# 119-hr-1998: Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025

119-hr-1998, Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1] (D-IL); status passed_house (as of 2026-07-15).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1998
- As of: 2026-07-15
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-1998
- Congress: 119
- Title: Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-03-10
- Sponsor: Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 4
- Policy area: International Affairs
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-15

## Summary

**Establishes mandatory U.S. sanctions against foreign persons who knowingly engage in piracy.** It uses asset freezes and visa and entry bans to deter and punish maritime piracy while carving out humanitarian, international-law, and national-security exceptions. - Foreign individuals and entities tied to piracy can have all property in the United States blocked and face ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole, with any issued visas revoked immediately. - U.S. persons and financial institutions must block and avoid transactions in property of designated pirates, and violations can be punished under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. - Humanitarian groups and shipments of food, medicine, and medical devices are exempted, and the law also allows exceptions to meet international obligations and for intelligence and law enforcement activities. - The President may waive sanctions for national security reasons after certifying the waiver to designated congressional committees at least 15 days before it takes effect.

## Cosponsors (4)

- Rep. Sherman, Brad [D-CA-32] (D-CA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17] (R-NY), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21] (D-CA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kim, Young [R-CA-40] (R-CA), 2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z

## Votes

| Date | Chamber | Question | Result | Yea | Nay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-06-23T00:00:00.000Z | house | On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended | Passed | 392 | 14 |

## Provisions PRIA read

- Asset freezes and transaction bans on foreign pirates: benefit, medium. If enacted, the President would impose sanctions on foreign people who knowingly commit piracy. U.S. authorities would freeze their property and stop U.S. persons from doing business with it. This would apply when the property is in the United States, comes here, or is held by a U.S. person. Humani…
- Visa and entry bans for pirates: cost, low. If enacted, noncitizens known or reasonably believed to engage in piracy would be barred from visas, admission, or parole. They would be ineligible for other immigration benefits under the immigration law. State or Homeland Security could revoke any existing visa right away. Revocation would take e…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-6644: 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-4140: Burma GAP Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-1998 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1998)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-6644: 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6644)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-4140: Burma GAP Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4140)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1998 (as of 2026-07-15).