Congress·Passed House·H.R. 1998

Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025

Sanctions: Penalizing Foreign Sea Pirates

Jun 24, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

StalledNext up: The SenateNo action in 13 months

The Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025 passed the House and was sent to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in June 2025. The bill is stalled because no action has been taken on it since June 2025. It will not move forward unless the Senate decides to take it up for a vote.

Legislative Progress

✓ House

Senate

No action since June 2025

President

Law

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 8934 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 8934 (118th) →

Key Points

Congress is moving to punish foreign pirates by cutting off their access to the U.S. financial system and banning them from entering the country.
The bill requires the President to freeze any money or property that pirates hold within the United States, making it harder for them to fund their illegal activities.
Foreign individuals caught engaging in piracy would have their U.S. visas revoked and would be permanently barred from traveling to the United States.
This action comes after a rise in attacks on commercial ships near the Somali coast and the Red Sea, which has disrupted global trade and put sailors in danger.
The policy includes protections to ensure that food, medicine, and humanitarian aid can still reach people in need, even in areas where piracy is a problem.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

4 milestones12 actions

Jun 24, 2025Senate

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Jun 23, 2025House

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

Jun 23, 2025House

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 392 - 14 (Roll no. 172). (text: CR H2845-2846)

The House fast-tracked this bill — limited debate, no amendments allowed, but needs two-thirds support to pass.

Jun 23, 2025

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 392 - 14 (Roll no. 172). (text: CR H2845-2846)

The House fast-tracked this bill — limited debate, no amendments allowed, but needs two-thirds support to pass.

Jun 23, 2025House

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.