A bill to improve provisions of law relating to sexual harassment and assault prevention at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes.

II Calendar No. 520 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2782 [Report No. 116–259] To improve provisions of law relating to sexual harassment and assault prevention at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AUGUST 13, 2020 Reported by Mr. WICKER, without amendment A BILL To improve provisions of law relating to sexual harassment and assault prevention at the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:02 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2782.RS S2782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2782 RS SECTION 1. IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO SEXUAL HAR- 1 ASSMENT AND ASSAULT PREVENTION AT THE 2 NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC AD- 3 MINISTRATION. 4 (a) ANONYMOUS REPORTING.—Subtitle C of title 5 XXXV of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis- 6 cal Year 2017 (33 U.S.C. 894 et seq.) is amended— 7 (1) in section 3541(b)(3)(B) (33 U.S.C. 8 894(b)(3)(B)), by striking ‘‘confidentially’’ and in- 9 serting ‘‘anonymously’’; and 10 (2) in section 3542(b)(5)(B) (33 U.S.C. 11 894a(b)(5)(B)), by striking ‘‘confidentially’’ and in- 12 serting ‘‘anonymously’’. 13 (b) INVESTIGATIVE REQUIREMENT.—Such subtitle is 14 amended— 15 (1) by redesignating sections 3546 and 3547 as 16 sections 3548 and 3549, respectively; and 17 (2) by inserting after section 3545 the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘SEC. 3546. INVESTIGATION REQUIREMENT. 20 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO INVESTIGATE.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com- 22 merce, acting through the Under Secretary for 23 Oceans and Atmosphere, shall ensure that each alle- 24 gation of sexual assault reported under section 3541 25 and each allegation of sexual harassment reported 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:02 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2782.RS S2782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2782 RS under section 3542 is investigated thoroughly and 1 promptly. 2 ‘‘(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON COMMENCEMENT 3 OF INVESTIGATION.—It is the sense of Congress 4 that the Secretary should ensure that an investiga- 5 tion of an alleged sexual assault reported under sec- 6 tion 3541 or sexual harassment reported under sec- 7 tion 3542 commences not later than 48 hours after 8 the time at which the allegation was reported. 9 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION OF DELAY.—In any case in 10 which the time between the reporting of an alleged sexual 11 assault or sexual harassment under section 3541 or 3542, 12 respectively, and commencement of an investigation of the 13 allegation exceeds 48 hours, the Secretary shall notify the 14 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 15 the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 16 the House of Representatives of the delay. 17 ‘‘SEC. 3547. CRIMINAL REFERRAL. 18 ‘‘If the Secretary of Commerce finds, pursuant to an 19 investigation under section 3546, evidence that a crime 20 may have been committed, the Secretary shall refer the 21 matter to the appropriate law enforcement authorities, in- 22 cluding the appropriate United States Attorney.’’. 23 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 24 in section 2(b) of such Act is amended by striking the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:02 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2782.RS S2782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2782 RS items relating to sections 3546 and 3547 and inserting 1 the following new items: 2 ‘‘Sec. 3546. Investigation requirement. ‘‘Sec. 3547. Criminal referral. ‘‘Sec. 3548. Annual report on sexual assaults in the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration. ‘‘Sec. 3549. Sexual assault defined.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:02 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2782.RS S2782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:02 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2782.RS S2782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 520 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2782 [Report No. 116–259] A BILL To improve provisions of law relating to sexual har- assment and assault prevention at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. AUGUST 13, 2020 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:02 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S2782.RS S2782 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS