Federal Funding Accountability for Sexual Harassers Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5328 To require certain information be reported with respect to principal investiga- tors who have discriminated, including harassed, on the basis of sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, childbirth, med- ical conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, parental status, and sex stereotype), and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 5, 2019 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. RUSH, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. SLOTKIN, and Ms. DEAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require certain information be reported with respect to principal investigators who have discriminated, including harassed, on the basis of sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, childbirth, medical condi- tions related to pregnancy and childbirth, parental sta- tus, and sex stereotype), 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 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5328 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Funding Ac- 2 countability for Sexual Harassers Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Discrimination on the basis of sex remains 6 pervasive in the academic workplace and especially 7 in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine. 8 (2) According to a study conducted by the Na- 9 tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Med- 10 icine in 2018— 11 (A) academic workplaces have a rate of 12 sexual harassment equal to 58 percent, which is 13 second only to the military, which has a rate of 14 sexual harassment equal to 69 percent; 15 (B) more than 50 percent of female faculty 16 and staff and an estimated 20 to 50 percent of 17 female students encounter or experience sexual 18 harassment in academia; 19 (C) in a survey of undergraduate and 20 graduate students, 1 in 5 female science stu- 21 dents, 1 in 4 female engineering students, and 22 2 in 5 female medical students experienced sex- 23 ual harassment from faculty and staff; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5328 IH (D) with respect to sexual harassment, 1 sexual and racial minorities are disproportion- 2 ately targeted; 3 (E) in a study of employees in higher edu- 4 cation, nearly 77 percent of sexual minorities of 5 both genders experienced gender harassment 6 compared to 30 percent of heterosexuals; 7 (F) women of color and racial or ethnic 8 minorities experience harassment differently 9 from other populations given their intersectional 10 identities; and 11 (G) policies and procedures in effect as of 12 the date of enactment of this Act often protect 13 the liability of institutions of higher education 14 but are not effective in preventing sexual har- 15 assment. 16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 17 gress that academic institutions and the Federal Govern- 18 ment should work together to meaningfully address the 19 issue of sexual harassment by ensuring a culture of ac- 20 countability, transparency, and inclusion. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5328 IH SEC. 3. UNIQUE IDENTIFIER REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIN- 1 CIPAL INVESTIGATORS. 2 Section 2 of the Federal Funding Accountability and 3 Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is 4 amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)— 6 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 7 through (8) as paragraphs (7) through (9), re- 8 spectively; and 9 (B) by inserting after paragraph (5), the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(6) PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR OR PROGRAM 12 DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Principal Investigator or 13 Program Director’— 14 ‘‘(A) means an individual— 15 ‘‘(i) designated by the entity receiving 16 the award to direct or lead the project, 17 program, or activity being supported by 18 the grant; and 19 ‘‘(ii) responsible and accountable to 20 the entity receiving the award for the prop- 21 er conduct of the project, program, or ac- 22 tivity; and 23 ‘‘(B) includes an individual identified by 24 such institution as a co-principal investigator 25 with respect to such grant.’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5328 IH (2) in subsection (b)(1)(E)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘award and’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘award,’’; and 3 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and the Principal In- 4 vestigator or Program Director’’ after ‘‘another 5 entity’’. 6 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 7 EDUCATION. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 487(a) of the Higher 9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended 10 by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(30)(A) With respect to any individual who, as 12 a result of a grievance procedure described in section 13 106.8(b) of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations (or 14 successor regulations) and carried out by the institu- 15 tion, is found by the institution to have engaged in 16 discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of 17 sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, 18 pregnancy, childbirth, medical conditions related to 19 pregnancy and childbirth, parental status, and sex 20 stereotype) while the individual was a principal in- 21 vestigator at the institution, the institution will re- 22 port (not later than 1 month after the final disposi- 23 tion of such grievance procedure)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5328 IH ‘‘(i) to the Federal clearinghouse des- 1 ignated by the Director of the Office of Man- 2 agement and Budget under section 7504 of title 3 31, United States Code, the information speci- 4 fied in subclauses (I) through (VI) of clause 5 (ii); and 6 ‘‘(ii) to each Federal department and agen- 7 cy that has awarded such institution a competi- 8 tive research and development grant on or after 9 the date that is 10 years before such finding, 10 the following information: 11 ‘‘(I) The unique identifier of such in- 12 dividual. 13 ‘‘(II) The date and nature of the vio- 14 lation for which such determination was 15 made. 16 ‘‘(III) A list of competitive research 17 grants (including identifying numbers) for 18 which the individual was a principal inves- 19 tigator. 20 ‘‘(IV) The findings of such determina- 21 tion. 22 ‘‘(V) The remedy (such as corrective 23 training or suspension) required by the in- 24 stitution after such determination. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5328 IH ‘‘(VI) Whether findings of discrimina- 1 tion, including harassment, on the basis of 2 sex (including gender identity, sexual ori- 3 entation, pregnancy, childbirth, medical 4 conditions related to pregnancy and child- 5 birth, parental status, and sex stereotype) 6 have been found against such an investi- 7 gator previously. 8 ‘‘(B) With respect to a complaint alleging dis- 9 crimination, including harassment, on the basis of 10 sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, 11 pregnancy, childbirth, medical conditions related to 12 pregnancy and childbirth, parental status, and sex 13 stereotype) by a principal investigator at the institu- 14 tion, which was filed with such institution, but for 15 which the institution has not completed a grievance 16 procedure described in section 106.8(b) of title 34, 17 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula- 18 tions) 6 months after the date on which such com- 19 plaint was filed, the institution will report (not later 20 than the date that is 7 months after the date on 21 which such complaint was filed)— 22 ‘‘(i) to the Federal clearinghouse des- 23 ignated by the Director of the Office of Man- 24 agement and Budget under section 7504 of title 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5328 IH 31, United States Code, the information speci- 1 fied in subclauses (I) through (VI) of clause 2 (ii); and 3 ‘‘(ii) to each Federal department and agen- 4 cy that has awarded such institution a competi- 5 tive research and development grant on or after 6 the date that is 10 years before such complaint 7 was filed, the following information: 8 ‘‘(I) The current status of the com- 9 plaint. 10 ‘‘(II) The nature of the complaint. 11 ‘‘(III) The date of the alleged viola- 12 tion. 13 ‘‘(IV) The reason why the institution 14 has yet to complete the grievance proce- 15 dure. 16 ‘‘(V) Whether findings of discrimina- 17 tion, including harassment, on the basis of 18 sex (including gender identity, sexual ori- 19 entation, pregnancy, childbirth, medical 20 conditions related to pregnancy and child- 21 birth, parental status, and sex stereotype) 22 have been found, against such an investi- 23 gator previously. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5328 IH ‘‘(C) In the case of an institution that is re- 1 quired to report information— 2 ‘‘(i) under subparagraph (A), the institu- 3 tion will— 4 ‘‘(I) ensure that such information is 5 accurate; and 6 ‘‘(II) if errors are discovered in such 7 information— 8 ‘‘(aa) report the corrected infor- 9 mation to each Federal department 10 and agency described in such subpara- 11 graph, as soon as practicable; and 12 ‘‘(bb) submit, as soon as prac- 13 ticable, to the Federal clearinghouse 14 designated by the Director of the Of- 15 fice of Management and Budget under 16 section 7504 of title 31, United States 17 Code, a request to correct such infor- 18 mation; or 19 ‘‘(ii) under subparagraph (B), the institu- 20 tion will not report any personally identifiable 21 information with respect to individuals involved 22 with the formal complaint on which the institu- 23 tion is reporting. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Dec 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5328 IH ‘‘(D) Upon receiving a request described in sub- 1 paragraph (C)(i)(II)(bb), the Federal clearinghouse 2 designated by the Director of the Office of Manage- 3 ment and Budget under section 7504 of title 31, 4 United States Code, shall modify or remove informa- 5 tion reported under subparagraph (A), as applicable. 6 ‘‘(E) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 7 ‘principal investigator’ has the meaning given the 8 term in paragraph (6) of section 2(a) of the Federal 9 Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 10 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 11 ‘‘(31) The institution will disclose in any appli- 12 cation for a Federal award (as defined in section 2 13 of the Federal Funding Accountability and Trans- 14 parency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note)) sub- 15 mitted by such institution whether, with respect to 16 such Federal award, a principal investigator (as de- 17 fined in paragraph (30)(D))— 18 ‘‘(A) is, at the time such application is 19 submitted, subject to a grievance procedure de- 20 scribed in section 106.8(b) of title 34, Code of 21 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations); 22 or 23 ‘‘(B) has been found by the institution to 24 have engaged in discrimination, including har- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5328 IH assment, on the basis of sex (including gender 1 identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, child- 2 birth, medical conditions related to pregnancy 3 and childbirth, parental status, and sex stereo- 4 type) while the individual was a principal inves- 5 tigator at the institution.’’. 6 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 7 tion, or the amendments made by this section, shall be 8 construed to require that an institution of higher edu- 9 cation make a legal determination that title IX of the Edu- 10 cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) has 11 been violated in order to conclude that discrimination, in- 12 cluding harassment, on the basis of sex (including gender 13 identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, childbirth, medical 14 conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, parental 15 status, and sex stereotype) has occurred. 16 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN FEDERAL DEPART- 17 MENTS AND AGENCIES. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal department or 19 agency authorized to award research and development 20 grants on a competitive basis— 21 (1) when making the final decision of whether 22 to award such a grant to an institution of higher 23 education— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5328.IH H5328 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5328 IH (A) shall determine whether any reports 1 have been obtained by the Federal clearing- 2 house designated by the Director of the Office 3 of Management and Budget under section 7504 4 of title 31, United States Code; 5 (B) shall determine whether any reports 6 have been filed under paragraph (30)(A) of sec- 7 tion 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)), as added by section 9 3, on any individual who will be the principal 10 investigator at the institution of higher edu- 11 cation for such grant; and 12 (C) if such a report has been filed, will 13 consider the report when making such decision; 14 and 15 (2) shall keep each report received under such 16 paragraph on an individual— 17 (A) in a case in which during the 10-year 18 period beginning on the date of receipt of such 19 report no additional such report is filed on such 20 individual, for such 10-year period; or 21 (B) in a case in which during the 10-year 22 period described in subparagraph (A) an addi- 23 tional such report is filed on such individual, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:36 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 [Text truncated for display. 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