III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 201 

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

opportunities available to women and girls, and recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done to further increase those opportunities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, 

Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. HEITKAMP, Ms. HIRONO, 

Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. UDALL, Ms. WARREN, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MURPHY, and Ms. CORTEZ

MASTO) 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 women and girls, 

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 201 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 2015 women earned the majority of doctoral, master’s, baccalaureate, and associate degrees; 

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; 

(2) to earn athletic scholarships to help finance a 

college degree; and 

(3) to become successful professional athletes; 


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•SRES 201 IS 

Whereas, despite the progress that has been made in higher 

education and athletics, women, girls, pregnant or parenting students, and gender non-conforming students in 

the United States are still frequently denied equal educational opportunities; 

Whereas the number of baccalaureate degrees in science, 

technology, engineering, and math earned by women has 

decreased over the past decade, and women earn only— 

(1) 39 percent of physical science degrees; 

(2) 18 percent of computing degrees; 

(3) 19 percent of engineering degrees; and 

(4) 43 percent of mathematics degrees; 

Whereas women of color earn only 6 percent of computing 

degrees and 3 percent of engineering degrees at the baccalaureate level; 

Whereas, despite representing 56 percent of all those enrolled 

in colleges and universities in the United States, women 

hold almost 2⁄3 of all outstanding student debt, and the 

average of student debt owed by women following the 

completion of a baccalaureate degree is $1,500 more than 

the average of student debt owed by men; 

Whereas there are approximately 64,000 fewer opportunities 

for women to participate in college sports compared to 

men, and in 2015, women made up only 37 of the 313 

athletic directors in Division I sports; 

Whereas multiple studies have confirmed that 1 in 5 women 

are sexually assaulted on college campuses and approximately 20 percent of girls have been the victims of sexual 

assault or attempted sexual assault while in high school; 

Whereas more than 50 percent of girls in grades 7 through 

12 experience sexual harassment and 10 percent of high 


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•SRES 201 IS 

school students experience dating violence each year, 

which can— 

(1) lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety and 

unhealthy and antisocial behaviors; and 

(2) negatively impact academic achievement; 

Whereas men still hold the vast majority of school leadership 

positions, and women make up approximately— 

(1) 35 percent of full professors at degree-granting 

postsecondary institutions; 

(2) 26 percent of college and university presidents; 

and 

(3) 27 percent of school district superintendents; 

Whereas pregnant and parenting students are more likely to 

drop out of high school compared to other students, and 

only 51 percent of mothers under the age of 20 earn a 

high school diploma by the age of 22, leading to decreased opportunities for continuing education and employment; 

Whereas students face pervasive discrimination and harassment in school, on college campuses, and in the workforce 

on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, 

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; 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 


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•SRES 201 IS 

recent actions from the Office for Civil Rights indicate 

there will be fewer resources and less attention focused 

on these issues 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; 

15 (C) domestic and dating violence; 

16 (D) discrimination or harassment on the 

17 basis of pregnancy; 

18 (E) sex stereotyping; and 

19 (F) discrimination or harassment on the 

20 basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation 

21 and gender identity; and 

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

23 done to secure the promise of title IX of the EduVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:29 Jun 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR201.IS SR201

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•SRES 201 IS 

1 cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 

2 seq.) that no federally funded educational institution 

3 shall discriminate against any person on the basis of 

4 sex. 

Æ 


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