Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Strategic Subsea Cables Act of 2026”.
Strategic Subsea Cables Act of 2026
A BILL
To enhance United States Government strategic coordination of the security, installation, maintenance, and repair of international subsea fiber-optic cables.
Sec. 2 Table of contents
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
Agency— The term agency has the meaning given the term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
Appropriate congressional committees— The term appropriate congressional committees means—
the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
Appropriate Federal agencies— The term appropriate Federal agencies means the following:
The Department of Commerce.
The Department of Defense.
The Department of Homeland Security.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The Department of State.
The Federal Communications Commission.
The Department of the Treasury.
The Department of the Judiciary.
Any additional Federal agencies, as determined by the President.
Critical undersea infrastructure— The term critical undersea infrastructure refers to both subsea telecommunications infrastructure and subsea energy infrastructure.
Interagency committee— The term interagency committee means the entity established under section 301(b) of this Act.
Non-Federal entity— The term non-Federal entity means any nongovernmental entity that is an individual, organization, or business involved in the operation, maintenance, repair, or construction of critical subsea infrastructure, including critical undersea infrastructure owners.
Sabotage— The term sabotage means actions, or preparations for future actions, taken with the intent to cause defective production, operation, or damage to critical underseas infrastructure, including the integrity of data transmitted via subsea telecommunications infrastructure.
Subsea energy infrastructure— The term subsea energy infrastructure means a subsea cable, pipeline, or other equipment installed on, beneath, or within the seabed, including—
to transmit electricity, including via subsea electricity cables, subsea electricity transformers, or equipment related to the support of offshore energy production installations;
to transport natural gas, oil, or hydrogen between land-based or offshore infrastructure; and
associated landing stations and facilities.
Subsea telecommunications infrastructure— The term subsea telecommunications infrastructure means subsea fiber-optic cables and related equipment installed on, beneath, or within the seabed, and used to transmit communications, data, voice, video, or other electronic signals, as well as associated landing stations and facilities.