Congress orders a study on a new Atlantic cable linking Africa to U.S. soil

What it does

This bill requires the Secretary of Commerce to produce a report within one year assessing whether it is valuable, affordable, and technically feasible to build a trans-Atlantic submarine fiber optic cable linking the continental United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Ghana, and Nigeria. The report must also evaluate national security, digital security, and economic opportunities, including the potential for a secure data center in the U.S. Virgin Islands for military communications. No one is required to hand over data to the government for the study, and the main report must be publicly available, though a classified annex is permitted.

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is commissioning a government report on a submarine cable's value, cost, and feasibility, framed explicitly around national security and digital infrastructure — a standard congressional study directive with no appropriation or mandate to build anything.

What the text implies

• The inclusion of U.S. Africa Command and Special Operations Command communications in the data-center assessment (subsection (b)(7)) signals potential military infrastructure investment in the U.S. Virgin Islands that goes beyond civilian broadband — a significant national security commitment that the bill's title does not foreground.
• The 'trusted entity' framework borrowed from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 implicitly signals that Chinese-linked telecom vendors (e.g., Huawei-affiliated cable operators) would be excluded from any future project, shaping geopolitical and procurement outcomes before a cable is ever funded.
• The report may include a classified annex, meaning Congress and the public could receive different versions of the feasibility findings, limiting democratic oversight of whatever national security conclusions drive future decisions.
• No funding is appropriated and no construction is mandated, so the report could sit unused — or conversely, it could serve as the predicate for a large future appropriation that bypasses the current bill's limited scope.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill produces only a study, so there is no direct immediate benefit or cost to ordinary citizens; however, if the cable is eventually built based on the report, residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands and users of trans-Atlantic communications could gain improved connectivity and security, while the national security framing suggests genuine public-interest motivation.

Who stands to gain

• submarine cable manufacturers and installers
• telecommunications infrastructure companies
• data center developers
• cloud services providers
• defense and national security contractors

Named in the bill

Secretary of Commerce, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ghana, Nigeria, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.

• Feb 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
• Mar 4, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Mar 4, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote”
• Jun 23, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2847)”
• Jun 23, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Bilirakis moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.