National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2025
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 662.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2025
This bill expands requirements for addressing sexual harassment and sexual assault involving personnel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The bill specifies that NOAA's sexual harassment prevention and response policy applies to personnel such as observers, at-sea monitors, and voting members and staff of regional fishery management councils.
The bill removes the requirement that certain acts, such as assault, intimidation, and sexual harassment of an observer or a data collector, be forcible in nature to be unlawful.
The bill also requires NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations to establish a policy for reporting to the Coast Guard the names of NOAA personnel involved in a sexual harassment or sexual assault claim. Specifically, such reports must identify employees or contractors who are the subject of such claim, the time and date of the incident, and the location of the vessel when the incident occurred.
The bill prohibits a person convicted of certain sexual offenses from enlisting with or being commissioned by NOAA.
Additionally, the bill directs NOAA to update its policies to develop a restricted reporting system that allows employees and other personnel to confidentially report sexual harassment or assault and receive services without triggering an investigation.
Finally, the bill also expands reporting requirements on sexual harassment, sexual assault, and equal employment.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 27, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 20, 2026: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 662.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) introduced it on March 27, 2025, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 27, 2025, 532 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 21 days ago, on August 20, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers