U.S. House Passes Rep. Courtney’s Bill to Protect Coasties
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Joe Courtney’s bill (H.R. 5249) to prevent Coast Guard personnel from punishment for minor offenses when reporting an incident of sexual assault. The provision passed as part of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024 (H.R. 7659).
“I’ve worked over the last decade to institute safeguards to prevent and address sexual assault across the Coast Guard—a serious issue that was brought to light because of the courageous cadets and faculty who brought this to my office’s attention in 2018. The overwhelming bipartisan passage of the safe to report policy in the House of Representatives demonstrates that Congress is working diligently and alongside Commandant Fagan’s action plan to ensure the entire service is better protected from sexual assault and harassment,” Courtney said. “I applaud Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leadership, Chairmen Graves (R-MO) and Webster (R-FL), and Ranking Members Larsen (D-WA) and Carbajal (D-CA), for their leadership in working with me to advance this important provision (H.R. 5249).”
While the Coast Guard independently adopted a safe-to-report policy in February of this year, Congressional action will ensure safeguards are codified into law.
Passage of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024 also included two other key priorities for the Coast Guard Academy:
- $50 million authorization to complete repairs and improvements of Chase Hall Barracks, including remediation of asbestos, lead, and mold, and upgrading IT infrastructure in student rooms.
- $10 million authorization to fund the creation of an Infrastructure Development Plan to upgrade and modernize the campus.
Background on Safe to Report Policy
The Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act required the Department of Defense to implement Safe-to-Report policy for collateral misconduct involving a midshipman or cadet who is the victim of an alleged sexual assault at Department of Defense Military Academies, which does not include the Coast Guard Academies
In August of 2023, Rep. Courtney introduced legislation to ensure that the Coast Guard Academy implements identical policy to prevent cadets from punishment for minor offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice when reporting an incident of sexual assault. Minor offenses include underage drinking and violating curfew, for example.
In February of 2024, Rep. Courtney and leaders on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure introduced the Coast Guard Protection and Accountability Act, which included the Safe-to-Report policy.
In March of 2024, the Committee passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024, which included the Coast Guard Protection and Accountability Act.
Similar Safe-to-Report legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Blumenthal (D-CT) and Murphy (D-CT).