The record

LegislationLegislation· Oct 2025
S 318 Passed Senate — in House

Sponsored by Alex Padilla (D)

ANCHOR Act

Requires NSF to plan upgrades for cybersecurity and internet on U.S. ocean research ships.

Tradeoff

Directs the National Science Foundation to assess and plan improvements to networking and cybersecurity for the Academic Research Fleet. No direct spending is authorized; the plan will propose funding sources among NSF, the Navy, universities, and private vessel owners.

What's in it

See official bill text

Less than $500,000 in federal spending over 2025-2030 to develop a cybersecurity plan.

The less-than-$500,000 figure is only the federal cost for the NSF to write and report a cybersecurity plan — the policy's real impact will come when research vessels actually implement cybersecurity improvements, which would be funded separately.

S. 318, ANCHOR Act · Jul 2025

Passed the Senate by on October 8, 2025 — sitting in the House.

  1. Senate

    Introduced

    (Jan 29, 2025)

  2. Senate

    Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation(Jan 29, 2025)

  3. Senate

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted to send it to the floor

    Reported(May 21, 2025)

    Committee report S. Rept. 119-64.

  4. Senate

    Passage of the bill

    Passed by (Oct 8, 2025)

    No individual votes were recorded.

  5. House

    Received from the Senate

    Received(Oct 10, 2025)