H.R. 1223 119th Congress House

ANCHOR Act

Official title: To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, and for other purposes.

Introduced: May 5, 2025 Introduced by: Vince Fong Republican · California See on congress.gov

Science, Technology, Communications Advanced technology and technological innovationsComputer security and identity theftComputers and information technologyNational Science FoundationResearch and development

Everywhere this bill has been 12 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

May 21, 2025

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

May 20, 2025

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

May 20, 2025

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 412 - 11 (Roll no. 136). (text: 5/19/2025 CR H2113-2114)

May 20, 2025

Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H2168)

May 19, 2025

At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Babin objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was considered as withdrawn.

May 19, 2025

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 1223.

May 19, 2025

Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H2113-2115)

May 19, 2025

Mr. Fong moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.

Apr 29, 2025

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

Apr 29, 2025

Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.

Feb 12, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Feb 12, 2025

Introduced in House

Votes taken on this bill 1

Date	Chamber	What was voted on	Result	Yes–No
May 20, 2025	House · vote #136	On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass	Passed	412–11	See who voted →

Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

What's happening now May 21, 2025

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research Act or the ANCHOR Act

This bill requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications capabilities of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet (ARF).

ARF is comprised of U.S.-flagged vessels that provide at-sea laboratories where oceanographic scientists, educators, and students research and learn about marine science.

The bill requires the plan to include assessments of

telecommunications and networking needs of ARF, consistent with typical scientific missions;
cybersecurity needs appropriate for the operation of ARF vessels and their specific research functions;
the costs necessary to meet these needs;
the time required to implement necessary upgrades; and
opportunities for the adoption of common solutions or consortial licensing agreements, or for the centralization of cybersecurity, telecommunications, or data management at a single facility.

The plan must also include a spending plan for the NSF, the Office of Naval Research, nonfederal owners of ARF vessels, and users of the vessels to cover identified costs.

Among other factors specified in the bill, the NSF must consider, as appropriate, the network capabilities necessary to meet mission needs (e.g., to upload data to cloud-based or shoreside servers), international standards and guidance for information security, and requirements for controlled unclassified or classified information.

The plan must be provided to Congress within 18 months of the bill's enactment, and the NSF must later report to Congress on the plan's implementation.

Hearings & markups 1

SST Full Committee Markup
Markup Apr 29, 2025 · 10:00 AM EDT · Science, Space, and Technology Committee

Bill text 3 versions

Engrossed in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Referred in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 2

Science, Space, and Technology Committee
House of Representatives
Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
Senate

Lobbying activity 13

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
for UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
for UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA · District of Columbia · 4th Quarter 2025 (Oct 1 - Dec 31)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
for UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2026 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
for UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA · District of Columbia · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
for UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · District of Columbia · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
for UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2026 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)

Bodies those filers lobbied

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
13 filings
Office of Management & Budget (OMB)
13 filings
SENATE
13 filings
Education, Dept of
12 filings
Commerce, Dept of (DOC)
11 filings
Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS)
9 filings
Natl Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
7 filings
Defense, Dept of (DOD)
6 filings

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

See all 13 filings →

Cosponsors 5