III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 262 

Affirming the importance of title IX, applauding the increase in educational 

opportunities available to all people, regardless of sex or gender, and 

recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done to further 

increase those opportunities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2019 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. KAINE, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. COONS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. CARPER, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. CASEY, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LEAHY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

PETERS, and Mr. TESTER) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Affirming the importance of title IX, applauding the increase 

in educational opportunities available to all people, regardless of sex or gender, and recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done to further increase 

those opportunities. 

Whereas in 1972, President Richard M. Nixon signed into 

law title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 

U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) (referred to in this preamble as 

‘‘title IX’’); 


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•SRES 262 IS 

Whereas in 2002, Congress passed a joint resolution establishing that title IX may be cited as the ‘‘Patsy 

Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act’’; 

Whereas title IX prohibits any institution that receives Federal education funding from discriminating against students or employees on the basis of sex; 

Whereas sex discrimination includes— 

(1) gender-based violence; 

(2) sexual harassment and assault; 

(3) dating violence; and 

(4) domestic violence; 

Whereas title IX guarantees— 

(1) equal educational opportunities for all students, 

including pregnant or parenting students and gender 

non-conforming students; and 

(2) protection for students from discrimination on 

the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; 

Whereas since 1972, the United States has made great 

progress in providing educational opportunities to women 

and girls and, in 2017, women earned the majority of 

doctoral, master’s, and associate degrees; 

Whereas in the 2016–2017 academic year, women earned approximately 57 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded 

by institutions of higher education in the United States 

for the 18th consecutive year; 

Whereas since 1972, the participation of women and girls in 

sports has increased by 1,000 percent in high school and 

greater than 500 percent in college, providing women and 

girls with the opportunity— 

(1) to develop leadership and teamwork skills; 


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(2) to earn athletic scholarships to help finance a 

college degree; and 

(3) to become successful professional athletes; 

Whereas, despite the progress that has been made in higher 

education and athletics, women, girls, pregnant or parenting students, and transgender and gender non-conforming students in the United States are still frequently 

denied equal educational opportunities; 

Whereas pregnant and parenting students are more likely to 

drop out of high school compared to other students, and 

only 51 percent of teenage mothers earn a high school diploma by the age of 22, leading to decreased opportunities for continuing education and employment; 

Whereas the number of baccalaureate degrees in science, 

technology, engineering, and math earned by women has 

decreased over the past decade and, as of the 2016–2017 

academic year, women earn only— 

(1) 38 percent of physical science degrees; 

(2) 19 percent of computing degrees; 

(3) 20 percent of engineering degrees; and 

(4) 42 percent of mathematics degrees; 

Whereas, despite representing 56 percent of all students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States, 

women hold almost 2⁄3 of all outstanding student debt 

($900,000,000,000 of the total $1,400,000,000,000), and 

the average amount of student debt owed by a woman 

following the completion of a baccalaureate degree is 

$2,700 more than the average amount of student debt 

owed by a man; 


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Whereas, despite constituting 50 percent of law school graduates over the past 20 years, women constitute only 22.7 

percent of partners at major law firms; 

Whereas, while women represent 75 percent of the healthcare 

workforce, only 12 percent of the chief executive officers 

of hospitals are women; 

Whereas 44 percent of all National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, Division II, and Division III student 

athletes are women, but only 11 percent of the athletic 

directors in Division I sports are women; 

Whereas men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions, while women make up approximately— 

(1) 4.8 percent of the chief executive officers of companies included in the S&P 500; 

(2) 18 percent of Governors; 

(3) 27.6 percent of executive officers elected in 

statewide elections; and 

(4) 30 percent of college and university presidents; 

Whereas, when data is disaggregated, women of color have 

lower rates of— 

(1) leadership positions; and 

(2) science, technology, engineering, and math degrees; 

Whereas women continue to experience sexual harassment 

and assault— 

(1) as minors; 

(2) at colleges and universities; and 

(3) in the workplace; 

Whereas 1 in 4 girls will experience some form of sexual 

abuse before turning 18 years old, with— 


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(1) 8 percent of high school students experiencing 

physical dating violence; and 

(2) 7 percent of high school students experiencing 

sexual assault by a dating partner; 

Whereas experiencing sexual abuse can— 

(1) lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety; and 

(2) negatively impact academic achievement; 

Whereas multiple studies have confirmed that— 

(1) 1 in 5 women and 1 in 4 transgender or gender 

non-conforming students are sexually assaulted on college 

campuses; and 

(2) approximately 20 percent of girls have been the 

victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault 

while in high school; 

Whereas students face pervasive discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in school, on college campuses, and in the workplace, 

which— 

(1) impedes the ability of the students to fully access 

the educational opportunities to which the students are 

entitled; and 

(2) constitutes sex discrimination; 

Whereas, because of the recent national focus on sexual harassment and assault, reporting to the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission (referred to in this preamble as 

the ‘‘EEOC’’) has increased 12 percent from 2017 to 

2018, reflecting more accurate data on the prevalence of 

harassment and resulting in a 50 percent increase in lawsuits filed by the EEOC in 2018; 

Whereas the rule proposed by the Department of Education 

regarding title IX would substantially narrow campus 


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protections and would irresponsibly reverse much of the 

progress made to combat sexual assaults on educational 

campuses; and 

Whereas, between 2011 and 2016, investigations by the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education into 

reports of sexual and dating violence and discrimination 

against transgender students have helped to identify and 

respond to systemic issues of discrimination against students that otherwise would have gone unrecognized, yet 

recent actions from the Office for Civil Rights indicate 

that there will be fewer resources and less attention focused on issues of sexual and dating violence and discrimination against transgender students moving forward: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) applauds the tremendous increase in edu3 cational opportunities for women and girls, including 

4 in sports, since the passage of title IX of the Edu5 cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 

6 seq.); 

7 (2) encourages the Department of Education 

8 and the Department of Justice to protect the rights 

9 of students to have safe learning environments by 

10 working to ensure schools prevent and respond to 

11 discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex, 

12 including— 

13 (A) sexual assault; 

14 (B) harassment; 


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1 (C) domestic and dating violence; 

2 (D) discrimination or harassment on the 

3 basis of pregnancy; 

4 (E) sex stereotyping; and 

5 (F) discrimination or harassment on the 

6 basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation 

7 and gender identity; and 

8 (3) recognizes the work that still remains to be 

9 done to secure the promise of title IX of the Edu10 cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 

11 seq.) that no federally funded educational institution 

12 shall discriminate against any person on the basis of 

13 sex. 

Æ 


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