Washington, D.C. –Today, Congressman Rick Crawford (R-AR) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said the passage of H.R. 4, which includes a provision to create a working group to address sexual assault on airplanes, gives momentum to their bill (H.R. 5256) to require the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to collect statistics related to sexual assaults on any mode of transportation under federal jurisdiction, including airplanes and ships.

Upon the bill’s passage in the House, Crawford released the following statement:

“Anyone traveling on an airplane shouldn’t have to worry about the risk of becoming a victim of sexual assault. I applaud my colleagues for their efforts to prevent these terrible acts from occurring. This is a step forward and I hope this opens the door for more conversations about H.R. 5256 and other similar legislation.”

Norton released the following statement:

“I applaud the provision for a working group on sexual assault on airplanes to bring much-needed attention and solutions to help eliminate sexual assaults on airplanes. The working group would be assisted by our bipartisan bill to provide the essential information by authorizing the FBI to track real-time statistics and documentation of sexual assault on all primary modes of travel. I look forward to continuing to work with Congressman Crawford to bring our bill to the floor.”