I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2503 
To require the development of a strategy to eliminate the availability to 
foreign adversaries of goods and technologies capable of supporting un-
dersea cables, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 31, 2025 
Mr. KEAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To require the development of a strategy to eliminate the 
availability to foreign adversaries of goods and tech-
nologies capable of supporting undersea cables, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Undersea Cable Con-
trol Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO ELIMINATE THE AVAILABILITY TO 
FOREIGN ADVERSARIES OF ITEMS REQUIRED 
FOR SUPPORTING UNDERSEA CABLES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 
Secretary of Commerce and in coordination with the Sec-
retary of State, shall develop a strategy to eliminate the 
availability to foreign adversaries of items required for 
supporting undersea cables consistent with United States 
policy described in section 1752 of the Export Control Re-
form Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4811). 
(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy re-
quired under subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(1) An identification of items required for sup-
porting the construction, maintenance, or operation 
of an undersea cable project. 
(2) An identification of United States and mul-
tilateral export controls and licensing policies for 
items identified pursuant to paragraph (1) with re-
spect to foreign adversaries. 
(3) An identification of United States allies and 
partners that have a share of the global market with 
respect to the items so identified, including a de-
tailed description of the availability of such items 
without restriction in sufficient quantities and com-
parable in quality to those produced in the United 
States. 
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(4) A description of ongoing negotiations with 
other countries to achieve unified export controls 
and licensing policies for items so identified to elimi-
nate availability to foreign adversaries. 
(5) To the extent practicable, an identification 
of all identified entities under the control, ownership, 
or influence of a foreign adversary that support the 
construction, operation, or maintenance of undersea 
cables. 
(6) A description of efforts taken to promote 
United States leadership at international standards- 
setting bodies for equipment, systems, software, and 
virtually defined networks relevant to undersea ca-
bles, taking into account the different processes fol-
lowed by such bodies. 
(7) A description of the presence and activities 
of foreign adversaries at international standards-set-
ting bodies relevant to undersea cables, including in-
formation on the differences in the scope and scale 
of the engagement of foreign adversaries at such 
bodies compared to engagement at such bodies by 
the United States and its allies and partners, and 
the security risks raised by the proposals of foreign 
adversaries at such bodies. 
(c) REPORT.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act and an-
nually thereafter for 3 years, the President shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a report that contains the strategy required under 
subsection (a). 
(2) FORM.—Each report required under this 
subsection shall— 
(A) be submitted in unclassified form, but 
may contain a classified annex; and 
(B) be made available on a publicly acces-
sible Federal Government website. 
(d) AGREEMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
shall seek to— 
(A) establish bilateral or multilateral 
agreements with allies and partners identified 
pursuant to subsection (b)(3) to seek to elimi-
nate the availability to foreign adversaries of 
items identified pursuant to subsection (b)(1); 
and 
(B) include in such agreements penalty 
provisions for noncompliance. 
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(2) BRIEFINGS.—The President shall brief the 
congressional committees specified in subsection 
(c)(1) on negotiations to establish agreements de-
scribed in paragraph (1) beginning not later than 30 
days after receipt of the report required under sub-
section (a) and every 180 days thereafter until each 
such agreement is established. 
(e) ACTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 
shall evaluate the export, reexport, and in-country 
transfer of the items identified pursuant to sub-
section (b)(1) for appropriate controls under the Ex-
port Administration Regulations, including by evalu-
ating, for each item so identified, whether to add the 
technology to the Commerce Control List maintained 
under title 15, Code of Federal Regulations. 
(2) LEVELS OF CONTROL.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—In determining the 
level of control appropriate for items identified 
pursuant to subsection (b)(1), including re-
quirements for a license or other authorization 
for the export, reexport, or in-country transfer 
of any such technology, the Secretary of Com-
merce (in coordination with the Secretary of 
Defense, the Secretary of State, and the heads 
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of other Federal agencies, as appropriate) shall 
take into account the potential end uses and 
end users of the item. 
(B) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—At a min-
imum, it is the policy of the United States to 
work with its allies and partners to control the 
export, reexport, or in-country transfer of tech-
nologies identified pursuant to subsection (b)(1) 
to or in a country subject to an embargo, in-
cluding an arms embargo, imposed by the 
United States. 
(3) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter for 3 years, the President, acting through 
the Secretary of Commerce, shall submit to the ap-
propriate congressional committees an unclassified 
notification describing the results of actions taken 
pursuant to this subsection in the preceding period, 
including a description of— 
(A) the individual items evaluated for con-
trols; and 
(B) the rationale, including United States 
national security and foreign policy consider-
ations, for adding or not adding an item to the 
Commerce Control List maintained under title 
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15, Code of Federal Regulations, pursuant to 
the evaluation under paragraph (1) with respect 
to such item. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 
(2) FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—The term ‘‘foreign 
adversary’’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 8(c) of the Secure and Trusted Communications 
Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1607(c)). 
(3) ITEM.—The term ‘‘item’’ has the meaning 
given such term in the Export Administration Regu-
lations (15 C.F.R. 772.1). 
Æ 
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