Sec. 7528. Expedited transfer in cases of sexual misconduct or domestic violence
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Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commandant shall update Coast Guard policy as necessary to implement— an expedited transfer process for covered individuals consistent with— Department of Defense policy on expedited transfers of victims of sexual assault or domestic violence in place on the date of enactment of this Act; and subsection (b); and a process by which— a covered individual, the commanding officer of a covered individual, or any other Coast Guard official may initiate a request that a subject be administratively assigned to another unit in accordance with military assignments and authorized absence policy for the duration of the investigation and, if applicable, prosecution of such subject; the Coast Guard shall ensure that any administrative assignment action in response to a request under subparagraph
(A)will be taken not as a punitive measure, but solely for the purpose of maintaining good order and discipline within the unit of the covered individual or the subject; and protection of due process for the subject is preserved. The expedited transfer process implemented under this section shall require the recusal of any official involved in the approval or denial of an expedited transfer request if the official was, at any time— the subject of a complaint of any form of assault, harassment, or retaliation, or any other type of complaint, filed by the covered individual; or associated, beyond workplace interactions, with the subject in a manner that may present an actual or apparent conflict of interest. With respect to a member of the Coast Guard who makes an unrestricted report of sexual assault or a report of domestic violence, the updated policy required under subsection
(a)shall specify the appropriate officials of the Coast Guard who shall provide such member with information regarding expedited transfer authority. Not later than March 1 of the year that is not less than 1 year after the date on which the updates required under subsection
(a)are completed, the Commandant shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, as an enclosure or appendix to the report required by section 5112 of title 14, United States Code, a report on such updates that includes— a copy of the updated policies of the Coast Guard relating to expedited transfers; a summary of such updated policies; for the preceding year, the number of covered individuals who have requested an expedited transfer, disaggregated by gender of the requester and whether the request was granted or denied; for each denial of an expedited transfer request during the preceding year, a description of the rationale for the denial; and any other matter the Commandant considers appropriate. Not later than 1 year after the Commandant submits the report required under paragraph (1), and annually thereafter for 3 years, the Commandant shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, as an enclosure or appendix to the report required by section 5112 of title 14, United States Code, a report on the updates required under subsection
(a)that includes— any policies of the Coast Guard relating to expedited transfers that have been updated since the previous report submitted under this subsection; a summary of any such updated policies; and the information described under subparagraphs
(C)through
(E)of paragraph (1). In this section: The term covered individual means— a member of the Coast Guard who is a victim of sexual assault in a case handled under the Sexual Assault Prevention, Response, and Recovery Program or the Family Advocacy Program; a member of the Coast Guard who is a victim of domestic violence (as defined by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating in the policies prescribed under this section) committed by the spouse or intimate partner of the member, regardless of whether the spouse or intimate partner is a member of the Coast Guard; and a member of the Coast Guard whose dependent is a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence. The term subject means a member of the Coast Guard who is the subject of an investigation related to alleged incidents of sexual assault or domestic violence and is stationed at the same installation as, or in close proximity to, the covered individual involved.