Danny’s Law

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3659 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions AN ACT To establish an Anti-Bullying Roundtable to study bullying in elementary and secondary schools in the United States, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3659 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as 2 ‘‘Danny’s Law’’. 3 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 4 (1) This Act is named in honor of Daniel 5 Fitzpatrick, who, in August 2016, when he was 13 6 years old, tragically took his own life as a direct re- 7 sult of bullying. 8 (2) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 9 trol and Prevention, bullying is among the most 10 commonly reported discipline problems in public 11 schools. 12 (3) Potential effects of bullying include social 13 and emotional distress, physical injury, and in- 14 creased risk for lowering academic achievement. 15 SEC. 2. ANTI-BULLYING ROUNDTABLE. 16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde- 17 pendent commission to be known as the ‘‘Anti-Bullying 18 Roundtable’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Round- 19 table’’). 20 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of the Roundtable shall be 21 to study and report on bullying in elementary schools and 22 secondary schools in the United States by consulting with 23 State educational agencies and local educational agencies 24 regarding— 25 (1) current policies on bullying; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3659 RFS (2) teacher education on bullying and bullying 1 prevention policies; 2 (3) parent and student education on bullying 3 and bullying prevention policies; 4 (4) instances of student violence as a result of 5 bullying; 6 (5) instances of student self-harm as a result of 7 bullying; 8 (6) preventative measures in place at State and 9 local levels; and 10 (7) instances of cyberbullying and practices for 11 addressing cyberbullying. 12 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Roundtable shall be 14 composed of 15 members, appointed as follows: 15 (A) Three members shall be appointed by 16 the Secretary of Education, and those three 17 members shall represent three different cat- 18 egories of stakeholders described in paragraph 19 (2). 20 (B) Six members shall be appointed by the 21 Speaker of the House of Representatives, three 22 of whom shall be appointed on the rec- 23 ommendation of the majority leader of the 24 House of Representatives, and three of whom 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3659 RFS shall be appointed on the recommendation of 1 the minority leader of the House of Representa- 2 tives. The Speaker, the majority leader, and the 3 minority leader of the House of Representatives 4 shall each select individuals who represent at 5 least three different categories of stakeholders 6 described in paragraph (2). 7 (C) Six members shall be appointed by the 8 President pro tempore of the Senate, three of 9 whom shall be appointed on the recommenda- 10 tion of the majority leader of the Senate, and 11 three of whom shall be appointed on the rec- 12 ommendation of the minority leader of the Sen- 13 ate. The President pro tempore, the majority 14 leader, and the minority leader of the Senate 15 shall each select individuals who represent at 16 least three different categories of stakeholders 17 described in paragraph (2). 18 (D) In appointing members of the Round- 19 table, the Secretary of Education, the Speaker 20 of the House of Representatives, and the Presi- 21 dent pro tempore of the Senate, to the extent 22 practicable, shall take into account all the other 23 nominees to the Roundtable to ensure as many 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3659 RFS as possible of the categories of stakeholders de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2) are represented. 2 (2) REPRESENTATION.—The members of the 3 Roundtable shall include, to the extent practicable, 4 at least one representative of each of the following: 5 (A) Teachers. 6 (B) School leaders. 7 (C) Parents of schoolchildren. 8 (D) Individuals who are at least 16 years 9 of age and who have experienced bullying. 10 (E) Physicians. 11 (F) Child psychologists. 12 (G) Paraprofessionals. 13 (H) School resource officers or other ap- 14 propriate professionals responsible for school se- 15 curity. 16 (I) Specialized instructional support per- 17 sonnel. 18 (J) Other staff. 19 (K) Other individuals with expertise work- 20 ing with bullied youth. 21 (3) CHAIR.—The members of the Roundtable 22 shall elect one individual to serve as chair. 23 (4) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed 24 for the duration of the existence of the Roundtable. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 3659 RFS (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Roundtable 1 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 2 appointment was made under paragraph (1) and in 3 accordance with the requirements of paragraph (2). 4 (6) PAY.—Members of the Roundtable shall 5 serve without pay. 6 (d) TIME FRAME FOR FORMATION.—Not later than 7 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the des- 8 ignated Members of Congress and the Secretary shall ap- 9 point the members described in subsection (c)(1). 10 (e) POWERS OF ROUNDTABLE.— 11 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Round- 12 table may, for the purpose of carrying out this sec- 13 tion, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, 14 take testimony, and receive evidence as the Round- 15 table considers appropriate. 16 (2) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—Upon request 17 of the chair of the Roundtable, the Secretary of 18 Education shall work with the heads of appropriate 19 departments or agencies to furnish requested infor- 20 mation to the Roundtable. 21 (3) MAILS.—The Roundtable may use the 22 United States mails in the same manner and under 23 the same conditions as other departments and agen- 24 cies of the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 3659 RFS (4) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.— 1 Upon request of the Roundtable, the Secretary of 2 Education shall provide to the Roundtable the ad- 3 ministrative support services necessary for the 4 Roundtable to carry out its responsibilities under 5 this Act. 6 (f) REPORTS.— 7 (1) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—Not later than 8 270 days after the date on which the Roundtable 9 has been formed, the Roundtable shall submit to the 10 Secretary of Education, and the Secretary shall 11 make public, a report on best practices concerning 12 bullying, including cyberbullying, in elementary 13 schools and secondary schools in the United States 14 that contains, among other items— 15 (A) recommendations for how to prevent 16 bullying; 17 (B) recommendations for how to best edu- 18 cate educators, administrators, and all relevant 19 school staff on recognizing bullying; 20 (C) recommendations for how parents can 21 best address and discuss with their children the 22 early warning signs of bullying; 23 (D) recommendations for addressing un- 24 derlying causes of bullying behavior; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 3659 RFS (E) recommendations to address bullying 1 of at-risk students, including students who are 2 at greater risk of self-harm; and 3 (F) examples of successful evidence-based 4 bullying prevention programming. 5 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 6 after the date on which the Roundtable has been 7 formed, the Roundtable shall transmit a final report 8 to the Secretary of Education and the Congress con- 9 taining— 10 (A) a detailed statement of the findings 11 and conclusions of the Roundtable; and 12 (B) recommendations for lawmakers re- 13 garding effective bullying prevention policies. 14 (g) TERMINATION.—The Roundtable shall terminate 15 upon submission of the final report pursuant to subsection 16 (f)(2). 17 (h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No data obtained 18 under this Act from State educational agencies, local edu- 19 cational agencies, Federal departments or agencies, or 20 other sources, including information described in sub- 21 section (e)(2), shall include or reveal personally identifi- 22 able information about any individual. 23 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘elemen- 24 tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘paraprofes- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 3659 RFS sional’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘other staff’’, ‘‘school leader’’, ‘‘sec- 1 ondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, ‘‘specialized instructional 2 support personnel’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have 3 the meaning given those terms, respectively, under section 4 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 6 Passed the House of Representatives September 16, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS