Press Release: Norton Questions Department of Transportation’s Steps to Combat Sexual Assault

News Release — DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton

September 28, 2019

Contact: Jack Miller

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At the Subcommittee on Aviation’s Hearing titled “A Work in Progress: Implementation of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018,” Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) questioned what the Department of Transportation (DOT) has done since the 2016 FAA Reauthorization Act mandated (Section 2309) that the DOT review and, if appropriate, create rules requiring airlines to seat children aged 13 or under next to an accompanying family member within a year of the bill’s enactment.  John Breyault, Vice President, Public Policy, Telecommunication, and Fraud of the National Consumers League testified that DOT’s response to the legislation has been only to create an educational website on family seating.

“Reports of sexual assault on aircraft led me to cosponsor the AWARE Act (H.R. 2889) with my Republican colleague Rep. Rick Crawford in May 2019,” Norton said.  “Our bill would require the Attorney General to collect data on sexual offenses that occur on any mode of transportation over which the federal government has jurisdiction, specifically including air travel.  After the Attorney General collected the information, he would be required to disclose the information publicly, including the type of transportation and the location of the offense.  Our bill should not have been necessary, but even now DOT continues to disregard the plain language of the 2016 FAA Reauthorization.

“The testimony at our FAA hearing shows that DOT has yet to respond to our congressional mandate as this inappropriate conduct has continued to be reported.  Consequently, at our hearing I asked Chairman Larsen for his help in following up with DOT and he and I are now working on a follow-up on the agency’s failure”

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in-flight sexual assaults increased by 66 percent from FY 2014 to FY 2016.  In 2017, the FBI opened 63 investigations into sexual assault on aircraft.

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