H.R. 1998 — Sanction Sea Pirates Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings on maritime threats, including (1) 212 attempted attacks against vessels off the Somali coast in 2011, with more than 1,000 crew held hostage and 35 seafarers killed; (2) subsided piracy rates in the Western Indian Ocean over the past decade through early 2023; (3) Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, impacting global shipping markets; and (4) a surge in Somali pirate attacks from fall 2023 into 2024 coinciding with Houthi aggression.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Government should seek to stop piracy worldwide, including off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, and should work with allies and partners to combat global piracy and curb the surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

This section requires the President to impose blocking sanctions and visa restrictions on foreign persons determined to have knowingly engaged in piracy (i.e., violations of 18 U.S.C. ch. 81, which criminalizes maritime piracy as a universal offense). Blocking sanctions are authorized notwithstanding the national emergency declaration requirement of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA, 50 U.S.C. 1701(a)-(b)) and may be implemented using all powers under IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702). Visa restrictions render such persons inadmissible to the U.S., ineligible for visas or parole, and subject to immediate revocation of existing visas under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). The section provides exceptions for compliance with U.N. Headquarters Agreement obligations, humanitarian assistance (including agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and related transactions), and U.S. intelligence, law enforcement, or national security activities; bars sanctions on goods importation; authorizes the President to waive sanctions with 15-day advance congressional certification if vital to U.S. national security; permits ex parte submission of classified information in any judicial review; and applies IEEPA civil and criminal penalties (50 U.S.C. 1705) for violations. "Foreign person" means any individual or entity that is not a U.S. person (i.e., U.S. citizen, permanent resident alien, or U.S.-organized entity).