Legislation· Jun 2025Sponsored by Jonathan L. Jackson (D)
Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025
Requires the President to sanction foreign pirates with visa bans and asset freezes.
Tradeoff
Imposes visa denials and property freezes on foreign individuals and entities engaged in piracy. Carves out exceptions for UN headquarters access, humanitarian aid, and US national security operations.
What's in it
Reduces federal deficit by an insignificant amount over 2025-2035; federal cost is negligible (between -$500K and $500K annually).
The federal budget impact is negligible—just enforcement and reduced benefit payments—but the policy's real burden falls on U.S. financial institutions required to monitor and block transactions, and on sanctioned foreign persons denied visas and access to U.S. assets.
The House passed this 392-14 on June 23, 2025 — now in the Senate.
House
Introduced
(Mar 10, 2025)
House
Committee on Foreign Affairs(Mar 10, 2025)
The bill went to more than one committee at the same time.
House
The committee voted to send it to the floor
Reported by (Apr 9, 2025)
House
On Motion to and Pass, as Amended
Passed(Roll #172 · Jun 23, 2025)
392 yeanay 14Senate
Received from the House
on Foreign Relations(Jun 24, 2025)
- Brad Sherman (D-CA)
- Michael Lawler (R-NY)
- Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Young Kim (R-CA)
Passage votes so far· Jun 23, 2025· 119th Congress · 2025–2027