Senator Gillibrand Crosses Party Lines to Team Up With Senator Wicker to Introduce Half-Baked Bill that will Fail to Solve Merchant Marine Sexual Misconduct Problem

Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) has worked hard to protect USMMA students from sexual harassment and assault at the Academy & at sea, but she’s a politician 1st, & she has unfortunately become part of the problem we are trying to solve—not part of the solution. 

She fought hard to enact major provisions of the “Merchant Marine Academy Improvement Act” via the 2018 NDAA, but the legislation was a failure & did nothing to stop the assaults or the harassment. She simply doesn’t understand the problems she has been trying to solve, & she does not understand how deeply corrupt are the people running MARAD, the USMMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. maritime industry.

Now, while 6 Congressional committees controlled by Democrats are working hard to gain an actual understanding of the assault, harassment, and toxic cultural problems facing the industry & Academy, & as those committees work hard to develop legislation that will create real change, Gillibrand has crossed party lines & teamed up with 2 Republican Senators to release the draft of a half-baked bill that will again not solve the problems.

Why? The reasons must be political. It must deeply embarrassing to Gillibrand to have the Sea Year program shut down again over widespread public outrage over the sexual violence that USMMA cadets & cadets from other maritime academies continue to face while sailing aboard commercial and Military Sealift Command vessels in the U.S. merchant marine. And Gillibrand must be hearing from many of her constituents who are opposed to the Sea Year pause. So she goes & finds another Senator who has been deeply embarrassed by his own oversight failures, & they throw together a bill & issue a press release opposing the Sea Year pause.

That other Senator is Roger Wicker (R-MS). Why is Wicker embarrassed? Because he has been on the USMMA Board of Visitors and has a direct oversight role over the Academy, and yet he has not said one word about the “rape problem” that everyone has known about and talked about for years. Great job!

These are not the people we need to listen to now. They had their chance and they failed.

The good news? The bill they introduced includes language requiring the Coast Guard to take S&R action against the license or credential of any mariner found by a company to have committed sexual harassment or assault within the past 10 years. Progress.

(Click here to read the failed draft legislation)

Here’s the press release:

Wicker, Collins, Gillibrand Introduce Bill to Address Sexual Misconduct in the Merchant Marine

November 5, 2021

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Susan Collins, R-Maine, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., today introduced the Improving Protections for Midshipmen Act, which would strengthen Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment (SASH) prevention, response, investigation, and accountability in the maritime industry and provide additional safeguards for the Midshipmen at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). The legislation would result in improved conditions and reduced risk to all mariners, including USMMA Midshipmen.

“The Department of Transportation’s knee-jerk reaction to pause Sea Year is not an effective way to prevent future incidents of abuse and harassment,” said Wicker. “It will have a negative impact on the professional development of current Midshipmen and increase pressure and scrutiny on survivors of assault. This legislation would protect our mariners from sexual misconduct and hold accountable those who commit these abhorrent behaviors. If these prudent measures are adopted quickly, the Sea Year can be resumed by December.” 

“In light of the troubling allegations that recently surfaced at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, it is imperative that we do all that we can to protect students who have chosen the path of service and ensure they are able to continue their important work,” said Collins. “This legislation would strengthen sexual violence prevention, response, investigation, and accountability measures to improve cadets’ safety. Congress must remain committed to reducing the instances of sexual assault at our service academies and providing appropriate care for survivors.” 

"Sexual harassment, sexual assault and violence continue to plague both the maritime industry and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy,” said Gillibrand. “Congress must act to address this scourge and protect our mariners. The bipartisan Improving Protections for Midshipmen Act would strengthen measures relating to prevention, training, investigation and accountability and would give mariners and midshipmen more confidence in their safety."

The Improving Protections for Midshipmen Act would:

Provide Accountability for SASH Offenders:

• Give the Coast Guard authority to suspend or revoke a mariner’s license if the individual is found to have committed sexual harassment or sexual assault;

• Include commission of sexual assault as an independent and explicit ground for suspension or revocation, and add sexual harassment as a new form of misconduct on which a license could be lost; and

• Require the Maritime Administration and the Coast Guard to assess the applicability of the DoD’s Catch a Serial Offender program to the merchant marine, and, if so, how such a program would be implemented.

Track incidents of SASH and collecting student feedback:

• Establish a sexual assault and sexual harassment database at the USMMA to track reports of harassment and assault in a systematic way; and

• Require exit interviews from students after Sea Year and include information from these exit interviews into the database.

Provide information, training, and resources to students:

• Require the USMMA to create a training program specifically designed for Midshipmen going onboard ships, which would focus on the full continuum of SASH in the at-sea environment, including prevention, identification, reporting, and available support;

• Codify the position of Special Victims Counsel at the USMMA; and

• Allow the Department of Transportation the authority for direct hire of employees of the SASH office, to prevent unacceptably long gaps in staffing.

Set up a framework to improve the USMMA’s SASH policies and procedures:

• Establish a Sexual Assault Advisory Council, with members including USMMA Alumni and SASH experts, to provide feedback to the USMMA for improvements on SASH policy and implementation; and

• Require the USMMA to promulgate a student support plan aimed at improving Midshipmen well-being by improving the climate and sharing available mental health resources at the Academy.

Increase the Diversity of the Maritime Academy and Maritime Workforce:

• Advance policies to increase diversity in both the USMMA and the maritime workforce; and

• Codify the Merchant Marine Diversity and Inclusion Task Force under the Committee on the Marine Transportation System.