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II 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 5328 To direct the Secretary of Commerce to submit to Congress a report con- taining an assessment of the value, cost, and feasibility of a trans- Atlantic submarine fiber optic cable connecting the contiguous United States, the United States Virgin Islands, Ghana, and Nigeria. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 14, 2024 Mr. WARNOCK (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To direct the Secretary of Commerce to submit to Congress a report containing an assessment of the value, cost, and feasibility of a trans-Atlantic submarine fiber optic cable connecting the contiguous United States, the United States Virgin Islands, Ghana, and Nigeria. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. ASSESSMENT OF TRANS-ATLANTIC SUBMARINE 3 FIBER OPTIC CABLE. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5328.IS S5328 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •S 5328 IS (1) COVERED CABLE.—The term ‘‘covered 1 cable’’ means a trans-Atlantic submarine fiber optic 2 cable described in subsection (b). 3 (2) NOT TRUSTED.—The term ‘‘not trusted’’ 4 means, with respect to an entity, that the entity is 5 determined by the Secretary to pose an unacceptable 6 risk to the national security of the United States or 7 the security and safety of United States persons 8 based solely on one or more determinations de- 9 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 2(c) 10 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Net- 11 works Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1601(c)). 12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 13 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the As- 14 sistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 15 and Information. 16 (4) TRUSTED.—The term ‘‘trusted’’ means, 17 with respect to an entity, that the Secretary has not 18 determined that the entity is not trusted. 19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 20 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 21 with the heads of other Federal departments and agencies 22 as necessary, shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 23 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com- 24 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5328.IS S5328 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •S 5328 IS resentatives a report containing an assessment of the 1 value, cost, and feasibility of a trans-Atlantic submarine 2 fiber optic cable connecting the contiguous United States, 3 the United States Virgin Islands, Ghana, and Nigeria, to 4 enhance the national security of the United States. 5 (c) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 6 (b) shall include an assessment of— 7 (1) the digital security, national security, and 8 economic opportunities associated with a covered 9 cable; 10 (2) the lifespan of submarine fiber optic cables 11 connecting the United States Virgin Islands to the 12 contiguous United States as of the date of the re- 13 port; 14 (3) the security of telecommunications between 15 the contiguous United States and the United States 16 Virgin Islands as of the date of the report; 17 (4) the readiness of telecommunications infra- 18 structure in the United States Virgin Islands to sup- 19 port a covered cable; 20 (5) the potential for engagement with trusted 21 entities in the deployment of a covered cable, and 22 the associated geopolitical and economic advantages; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5328.IS S5328 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •S 5328 IS (6) the potential connectivity opportunities to 1 maximize investments in the United States economy 2 through the use of a covered cable; 3 (7) the value, cost, and feasibility of estab- 4 lishing a data center and high-security cloud services 5 facility, with independent power generation, in the 6 United States Virgin Islands for communications of 7 the United States Africa Command, communications 8 of the United States Special Operations Command, 9 and national security communications; 10 (8) the state of submarine fiber optic cables 11 connected to United States telecommunications in- 12 frastructure; and 13 (9) any other related matters the Secretary de- 14 termines are appropriate. 15 (d) NO MANDATORY DATA COLLECTION.—The Sec- 16 retary may not require any entity to provide data for pur- 17 poses of preparing the report required by subsection (b). 18 (e) FORM.—The report required by subsection (b) 19 shall be submitted in unclassified form without any des- 20 ignation relating to dissemination control, but may include 21 a classified annex. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S5328.IS S5328 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS