NOAA must improve sexual assault protections and secret reporting.
H.R. 2406 — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2025 · Filed by Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 27, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill lets NOAA workers report sexual harassment in secret. NOAA must track all cases and tell the Coast Guard about some incidents. The bill bars people found guilty of certain sex crimes from becoming NOAA officers. NOAA must update its rules within three years.
Who it affects
NOAA workers, contractors, and fisheries observers gain secret reporting options. Their names stay private.
One thing to notice
People can report in secret, but NOAA must still tell the Coast Guard about some incidents. The law that says which crimes bar someone from being an officer is not quoted here.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Mar 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Jun 3, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Jul 15, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jul 15, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 1 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $180,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 43 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.
Suzanne Bonamici, who sponsored the bill, received $477,150 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- American College of Rheumatology — $180,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- fisheries observers — People who watch fishing boats to make sure rules are followed.
- found guilty — Proven in court to have committed a crime.
- sexual harassment — Unwanted sexual behavior or comments at work.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (12,892 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-11-01.
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