119:s:259 — Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act

Sponsor

Introduced by

Deb Fischer

R Republican · Senate · NE R+10

Chairman · Legislative Branch (sub)

Latest action

Held at the desk.

Action timeline

Every recorded action on this bill, newest first. Stage badges color-code the legislative path.

Oct 24, 2025

floor Received in the House.

Oct 24, 2025

floor Held at the desk.

Oct 23, 2025

passed Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.

Oct 23, 2025

passed Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR S7734; text: CR S7734)

Oct 23, 2025

floor Message on Senate action sent to the House.

Text versions

Each stage of the bill — official text published by GPO. Click any format to read on congress.gov / govinfo.

Oct 23, 2025 Engrossed in Senate

XML

Jul 09, 2025 Reported to Senate

XML

Jan 27, 2025 Introduced in Senate

XML

CRS summaries

Plain-English summaries written by the Congressional Research Service — neutral, nonpartisan staff who summarize bills as they advance through stages. The authoritative description of what each version of the bill does.

00 Introduced in Senate Jan 27, 2025

Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to annually publish a list of entities that hold a license or other authorization granted by the FCC and have ties to specified foreign countries. With respect to entities holding cable landing licenses (for the placement and operation of submarine communications cables) or other licenses granted via competitive auction, the FCC must publish a list of all such entities (1) in which a covered entity holds a specified voting or equity interest, or (2) that have been determined by a national security agency to be subject to the control of a covered entity. With respect to entities holding all other categories of FCC licenses or other authorizations, the FCC must first issue rules facilitating the collection of information on such licensees’ ownership structure. After that information is obtained, the FCC must add to the published list any such entity in which a covered entity holds a specified voting or equity interest. Under the bill, a covered entity is defined as an entity organized in China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia; a subsidiary of such an entity; or the government of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.

via Congressional Research Service · published through congress.gov

Changelog

ⓘ

How a bill moves through Congress. Each stage produces a new official text. The diff between them shows what changed at that step.

`ih` / `is` — Introduced in House / Senate. First filed version.

`rfh` / `rfs` — Referred to a committee for review.

`rh` / `rs` — Reported back by the committee to the floor (often with amendments — this is where most language changes happen).

`pcs` / `pch` — Placed on Calendar for floor consideration.

`eh` / `es` — Engrossed. Passed by the originating chamber. Text is now what was actually voted on.

`rdh` / `rds` — Received by the other chamber.

`eah` / `eas` — Engrossed Amendment. The other chamber passed an amended version.

`ath` / `ats` — Agreed to. Both chambers settled on the same text.

`enr` — Enrolled. Final reconciled text, sent to the President.

`pl` — Public Law. Signed by the President. It's now law.

`pp` — Public Print. Official printing post-enactment.

Most bills die before `eh`/`es`. Going from `pcs` → `enr` is the full path through both chambers.

Line-level diff between text versions of this bill — what actually changed at each legislative stage.

+8 −34 30 unchanged

--- Reported (Senate)

+++ Engrossed (Senate)

@@ -1,37 +1,15 @@

[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

-[S. 259 Reported in Senate (RS)]

+[S. 259 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

<DOC>

-Calendar No. 110

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 259

-[Report No. 119-36]

-

-To direct the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of

-entities that hold authorizations, licenses, or other grants of

-authority issued by the Commission and that have certain foreign

-ownership, and for other purposes.

-

_______________________________________________________________________

-IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

-

-January 27, 2025

-

-Mrs. Fischer (for herself, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Lujan)

-introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the

-Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

-

-July 9, 2025

-

-Reported by Mr. Cruz, without amendment

-

-_______________________________________________________________________

-

-A BILL

+AN ACT

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of

entities that hold authorizations, licenses, or other grants of

@@ -112,27 +90,23 @@

annually, update the list published under subsection (b), including

with respect to any entity required to be placed on such list by

subsection (c)(2).

-Calendar No. 110

+Passed the Senate October 23, 2025.

+

+Attest:

+

+Secretary.

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 259

-[Report No. 119-36]

-

_______________________________________________________________________

-A BILL

+AN ACT

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of

entities that hold authorizations, licenses, or other grants of

authority issued by the Commission and that have certain foreign

ownership, and for other purposes.

-

-_______________________________________________________________________

-

-July 9, 2025

-

-Reported without amendment

Lobbying activity

Organizations whose LDA filings reference this bill, ranked by filing count. Position not disclosed — LDA does not require lobbyists to report support / oppose / monitor. Bill-number references can be stale (lobbyists sometimes copy text year-over-year), so verify against the filing description.

AT&T SERVICES INC AND ITS AFFILIATES

TEC

5

filings · 2026 Q3

COMPETITIVE CARRIERS ASSOCIATION

TEC

5

filings · 2026 Q3

AT&T SERVICES INC AND ITS AFFILIATES

TEC

5

filings · 2026 Q3

FDD ACTION

SCI

2

filings · 2025 Q2

NCTA - THE INTERNET & TELEVISION ASSOCIATION

TEC

1

filings · 2025 Q1

via Senate LDA · self-reported quarterly. Filing count = filings mentioning this bill (no position required), not money spent on it. Click a client to see all bills they've filed on.

Cosponsors (3)

Members who signed on to support this bill.

Rosen D

Cornyn R

Luján D