Exposing Discrimination in Higher Education Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3555 To amend the Department of Education Organization Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require publication of information relating to religious exemptions to the requirements of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 27, 2019 Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. DAVIDS of Kan- sas, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Department of Education Organization Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require publi- cation of information relating to religious exemptions to the requirements of title IX of the Education Amend- ments of 1972, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Exposing Discrimina- 4 tion in Higher Education Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3555.IH H3555 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3555 IH SEC. 2. PUBLICATION ON WEBSITE OF THE DEPARTMENT 1 OF EDUCATION. 2 Section 203 of the Department of Education Organi- 3 zation Act (20 U.S.C. 3413) is amended by adding at the 4 end the following: 5 ‘‘(d) The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall 6 publish, on the Department’s website, in a prominent loca- 7 tion, information regarding religious exemptions to the re- 8 quirements of title IX of the Education Amendments of 9 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in accord with this para- 10 graph. Such information shall include a list naming each 11 institution of higher education that requests such an ex- 12 emption, the name of each such institution that has re- 13 ceived an exemption, and the nature and scope of that ex- 14 emption (including each program or activity covered by 15 the exemption and the personal characteristics or behav- 16 iors to which the exemption applies).’’. 17 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION ON WEBSITE OF EACH INSTITUTION 18 OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 19 Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 20 U.S.C. 1092) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(n) DISCLOSURE OF RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS TO 23 TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1972.— 24 Each institution of higher education participating in any 25 program under this title that requests, receives, or exer- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3555.IH H3555 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3555 IH cises or intends to exercise a religious exemption to the 1 requirements of title IX of the Education Amendments of 2 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) shall submit in writing to 3 the Assistant Secretary a statement by the highest rank- 4 ing official of the institution, identifying the provisions of 5 part 106 of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations 6 that conflict with a specific tenet of the religious organiza- 7 tion and shall publish on its website, in a prominent loca- 8 tion, the following: 9 ‘‘(1) REQUEST LETTER.—Each letter submitted 10 by the educational institution to the Department to 11 request such an exemption. 12 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION LETTER.—Each letter from 13 the Department to the educational institution that 14 grants or denies such an exemption. 15 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF REQUEST.—Notice that the 16 educational institution has requested an exemption 17 under section 901(a)(3) of the Education Amend- 18 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681(a)(3)). 19 ‘‘(4) NOTICE OF EXEMPTION.—If applicable, 20 notice that the educational institution has received 21 an exemption under section 901(a)(3) of the Edu- 22 cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681(a)(3)). 23 ‘‘(5) COVERED PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OR 24 BEHAVIORS.—A list of the personal characteristics 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3555.IH H3555 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3555 IH or behaviors to which each requested or granted ex- 1 emption applies. 2 ‘‘(6) COVERED ACTIVITIES OR PROGRAMS.—A 3 list of the activities or programs to which each ex- 4 emption applies. 5 ‘‘(7) STATEMENT OF RIGHTS.—The statement 6 ‘Students continue to have rights under title IX of 7 the Education Amendments of 1972. Any student 8 who experiences discrimination may contact the Of- 9 fice for Civil Rights at the United States Depart- 10 ment of Education at lllll or lllll.’, 11 with the first blank space being filled with a link to 12 the website of the Office for Civil Rights and the 13 second blank space being filled with the telephone 14 number of the Office for Civil Rights.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3555.IH H3555 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS