Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1067 To provide for research to better understand the causes and consequences of sexual harassment affecting individuals in the scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics workforce and to examine policies to re- duce the prevalence and negative impact of such harassment, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 8, 2019 Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for research to better understand the causes and consequences of sexual harassment affecting individ- uals in the scientific, technical, engineering, and mathe- matics workforce and to examine policies to reduce the prevalence and negative impact of such harassment, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1067 IS (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Research grants. Sec. 5. Data collection. Sec. 6. Responsible conduct guide. Sec. 7. Interagency working group. Sec. 8. National academies assessment. Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 3 Congress makes the following findings: 4 (1) According to the report issued by the Na- 5 tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Med- 6 icine in 2018 entitled ‘‘Sexual Harassment of 7 Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Aca- 8 demic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’’— 9 (A) sexual harassment is pervasive in insti- 10 tutions of higher education; 11 (B) the most common type of sexual har- 12 assment is gender harassment, which includes 13 verbal and nonverbal behaviors that convey in- 14 sulting, hostile, and degrading attitudes about 15 members of one gender; 16 (C) 58 percent of individuals in the aca- 17 demic workplace experience sexual harassment, 18 the second highest rate when compared to the 19 military, the private sector, and Federal, State, 20 and local government; 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1067 IS (D) women who are members of racial or 1 ethnic minority groups are more likely to expe- 2 rience sexual harassment and to feel unsafe at 3 work than White women, White men, or men 4 who are members of such groups; 5 (E) the training for each individual who 6 has a doctor of philosophy in the science, tech- 7 nology, engineering, and mathematics fields is 8 estimated to cost approximately $500,000; and 9 (F) attrition of an individual so trained re- 10 sults in a loss of talent and money. 11 (2) Sexual harassment undermines career ad- 12 vancement for women. 13 (3) According to a 2017 study led by Dr. Kath- 14 ryn Clancy at the University of Illinois, among as- 15 tronomers and planetary scientists, 18 percent of 16 women who are members of racial or ethnic minority 17 groups and 12 percent of White women skipped pro- 18 fessional events because they did not feel safe at- 19 tending. 20 (4) Many women report leaving employment at 21 institutions of higher education due to sexual har- 22 assment. 23 (5) Research shows the majority of individuals 24 do not formally report experiences of sexual harass- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1067 IS ment due to a justified fear of retaliation or other 1 negative professional or personal consequences. 2 (6) Reporting procedures with respect to such 3 harassment are inconsistent among Federal science 4 agencies and have varying degrees of accessibility. 5 (7) There is not adequate communication 6 among Federal science agencies and between such 7 agencies and grantees regarding reports of sexual 8 harassment, which has resulted in harassers receiv- 9 ing Federal funding after moving to a different in- 10 stitution. 11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Act: 13 (1) ACADEMIES.—The term ‘‘Academies’’ 14 means the National Academies of Sciences, Engi- 15 neering, and Medicine. 16 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 17 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 18 (3) FEDERAL SCIENCE AGENCY.—The term 19 ‘‘Federal science agency’’ means any Federal agency 20 with an annual extramural research expenditure of 21 over $100,000,000. 22 (4) GRANTEE.—The term ‘‘grantee’’ means the 23 legal entity to which a grant is awarded and that is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1067 IS accountable to the Federal Government for the use 1 of the funds provided. 2 (5) GRANT PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘grant per- 3 sonnel’’ means principal investigators, co-principal 4 investigators, other personnel supported by a grant 5 award under Federal law, and their trainees. 6 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 8 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High- 9 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 10 (7) SEXUAL HARASSMENT.—The term ‘‘sexual 11 harassment’’ means conduct that encompasses— 12 (A) verbal and nonverbal behaviors that 13 convey hostility, objectification, exclusion, or 14 second-class status about one’s gender, gender 15 identity, gender presentation, sexual orienta- 16 tion, or pregnancy status; 17 (B) unwelcome sexual advances; 18 (C) unwanted physical contact that is sex- 19 ual in nature, including assault; 20 (D) unwanted sexual attention, including 21 sexual comments and propositions for sexual ac- 22 tivity; 23 (E) conditioning professional or edu- 24 cational benefits on sexual activity; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1067 IS (F) retaliation for rejecting unwanted sex- 1 ual attention. 2 SEC. 4. RESEARCH GRANTS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a pro- 4 gram to award grants, on a competitive basis, to institu- 5 tions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or 6 consortia of such institutions or organizations)— 7 (1) to expand research efforts to better under- 8 stand the factors contributing to, and consequences 9 of, sexual harassment affecting individuals in the 10 scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics 11 workforce, including students and trainees; and 12 (2) to examine interventions to reduce the inci- 13 dence and negative consequences of such harass- 14 ment. 15 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Activities funded by a grant 16 under this section may include— 17 (1) research on the sexual harassment experi- 18 ences of individuals in underrepresented or vulner- 19 able groups, including racial and ethnic minority 20 groups, disabled individuals, foreign nationals, 21 sexual- and gender-minority individuals, and others; 22 (2) development and assessment of policies, 23 procedures, trainings, and interventions, with respect 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1067 IS to sexual harassment, conflict management, and 1 ways to foster respectful and inclusive climates; 2 (3) research on approaches for remediating the 3 negative impacts and outcomes of such harassment 4 on individuals experiencing such harassment; 5 (4) support for institutions of higher education 6 to develop, adapt, implement, and assess the impact 7 of innovative, evidence-based strategies, policies, and 8 approaches to policy implementation to prevent and 9 address sexual harassment; 10 (5) research on alternatives to the hierarchical 11 and dependent relationships in academia that have 12 been shown to create higher levels of risk for sexual 13 harassment; and 14 (6) establishing a center for the ongoing com- 15 pilation, management, and analysis of campus cli- 16 mate survey data. 17 SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION. 18 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 19 of this Act, the Director shall convene a working group 20 composed of representatives of Federal statistical agen- 21 cies— 22 (1) to develop questions on sexual harassment 23 in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 24 departments to gather national data on the preva- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1067 IS lence, nature, and implications of sexual harassment 1 in institutions of higher education; and 2 (2) to include such questions as appropriate, 3 with sufficient protections of the privacy of respond- 4 ents, in relevant surveys conducted by the National 5 Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and 6 other relevant entities. 7 SEC. 6. RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT GUIDE. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 9 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter into 10 an agreement with the Academies to update the report en- 11 titled ‘‘On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Con- 12 duct in Research’’ issued by the Academies. The report, 13 as so updated, shall include— 14 (1) updated professional standards of conduct 15 in research; 16 (2) standards of treatment individuals can ex- 17 pect to receive under such updated standards of con- 18 duct; 19 (3) evidence-based practices for fostering a cli- 20 mate intolerant of sexual harassment; 21 (4) methods, including bystander intervention, 22 for identifying and addressing incidents of sexual 23 harassment; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1067 IS (5) professional standards for mentorship and 1 teaching with an emphasis on preventing sexual har- 2 assment. 3 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In updating the report 4 under subsection (a), the Academies shall take into ac- 5 count recommendations made in the report issued by the 6 Academies in 2018 entitled ‘‘Sexual Harassment of 7 Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic 8 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’’ and other relevant 9 studies and evidence. 10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 16 months after the ef- 11 fective date of the contract under subsection (a), the Acad- 12 emies, as part of such agreement, shall submit to the Di- 13 rector and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- 14 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 15 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 16 the report referred to in such subsection, as updated pur- 17 suant to such subsection. 18 SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 20 Science and Technology Policy, acting through the Na- 21 tional Science and Technology Council, shall establish an 22 interagency working group for the purpose of coordinating 23 Federal science agency efforts to reduce the prevalence of 24 sexual harassment involving grant personnel. The working 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1067 IS group shall be chaired by the Director of the Office of 1 Science and Technology Policy (or the Director’s designee) 2 and shall include a representative from each Federal 3 science agency with annual extramural research expendi- 4 tures totaling over $1,000,000,000. 5 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF WORKING GROUP.—The 6 interagency working group established under subsection 7 (a) shall coordinate Federal science agency efforts to im- 8 plement the policy guidelines developed under subsection 9 (c)(2). 10 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF OSTP.—The Director of 11 the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall— 12 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of the 13 enactment of this Act, submit to the Committee on 14 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 15 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 16 Science, and Transportation of the Senate an inven- 17 tory of Federal science agency policies, procedures, 18 and resources dedicated to preventing and respond- 19 ing to reports of sexual harassment; 20 (2) not later than 6 months after the date on 21 which the inventory is submitted under paragraph 22 (1)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1067 IS (A) in consultation with outside stake- 1 holders, develop a uniform set of policy guide- 2 lines for Federal science agencies; and 3 (B) submit a report to the committees re- 4 ferred to in paragraph (1) containing such 5 guidelines; 6 (3) encourage and monitor efforts of Federal 7 science agencies to develop or maintain and imple- 8 ment policies based on the guidelines developed 9 under paragraph (2); 10 (4) not later than 1 year after the date on 11 which the inventory under paragraph (1) is sub- 12 mitted, and every 5 years thereafter, the Director of 13 the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall re- 14 port to Congress on the implementation by Federal 15 science agencies of the policy guidelines developed 16 under paragraph (2); and 17 (5) update such policy guidelines as needed. 18 (d) REQUIREMENTS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In developing policy guide- 20 lines under subsection (c)(2), the Director of the Of- 21 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall include 22 guidelines that require— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1067.IS S1067 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1067 IS (A) grantees to submit to the Federal 1 science agency or agencies from which the 2 grantees receive funding reports relating to— 3 (i) findings or determinations of sex- 4 ual harassment; and 5 (ii) any decisions made to place grant 6 personnel on administrative leave or im- 7 pose any administrative action on grant 8 personnel related to any sexual harassment 9 investigation; 10 (B) the sharing and archiving of reports of 11 sexual harassment from grantees submitted 12 u [Text truncated for display. 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