[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 15, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3214-H3215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ELIMINATE BARRIERS TO REPORTING SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HARASSMENT IN THE 
                              COAST GUARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, last night, the U.S. House of 
Representatives voted in an overwhelming majority, 376-16, to pass H.R. 
7659, the Coast Guard Authorization Act.
  This critical measure, which Congress approves every 2 years, 
authorizes Coast Guard procurement programs, such as Coast Guard 
shipbuilding, which is so necessary in terms of carrying out the Coast 
Guard's mission both at home and overseas, and also makes prudent 
adjustments to shoreside infrastructure, including the U.S. Coast Guard 
Academy, which is located in my district in New London, Connecticut.
  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, in 2023, the press discovered that there 
was an investigation that the Coast Guard internally conducted over a 
number of years, tracking and identifying an unacceptable and really 
outrageous amount of sexual harassment and even sexual abuse that was 
happening on the campus. The report, which the new Commandant, Admiral 
Fagan, did release publicly, describes a totally unacceptable 
situation, which this Coast Guard authorization bill does address.
  Specifically, the bill includes H.R. 5249, the Coast Guard Academy 
Safe-to-

[[Page H3215]]

Report Parity Act, which I introduced with a bipartisan coalition, that 
requires the Coast Guard to prescribe a safe-to-report policy to 
protect personnel who report incidents of sexual assault or sexual 
harassment from being punished for minor offenses, which may hinder 
them reporting acts which they were victims of.
  In February of this year, the Commandant, Admiral Fagan, directed the 
Coast Guard to establish this policy through administrative action. Our 
bill, which we passed last night, will actually codify the policy and 
make it part of the Federal U.S. Code and bring parity for the Coast 
Guard with the Department of Defense and its service academies, which 
have had this law in effect for the last 5 years.
  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, many victims of sexual assault hesitated 
to report because they feared repercussions for minor collateral 
misconduct. In fact, a recent Coast Guard workplace gender relations 
survey found that 25 percent of the female victims who chose not to 
report their sexual assaults were concerned that they might get in 
trouble for something else that they did.
  This bill will firmly and finally eliminate a barrier to reporting 
sexual assault and harassment, taking fear of repercussions off the 
table.
  Again, I thank Admiral Lisa Fagan for her outstanding leadership and 
for working diligently with me, my office, and other Members of 
Congress to craft this crucial policy. I also thank Chairs Graves and 
Webster and Ranking Members Larsen and Carbajal for their work in 
passing the Coast Guard authorization out of committee and bringing it 
to the floor last night for a successful vote.
  Again, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to quickly craft their 
version of the bill and make sure that we codify these protections for 
outstanding young cadets who are going to be the future leaders of the 
Coast Guard for decades and decades to come.

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