II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1605 

To improve the response to sexual assault and sexual harassment on board 

aircraft operated in passenger air transportation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2017 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) 

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

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve the response to sexual assault and sexual harassment on board aircraft operated in passenger air transportation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Assault while 

5 Flying Enforcement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AIR CARRIER DEFINED. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘air carrier’’ means an air car8 rier or foreign air carrier, as those terms are defined in 

9 section 40102 of title 49, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL TRAINING RELATING TO RESPONDING 

2 TO SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SEXUAL HARASS3 MENT ON BOARD PASSENGER AIRCRAFT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 447 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 44736. Additional training relating to responding 

8 to sexual assault and sexual harassment 

9 on board passenger aircraft 

10 ‘‘(a) TRAINING REQUIRED.—In addition to other 

11 training required under this chapter, each air carrier and 

12 foreign air carrier shall provide initial and annual recur13 rent training for flight attendants, pilots, and other indi14 viduals who are employees or contractors of the air carrier, 

15 with respect to responding to and addressing sexual as16 sault and sexual harassment of passengers and employees 

17 and contractors of the air carrier on board aircraft oper18 ated by the air carrier in passenger air transportation. 

19 ‘‘(b) SITUATIONAL TRAINING.—An air carrier or for20 eign air carrier shall include, in initial and recurrent train21 ing provided under this section, situational training with 

22 respect to the proper method for dealing with passengers 

23 who are accused of, and passengers who report, sexual as24 sault or sexual harassment. 

25 ‘‘(c) TRAUMA-INFORMED TRAINING.—Training pro26 vided under this section shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) training on— 

2 ‘‘(A) how to use a trauma-informed ap3 proach with individuals who report incidents of 

4 sexual assault or sexual harassment in a way 

5 that is survivor-centered; 

6 ‘‘(B) the effects of trauma on such individ7 uals; 

8 ‘‘(C) how to ensure the safety of all pas9 sengers; and 

10 ‘‘(D) how to properly report such assault 

11 or harassment to air carriers; and 

12 ‘‘(2) providing appropriate information about 

13 available options for— 

14 ‘‘(A) reporting sexual assault and sexual 

15 harassment to air carriers, the Department of 

16 Transportation, and the Department of Justice; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(B) obtaining care with respect to such 

19 assault or harassment. 

20 ‘‘(d) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—Training provided 

21 under this section shall incorporate the minimum stand22 ards developed under section 6(d) of the Stopping Assault 

23 while Flying Enforcement Act of 2017.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for chapter 447 of title 49, United States Code, is amend3 ed by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘44736. Additional training relating to responding to sexual assault and sexual 

harassment on board passenger aircraft.’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirement for an air 

5 carrier to provide training under section 44736 of title 49, 

6 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 

7 effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act. 

9 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

11 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall, after review12 ing the recommendations of the National In-Flight Sexual 

13 Assault Task Force under section 6(c)(3), prescribe regu14 lations to carry out section 44736 of title 49, United 

15 States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

16 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans19 portation shall establish a program to collect and maintain 

20 data from air carriers on the incidence of sexual assault 

21 and sexual harassment on board aircraft operated in pas22 senger air transportation in a manner that protects the 

23 privacy and confidentiality of individuals subjected to such 

24 assault or harassment. 


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1 (b) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall make 

2 the data collected and maintained under subsection (a) 

3 available to the public on the primary Internet website of 

4 the Department of Transportation in a manner that pro5 tects the privacy and confidentiality of individuals sub6 jected to sexual assault or sexual harassment on board air7 craft operated in passenger air transportation. 

8 SEC. 5. REPORTING OF INCIDENTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT 

9 AND HARASSMENT ON BOARD AIRCRAFT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

12 shall establish a streamlined process, based on the rec13 ommendations of the National In-Flight Sexual Assault 

14 Task Force under section 6(c)(3), for reporting incidents 

15 of sexual assault and sexual harassment on board aircraft 

16 operated in passenger air transportation in a manner that 

17 protects the privacy and confidentiality of individuals sub18 jected to such assault or harassment. 

19 (b) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTING PROCESS.—The 

20 reporting process established under subsection (a) shall be 

21 made available to the public on the primary Internet 

22 websites of— 

23 (1) the Office for Victims of Crime and the Of24 fice on Violence Against Women of the Department 

25 of Justice; and 


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1 (2) the Department of Transportation. 

2 SEC. 6. NATIONAL IN-FLIGHT SEXUAL ASSAULT TASK 

3 FORCE. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

6 Transportation shall establish a task force, to be known 

7 as the ‘‘National In-Flight Sexual Assault Task Force’’. 

8 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The task force established under 

9 subsection (a) shall be composed of representatives of— 

10 (1) the Department of Transportation; 

11 (2) the Federal Aviation Administration; 

12 (3) the Department of Justice, including the 

13 Office for Victims of Crimes and the Office on Vio14 lence Against Women; 

15 (4) the Department of Health and Human 

16 Services; 

17 (5) national organizations that specialize in pro18 viding services to sexual assault survivors; 

19 (6) national organizations that specialize in re20 sponding to and addressing sexual assault and sex21 ual harassment; 

22 (7) survivors of sexual assault or sexual harass23 ment on board aircraft; 

24 (8) national consumer protection organizations; 

25 (9) national travel organizations; 


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1 (10) labor organizations that represent flight 

2 attendants and pilots; 

3 (11) State and local law enforcement agencies; 

4 (12) airports; 

5 (13) air carriers; and 

6 (14) such other Federal agencies and stake7 holder organizations as the Secretary of Transpor8 tation considers appropriate. 

9 (c) DUTIES.—The task force established under sub10 section (a) shall— 

11 (1) review the practices and protocols of air 

12 carriers relating to— 

13 (A) responding to and addressing sexual 

14 assault and sexual harassment on board air15 craft operated in passenger air transportation; 

16 (B) initial and annual recurrent training 

17 programs relating to responding to and ad18 dressing such assault and harassment; 

19 (C) reporting incidents of such assault and 

20 harassment to air carriers, the Department of 

21 Transportation, and the Department of Justice; 

22 and 

23 (D) internal reporting of such incidents be24 tween crewmembers and corporate security of 

25 the air carrier; 


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1 (2) identify strengths and weaknesses in such 

2 protocols and practices; and 

3 (3) not later than 120 days after the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act, make recommendations 

5 with respect to— 

6 (A) best practices and minimum standards 

7 for annual, recurrent, and situational training 

8 that is trauma-informed under section 44736 of 

9 title 49, United States Code, as added by sec10 tion 3, including a recommendation with respect 

11 to a definition of ‘‘trauma-informed’’ for the 

12 purposes of that training; and 

13 (B) a streamlined process for reporting in14 cidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment 

15 on board aircraft operated in passenger air 

16 transportation to air carriers, the Department 

17 of Transportation, and the Department of Jus18 tice, in a manner that protects the privacy and 

19 confidentiality of individuals reporting such in20 cidents. 

21 (d) DEVELOPMENT OF MINIMUM STANDARDS.—Not 

22 later than 210 days after the date of the enactment of 

23 this Act, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Transpor24 tation, and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Jul 29, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1605.IS S1605

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1 ministration shall, after reviewing the recommendations of 

2 the task force under subsection (c)(3)— 

3 (1) establish definitions of ‘‘trauma-informed’’ 

4 and ‘‘survivor-centered’’ for the purposes of the 

5 training required under section 44736 of title 49, 

6 United States Code, as added by section 3; and 

7 (2) develop minimum standards for— 

8 (A) annual, recurrent, and situational 

9 training that is trauma-informed under section 

10 44736 of title 49, United States Code, as added 

11 by section 3, including with respect to interven12 tion by bystanders; and 

13 (B) reporting incidents of sexual assault 

14 and sexual harassment on board aircraft oper15 ated in passenger air transportation to air car16 riers, the Department of Transportation, and 

17 the Department of Justice. 

18 (e) TERMINATION.—The Secretary of Transportation 

19 may terminate the task force established under subsection 

20 (a) after the task force has made the recommendations 

21 required by subsection (c)(3). 

Æ 


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