Coast Guard Subcommittee Chair Salud Carbajal Helps Advance Key Reforms in the Coast Guard Authorization Act

Press Release

Today, Congressman Salud Carbajal, Chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, joined a bipartisan majority of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to advance the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022.

This bill includes key reforms that Carbajal has worked towards over the past year, including reforms to maritime liability rules in response to the 2019 Conception boat fire that killed 34 people and additional protections to eliminate sexual violence in the maritime industry.

"Today, I joined my colleagues to continue the bipartisan legacy of support for our Coast Guard in their broad and critical missions. As Chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and Representative for multiple Coast Guard installations in the Central Coast of California, I'm committed to ensuring that all members of the Coast Guard have the resources they need to respond to emergencies from sea to shining sea," Chair Salud Carbajal said. "Thanks to the work our subcommittee, Chair DeFazio, and Ranking Members Graves and Gibbs, reforms that I have fought for -- including better protections for small vessel passengers like those we lost in the Conception Boat Fire as well as survivors of sexual violence -- are one step closer to becoming law."

"Today was a good day for the men and women of the Coast Guard," Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR) said.
"The passage of this bipartisan legislation will ensure they have the resources they need to accomplish their critical missions and protect our nation, including keeping coastal communities safe, maintaining the security of our ports and waterways, carrying out critically important drug interdictions, and responding to emergencies and disasters. I am particularly proud that the committee passed key provisions of my "Safer Seas Act,' which implements important reforms to prevent sexual violence while also building protections for survivors. No seafarer should have to tolerate sexual harassment or assault in the maritime industry, and I look forward to the House considering this legislation."

The Coast Guard Authorization Act includes language would require owners of small passenger vessels to be held legally responsible, including by requiring compensation, notwithstanding the value of the boat.

This provision reflects reforms first proposed in Carbajal's Small Passenger Vessel Liability Fairness Act, which he introduced with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in September 2021 in response to the Conception Boat Fire in 2019.

The legislation advanced today also includes provisions of the Safer Seas Act, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Rep. Carbajal that will better protect those in the maritime transportation industry from sexual assault and harassment.

These provisions include mandatory reporting requirements to the Coast Guard for any seafarer, master, or vessel owner with knowledge of sexual assault or harassment (SASH), improved protections for survivors and witnesses, and a clarification that the Coast Guard has the ability to deny, suspend, or revoke a merchant mariner credential to individuals who have been convicted of sexual harassment or sexual assault.

Legislation authored by Rep. Carbajal and Senator Feinstein, the Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act, became law in January 2021. That bill focused exclusively on improving safety features in small vessels in order to prevent future tragedies.

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