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I 119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1737 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 27, 2025 Ms. PLASKETT (for herself and Mr. FULCHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 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) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 5 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 6 with the heads of other Federal departments and agencies 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1737.IH H1737 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1737 IH as necessary, shall submit to the Committee on Energy 1 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 2 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 3 the Senate a report containing an assessment of the value, 4 cost, and feasibility of a trans-Atlantic submarine fiber 5 optic cable connecting the contiguous United States, the 6 United States Virgin Islands, Ghana, and Nigeria, to en- 7 hance the national security of the United States. 8 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 9 (a) shall include an assessment of— 10 (1) the digital security, national security, and 11 economic opportunities associated with a trans-At- 12 lantic submarine fiber optic cable described in sub- 13 section (a); 14 (2) the lifespan of submarine fiber optic cables 15 currently connecting the United States Virgin Is- 16 lands to the contiguous United States; 17 (3) the current security of telecommunications 18 between the contiguous United States and the 19 United States Virgin Islands; 20 (4) the readiness of telecommunications infra- 21 structure in the United States Virgin Islands to sup- 22 port a trans-Atlantic submarine fiber optic cable de- 23 scribed in subsection (a); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1737.IH H1737 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1737 IH (5) the potential for engagement with trusted 1 entities in the deployment of a trans-Atlantic sub- 2 marine fiber optic cable described in subsection (a), 3 and the associated geopolitical and economic advan- 4 tages; 5 (6) the potential connectivity opportunities to 6 maximize investments in the United States economy 7 through the use of a trans-Atlantic submarine fiber 8 optic cable described in subsection (a); 9 (7) the value, cost, and feasibility of estab- 10 lishing a data center and high-security cloud services 11 facility, with independent power generation, in the 12 United States Virgin Islands for communications of 13 the United States Africa Command, communications 14 of the United States Special Operations Command, 15 and national security communications; 16 (8) the state of submarine fiber optic cables 17 connected to United States telecommunications in- 18 frastructure; and 19 (9) any other related matters the Secretary de- 20 termines are appropriate. 21 (c) NO MANDATORY DATA COLLECTION.—The Sec- 22 retary may not require any entity to provide data for pur- 23 poses of preparing the report required by subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1737.IH H1737 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1737 IH (d) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 1 shall be submitted in unclassified form without any des- 2 ignation relating to dissemination control, but may include 3 a classified annex. 4 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 (1) NOT TRUSTED.—The term ‘‘not trusted’’ 6 means, with respect to an entity, that the entity is 7 determined by the Secretary to pose an unacceptable 8 risk to the national security of the United States, or 9 the security and safety of United States persons, 10 based solely on one or more determination described 11 under paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 2(c) of 12 the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks 13 Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1601(c)). 14 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 15 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the As- 16 sistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 17 and Information. 18 (3) TRUSTED.—The term ‘‘trusted’’ means, 19 with respect to an entity, that the Secretary has not 20 determined that the entity is not trusted. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Mar 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1737.IH H1737 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB