Background:
Gibraltar became a British Overseas Territory under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. The territory’s military facilities have supported the United States numerous times, including America’s first overseas military intervention in 1801 against the Barbary States, as General Eisenhower’s World War II headquarters for the liberation of North Africa, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 2011 Libya intervention.
Under the United Nations Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Gibraltar has the right to determine its own future as a territory. Its citizens freely and democratically supported remaining a British Overseas Territory in 1967 and 2002, through a 99.6 and 98.48 percent popular vote, respectively.
In June 2025, the United Kingdom and European Union solidified an agreement to protect British sovereignty, UK military autonomy, and secure Gibraltar’s economic future through free flow of goods and people through the Gibraltar-Spain border. The agreement resolved the last major issue associated with the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.
A bipartisan group of members joined Rouzer and Titus introducing the legislation, including Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL-04), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-26), Del. Amata Radewagen (R-AS-AL), Brad Finstad (R-MN-01), Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), Don Bacon (R-NE-02), Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23), James Walkinshaw (D-VA-11), Joe Courtney (D-CT-02), Ken Calvert (R-CA-41), Tom Cole (R-OK-04), and Brendan Boyle (D-PA-02).
You can find the full text of H.Res. 952 here.