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To authorize the Secretary of the Navy to enter into a contract for the construction of submarine cable laying and repair ships, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to contract for the construction of up to two submarine cable laying and repair ships. These vessels are used to maintain and repair undersea telecommunications cables, which are critical infrastructure for communication and data transmission. The bill also requires that the Navy's existing cable laying and repair ship, USNS Zeus, remain in service until a replacement ship with equivalent or better capabilities is fully operational. Federal liability for contract termination is limited to the amount of funds already committed to the project at the time of cancellation.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Miller, Max L. [R-OH-7] (R-OH)
2 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Jul 23, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. · house
- Jul 23, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 23, 2025
Mr. Miller of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of the Navy to enter into a contract for the construction of submarine cable laying and repair ships, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Naval Enhancement for Protection of Telecommunications Undersea Network Equipment Act” or the “NEPTUNE Act”.
SEC. 2. PROCUREMENT AUTHORITY FOR SUBMARINE CABLE LAYING AND REPAIR SHIPS.
(a) Contract Authority.—The Secretary of the Navy may enter into a contract for the construction of up to two submarine cable laying and repair ships and associated material.
(b) Liability.—Any contract entered into under subsection (a) shall provide that—
(1) any obligation of the United States to make a payment under the contract is subject to the availability of appropriations for that purpose; and
(2) the total liability of the Federal Government for termination of the contract shall be limited to the total amount of funding obligated to the contract at the time of termination.
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON RETIREMENT OF SUBMARINE CABLE LAYING AND REPAIR SHIP.
(a) In General.—The Secretary of the Navy may not retire, prepare to retire, or place in storage the USNS Zeus until the date on which a replacement ship with capabilities equal to or exceeding those of the USNS Zeus has achieved full operational capability.
(b) Replacement Ship Defined.—In this section, the term “replacement ship”—
(1) means a submarine cable laying and repair ship designated “USNS” and maintained in the inventory of the Navy; and
(2) does not include a commercial vessel leased or chartered by the Navy. <all>
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