Thank you, Senator Collins, for calling this important hearing today to provide the Maritime Administration, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and the D-O-T Inspector General with an opportunity to discuss their efforts to address sexual assault and sexual harassment at the Academy. 

At the outset, I want to emphasize that – as with any other institution of higher education – the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy has a responsibility to provide a safe environment for its students and faculty. 

You need to act with a much greater sense of urgency to address the increasing reports of sexual assault and harassment.

By all accounts, the Maritime Administration was inexcusably slow to administer the requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2009.

That Act set specific survey and reporting requirements to Congress on the effectiveness of the Academy’s policies, procedures, and trainings to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

The initial survey for the 2009 Academic Year wasn’t delivered to Congress until November 2011–two years later. That’s two years that Congress was left unaware of the extent of the problems at the Academy.

That survey revealed disturbingly high rates of unreported incidents.

The survey also revealed that only half of the respondents had confidence in senior leadership to create a climate intolerant of these criminal acts, which I find totally unacceptable.

That was 2011. And here we are in 2017. 

Leadership at the Academy has since initiated a number of reforms to campus life and Sea Year training. New positions have been established, including a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator and victim advocates. Regular trainings on prevention, reporting, and bystander intervention have been instituted.

A robust commercial ship operator vetting and certification program has been established. But, there is still significant work remaining to be done. The rate of sexual assaults at the Academy is actually on the rise.

This is clear based on the preliminary results of the 2016 survey, where nearly 20 percent of female midshipmen reported experiencing sexual assault. This is a 2% increase from 2014 and a 5% increase from 2012.

 Addressing this problem is challenging. Particularly when the key personnel positions that directly manage sexual assault and sexual harassment prevention and response are vacant – delayed by President Trump’s counterproductive hiring ban. 

This ban has held up hiring for critical leadership positions at the Academy, including the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, victim advocates, and the Commandant of Midshipmen. The funding is there to hire for these positions.

The federal government certainly isn’t saving any money, just creating an awful lot of unnecessary red tape.  All the while sending a terrible signal to students, their parents, and the American people that this problem is not being taken seriously.

 Months later, a hiring exemption was granted for these positions, but another 22 critical positions remain vacant. You cannot run a school, ensure the safety of students, and provide the quality education these students deserve without the faculty and staff to support operations. 

The hiring freeze doesn’t apply to the other service academies, and it shouldn’t apply to the Merchant Marine Academy. Frankly, there should not be a hiring freeze at all.  Time after time, it merely leads to nonsensical situations like what we see here.

I recognize that the Merchant Marine Academy is not the only institution facing the challenge of sexual harassment and assault.  Colleges across America are also struggling to address this problem. 

However, as one of the federal government’s service academies, we should expect the Merchant Marine Academy to be a model for institutions of higher learning around the country. To get there, we must demand accountability, provide sufficient funding, and learn from what has been successful elsewhere.

At the other military service academies, victims are immediately provided legal counsel. Does that policy make sense at the Merchant Marine Academy? What would we need to do to implement such a policy?

Because the Merchant Marine Academy’s unique sea-year program takes students across the globe, we need to make sure that the roles and responsibilities for the investigation of sexual assault cases overseas are clearly understood by the investigating agencies, the ship board operators, the midshipmen, and the Academy itself.  Based on the briefings we have had so far, I am not confident that this is the case.

Finally, I would like to address concerns over reprisal and retribution, which is a key problem that keeps too many students from coming forward. In order for students to feel comfortable reporting incidents of sexual assault and harassment, a culture totally intolerant of reprisal is required.

I understand that the Merchant Marine Academy doesn’t fall under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which treats acts of retribution as a criminal offense, but students and the industry need to stand up for victims–not blame them. Swift action must be taken against those that hold such an attitude.

These are just a few of the many concerns that I have about the work that remains to be done. If resources are needed, now is the time to let us know. I fully realize that this is an issue that cannot be solved with any one remedy or policy. It will take a concerted effort and multifaceted approach from the top down. 

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about their plans and ideas.