I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2406 
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 
to address sexual harassment and sexual assault involving National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration personnel, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 27, 2025 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Ms. SALAZAR, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2017 to address sexual harassment and sexual as-
sault involving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration personnel, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and As-
sault Prevention Improvements Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a provision, the ref-
erence shall be considered to be made to a provision of 
subtitle C of title XXXV of the National Defense Author-
ization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (33 U.S.C. 894 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. POLICY ON PREVENTION OF AND RESPONSE TO 
SEXUAL HARASSMENT INVOLVING NATIONAL 
OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRA-
TION PERSONNEL. 
Section 3541(f) (33 U.S.C. 894(f)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘and equal employment’’ after 
‘‘sexual harassment’’ in each place it appears; and 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 
and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec-
tively; and 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
the following: 
‘‘(C) Relevant data, including— 
‘‘(i) a synopsis of each case and the 
disciplinary action taken, if any, with re-
spect to each such case; and 
‘‘(ii) data collected pursuant to the 
Notification and Federal Employee Anti-
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discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 
(5 U.S.C. 2301 note).’’. 
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT, SEX-
UAL ASSAULT, AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT. 
Section 3548 (33 U.S.C. 894e) is amended— 
(1) by striking the section heading and insert-
ing the ‘‘ANNUAL REPORT ON SEXUAL HARASS-
MENT, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND EQUAL EMPLOY-
MENT
IN
NATIONAL
OCEANIC
AND
ATMOS-
PHERIC ADMINISTRATION’’. 
(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the sexual as-
saults involving’’ and inserting ‘‘sexual harassment 
and sexual assault cases involving, and the equal 
employment of,’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘as-
saults’’ and inserting ‘‘harassment and sexual 
assault cases’’; 
(B) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, in-
cluding a synopsis of each sexual harassment 
and equal employment case and the disciplinary 
action taken, if any, with respect to each such 
case’’ before the period at the end; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
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(4) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘assault’’ and 
inserting ‘‘harassment or sexual assault case’’. 
SEC. 5. INVESTIGATION AND CRIMINAL REFERRAL RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
(a) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Sections 3548 and 
3549 (33 U.S.C. 894e and 894f) are redesignated as sec-
tions 3551 and 3552, respectively. 
(b) CRIMINAL REFERRAL.—Section 3547 (33 U.S.C. 
894d–2) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘pursuant to’’ and inserting ‘‘at 
the onset or during the course of’’; and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘and, with respect to a licensed 
mariner, the Commandant of the Coast Guard’’ 
after ‘‘United States Attorney’’. 
(c) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title XXXV (33 
U.S.C. 894 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
3547 (33 U.S.C. 894d–2) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 3548. EXCEPTIONS REGARDING ANONYMITY OF VIC-
TIMS IN CERTAIN CASES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which an em-
ployee of the Administration, member of the commissioned 
officer corps of the Administration, or covered personnel 
elects restricted or unrestricted reporting under section 
3541(b)(3)(B) or 3542(b)(5)(B), disclosure to the fol-
lowing persons or organizations of the personally identi-
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fying information of such individual is authorized for the 
following reasons: 
‘‘(1) To Administration staff or law enforce-
ment personnel, if authorized by the victim in writ-
ing. 
‘‘(2) To Administration staff or law enforce-
ment personnel to prevent or lessen a serious or im-
minent threat to the health or safety of the victim 
or another person. 
‘‘(3) To a victim advocate or healthcare pro-
vider, if required for the provision of victim services. 
‘‘(4) To a State or Federal court, if pursuant 
to a court order or if disclosure is required by Fed-
eral or State statute. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE
OF DISCLOSURE; PRIVACY PROTEC-
TION.—If information described in subsection (a) is dis-
closed under that subsection, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) make reasonable attempts to provide no-
tice to the individual the information of whom is so 
disclosed; and 
‘‘(2) take such action as is necessary to protect 
the privacy and safety of the individual. 
‘‘SEC. 3549. RESTRICTED REPORTING UPDATE. 
‘‘Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact-
ment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
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tration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Im-
provements Act of 2025, the Secretary of Commerce, act-
ing through the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmos-
phere, shall update the policies developed under sections 
3541 and 3542 with respect to the mechanism established 
under subsections (b)(3)(B) and (b)(5)(B) of those sec-
tions, respectively, such that each such mechanism pro-
vides for a restricted reporting system that allows an em-
ployee of the Administration, member of the commissioned 
officer corps of the Administration, or covered personnel 
who alleges to have been sexually harassed or sexually as-
saulted to confidentially disclose the details of such sexual 
harassment or sexual assault to specified individuals and 
receive the services outlined in this subtitle— 
‘‘(1) without the dissemination of the personally 
identifying information of such individual, except as 
necessary for the provision of such services and as 
provided by section 3548(a); and 
‘‘(2) without automatically triggering an inves-
tigative process. 
‘‘SEC. 3550. MARINER REPORTING. 
‘‘(a) MANDATORY REPORTING BY RESPONSIBLE EN-
TITY OF A VESSEL.— 
‘‘(1) UNRESTRICTED
REPORTS.—The respon-
sible entity of a vessel shall report to the Com-
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mandant of the Coast Guard any incident of sexual 
harassment or sexual assault in violation of employer 
policy or law, of which the responsible entity of a 
vessel is made aware, involving— 
‘‘(A) an employee or contractor of the Ad-
ministration who is required to hold a valid 
merchant mariner credential as a condition of 
employment; or 
‘‘(B) a crewmember of a vessel that, at the 
time of such incident, was operating under a 
contract with the Administration. 
‘‘(2) RESTRICTED
REPORTS.—Paragraph (1) 
does not apply with respect to an incident of sexual 
harassment or sexual assault reported on a re-
stricted basis pursuant to the mechanisms estab-
lished 
for 
such 
reporting 
under 
sections 
3541(b)(3)(B) and 3542(b)(5)(B), respectively. 
‘‘(b) REPORTING PROCEDURES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) TIMING OF REPORTING.—The respon-
sible entity of a vessel shall make a report re-
quired under subsection (a)(1) as soon as the 
responsible entity of a vessel is made aware of 
the incident of sexual harassment or sexual as-
sault that is the subject of the report. 
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‘‘(B) MODE OF REPORTING.—The respon-
sible entity of a vessel shall make a report re-
quired under subsection (a)(1) to a single entity 
in the Coast Guard designated by the Com-
mandant of the Coast Guard to receive such re-
ports by the fastest telecommunication channel 
available to the responsible entity of a vessel. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS
OF
REPORT.—Each report 
made under this section shall include, to the best of 
the knowledge of the responsible entity of a vessel— 
‘‘(A) the name, Coast Guard merchant 
mariner credential reference number, if applica-
ble, official position or role in relation to the 
vessel, and contact information of each indi-
vidual involved in the incident of sexual harass-
ment or sexual assault that is the subject of the 
report; 
‘‘(B) the name and official number of the 
vessel; 
‘‘(C) the time and date of the incident of 
sexual harassment or sexual assault; 
‘‘(D) the geographic position or location of 
the vessel when the incident of sexual harass-
ment or sexual assault occurred; and 
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‘‘(E) a brief description of the incident of 
alleged sexual harassment or sexual assault 
being reported. 
‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION BY SECRETARY.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com-
merce, acting through the Under Secretary for 
Oceans and Atmosphere, shall notify the Director of 
the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations of 
each report of an incident of sexual harassment or 
sexual assault received by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION CONTENTS.—Each notifica-
tion under paragraph (1) shall include, to the best 
of the knowledge of the Secretary of Commerce, act-
ing through the Under Secretary for Oceans and At-
mosphere— 
‘‘(A) with respect to an unrestricted report 
submitted pursuant to section 3541(b)(3)(B) or 
3542(b)(5)(B), the information required under 
subsection (b)(2) of this section; and 
‘‘(B) with respect to a restricted report 
submitted pursuant to section 3541(b)(3)(B) or 
3542(b)(5)(B), the information required under 
subsection (b)(2) of this section that does not 
include the personally identifying information of 
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vens Fishery Conservation and Man-
agement Act (13 U.S.C. 1801 et 
seq.); 
‘‘(II) protected species or endan-
gered species observation required by 
the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 
1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) or the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
U.S.C. 1351 et seq.); or 
‘‘(III) platform removal observa-
tion; and 
‘‘(ii) voting members and executive 
and administrative staff of each Regional 
Fishery Management Council established 
by section 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1852). 
‘‘(3) RESPONSIBLE ENTITY OF A VESSEL.—The 
term ‘responsible entity of a vessel’ means the Direc-
tor of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, 
with respect to each vessel owned or operated by the 
Administration. 
‘‘(4) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘sexual as-
sault’ has the meaning given the term in section 
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40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 
1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925 (a)).’’. 
SEC. 7. CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 
(a) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subtitle C of title 
XXXV (33 U.S.C. 894 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘individuals who work with or 
conduct business on behalf of the Administration’’ 
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘covered per-
sonnel’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric’’ each place it appears, except— 
(A) when it appears as ‘‘National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Har-
assment and Assault Prevention Improvements 
Act of 2025’’; 
(B) in section 3551, in the section head-
ing; and 
(C) in section 3552(1). 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Each of the tables of 
contents in section 2(b) and at the beginning of title 
XXXV are amended by striking the items relating to sec-
tions 3548 and 3549 and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 3548. Exceptions regarding anonymity of victims in certain cases. 
‘‘Sec. 3549. Restricted reporting update. 
‘‘Sec. 3550. Mariner referral. 
‘‘Sec. 3551. Annual report on sexual harassment, sexual assault, and equal em-
ployment in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration. 
‘‘Sec. 3552. Definitions.’’. 
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SEC. 8. PROHIBITED ACTS. 
Section 307(1)(L) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation 
and 
Management 
Act 
(16 
U.S.C. 
1857(1)(L)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘forcibly’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘on a vessel’’. 
SEC. 9. PROHIBITION ON SERVICE IN COMMISSIONED OFFI-
CER CORPS OF NATIONAL OCEANIC AND AT-
MOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION BY INDIVID-
UALS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN SEXUAL OF-
FENSES. 
Section 261(a) of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Act of 
2002 (33 U.S.C. 3071(a)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (26) as para-
graph (27); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (25) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(26) Section 657, relating to prohibition on 
service by individuals convicted of certain sexual of-
fenses.’’. 
Æ 
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