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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 23, 2025
Extending Limits of United States Customs Waters Act of 2025
This bill extends the customs waters territory of the United States to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States.
Under current law, customs waters means waters within four leagues (equivalent to 12 nautical miles) of the coast of the United States. This bill provides statutory authority for two presidential proclamations to extend the customs waters to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States.
Specifically, the bill revises the statutory definition of customs waters to include the waters within (1) the territorial sea of the United States to the limits permitted by international law in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 5928, dated December 27, 1988, that extended such limits to 12 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States; and (2) the contiguous zone of the United States to the limits permitted by international law in accordance with Presidential Proclamation 7219, dated September 2, 1999, that extended such limits to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States.
People & committees
Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] · R–FL
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 3, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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