosure form takes a free text description of the issue, and a reference that could not be pinned to exactly one measure is refused rather than guessed.
From the LD-2 quarterly lobbying filings published at lda.gov by the Senate Office of Public Records. Read for 2025 Q1, 2025 Q2, 2025 Q3, 2025 Q4, 2026 Q1, 2026 Q2 and 2026 Q3. Our copy holds 24 fewer filings for 2025 Q1, 39 fewer filings for 2025 Q2, 42 fewer filings for 2025 Q3, 33 fewer filings for 2025 Q4, 28 fewer filings for 2026 Q1, 48 fewer filings for 2026 Q2 and 218 fewer filings for 2026 Q3 than the Senate's register counts, so those quarters are the filings we could read rather than every one filed. 2026 Q4 is still inside its filing window, so that quarter is only the filings posted so far.
Congress.gov bill status and cosponsor records; the House Clerk and Senate roll calls; lobbying reports filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (lda.gov); the plain summary and provisions are read from the bill text, each with its section.