# 119-hr-9697: Cyber Letters of Marque and Reprisal Act

119-hr-9697, Cyber Letters of Marque and Reprisal Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Burchett, Tim [R-TN-2] (R-TN); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-08).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9697
- As of: 2026-08-08
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-9697
- Congress: 119
- Title: Cyber Letters of Marque and Reprisal Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-15
- Sponsor: Rep. Burchett, Tim [R-TN-2] (R-TN)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: International Affairs
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-08

## Summary

**This bill would authorize the President to issue cyber letters of marque that commission private persons and companies to carry out offensive cyber operations to disrupt, seize, and repatriate assets from designated foreign cyberthreats.** It sets limits, recordkeeping, and financial rules for those private operations.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Ban on targeting U.S. persons: benefit, high. This bill would prohibit anyone holding a cyber letter from knowingly carrying out operations against any United States citizen or U.S. entity. That prohibition would protect U.S. households and domestic businesses from being targeted by authorized cyber letter operations.
- New authority for private cyber operators: mixed, medium. This bill would let the President or a designated senior official commission private people and companies with cyber letters to carry out offensive cyber operations outside U.S. territory. Holders would be allowed to use limited offensive tools, including malware, to disrupt, seize, or repatriate f…
- Recovered funds pay bounties and rewards: mixed, medium. This bill would let the government use assets recovered through authorized cyber operations to fund a bounty program. Holders could be required to forfeit up to 15% of the assets they recover to fund those bounties. People or companies without a cyber letter who provide information that leads to a…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3132: CHOICE for Veterans Act of 2025
- 119-hr-687: MERIT Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4706: Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act
- 119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act
- 119-hr-7452: Air Quality Act
- 119-hr-2395: SHORT Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-9697 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9697)

## Related
- [119-hr-3132: CHOICE for Veterans Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3132)
- [119-hr-687: MERIT Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-687)
- [119-hr-4706: Protecting Our Farms and Homes from China Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4706)
- [119-hr-9298: Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9298)
- [119-hr-7452: Air Quality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7452)
- [119-hr-2395: SHORT Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2395)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9697 (as of 2026-08-08).