# 119-hr-8337: Buy American Seafood Act

119-hr-8337, Buy American Seafood Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Letlow, Julia [R-LA-5] (R-LA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8337
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8337
- Congress: 119
- Title: Buy American Seafood Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-04-16
- Sponsor: Rep. Letlow, Julia [R-LA-5] (R-LA)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Would require U.S.-origin seafood in federal food purchases for programs like school meals, emergency food aid, and Defense subsistence.** It ties procurement to seafood harvested by U.S.-flagged vessels or processed in the United States and sets definitions and waiver rules. - Families and students: School lunch and breakfast seafood would need to be U.S.-harvested or domestically processed unless the Agriculture Secretary grants a waiver for insufficient supply or failing safety or quality. Waivers must be published and reported to Congress within 30 days. - Domestic fishers and aquaculture businesses: Creates a larger federal market by prioritizing U.S. harvest, aquaculture, and domestic processing across covered programs. - Federal agencies and food programs: Agencies would be barred from buying non-U.S. seafood for covered programs except under narrow waivers. The Agriculture Secretary would coordinate with the Secretaries of Commerce and Defense and would issue implementation regulations within 180 days.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Mace, Nancy [R-SC-1] (R-SC), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Agriculture Secretary can grant waivers: mixed, low. If enacted, the head of an agency could be allowed to buy non-U.S. seafood when the Secretary of Agriculture finds U.S. seafood is insufficient or fails food safety or quality standards. Any waiver would be published in the Federal Register and reported to Congress within 30 days. Each waiver notic…
- Federal programs must buy U.S. seafood: mixed, low. If enacted, federal programs that provide or buy food would have to buy seafood caught or processed in the United States. Seafood would count as U.S. only if it is harvested by a U.S.-flagged fishing vessel or produced and processed in the United States through aquaculture or domestic seafood proce…
- Rulemaking timeline and funding limits: mixed, low. If enacted, the Agriculture Secretary would have to publish regulations to implement the bill within 180 days, after consulting with Commerce and Defense. The Secretary could also issue guidance to agencies that matches those rules. The bill would not authorize any new appropriations, so agencies m…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-833: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act
- 119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-hr-925: Dismantle DEI Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7156: SCAM Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-8337 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8337)

## Related
- [119-hr-833: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-833)
- [119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9298)
- [119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-21)
- [119-hr-925: Dismantle DEI Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-925)
- [119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7)
- [119-hr-7156: SCAM Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7156)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8337 (as of 2026-09-21).