IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 604 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each Member, 

officer, and employee of the House to complete the program of sexual 

harassment prevention and response training in employment which is 

offered by the Office of Compliance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2017 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. POLIQUIN, and 

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Ethics, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 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 

RESOLUTION 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 

require each Member, officer, and employee of the House 

to complete the program of sexual harassment prevention 

and response training in employment which is offered 

by the Office of Compliance, and for other purposes. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional 

4 Education About Sexual harassment Eradication Resolu5 tion’’ or the ‘‘CEASE Resolution’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MANDATORY COMPLETION BY ALL HOUSE MEM2 BERS AND STAFF OF OFFICE OF COMPLI3 ANCE PROGRAM OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT 

4 PREVENTION AND RESPONSE TRAINING IN 

5 EMPLOYMENT. 

6 (a) MANDATORY COMPLETION AND CERTIFI7 CATION.—Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Rep8 resentatives is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating clause 18 as clause 19; 

10 and 

11 (2) by inserting after clause 17 the following 

12 new clause: 

13 ‘‘18.(a) Each Member, Delegate, Resident Commis14 sioner, officer, and employee of the House shall annually 

15 complete the program of sexual harassment prevention 

16 and response training in employment which is offered by 

17 the Office of Compliance. 

18 ‘‘(b) Not later than January 31 of each year, each 

19 Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, and 

20 employee of the House shall file a certification with the 

21 Committee on Ethics that the individual completed the 

22 program required under this clause in the previous year. 

23 ‘‘(c) A new Member, Delegate, Resident Commis24 sioner, officer, or employee of the House shall complete 

25 the program required under this clause, and shall file a 

26 certification with the Committee on Ethics that the indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Nov 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR604.IH HR604

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1 vidual completed the program, not later than 60 days after 

2 beginning service to the House. 

3 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this clause, ‘sexual harassment’ 

4 means any conduct directed at an individual which con5 sists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual fa6 vors, any other conduct of a sexual nature, or conduct 

7 based on the individual’s sex if such conduct has the pur8 pose or effect of interfering with the individual’s work per9 formance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive 

10 working environment, or if submission to or rejection of 

11 such conduct by the individual is used as the basis for 

12 employment decisions affecting the individual, or if sub13 mission by the individual to such conduct is made either 

14 explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the individ15 ual’s employment.’’. 

16 (b) REQUIRING IMMEDIATE COMPLETION OF PRO17 GRAM FOR CURRENT MEMBERS AND STAFF.— 

18 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Each individual who as of 

19 the date of the adoption of this resolution is serving 

20 as a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

21 of the House of Representatives, or serving as an of22 ficer or employee of the House, shall— 

23 (A) complete the program of sexual harass24 ment prevention and response training in emVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Nov 03, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR604.IH HR604

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1 ployment which is offered by the Office of Com2 pliance; and 

3 (B) file a certification with the Committee 

4 on Ethics that the individual completed the pro5 gram. 

6 (2) VIOLATION OF CODE OF CONDUCT.—The 

7 failure of an individual to meet the requirement of 

8 paragraph (1) shall be considered a violation of rule 

9 XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

10 (relating to the Code of Conduct for Members, offi11 cers, and employees of the House). 

12 (3) DEADLINE.—An individual shall meet the 

13 requirement of paragraph (1) not later than the ear14 lier of— 

15 (A) 120 days after the date of the adoption 

16 of this resolution; or 

17 (B) December 31, 2018. 

18 (4) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub19 section, the term ‘‘officer or employee of the House’’ 

20 has the meaning given such term in clause 19 of 

21 rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representa22 tives (as redesignated by subsection (a)). 

23 (c) SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING UPDATES TO

24 OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) UPDATES.—It is the sense of the House of 

2 Representatives that, not later than 180 days after 

3 the date of the adoption of this resolution, the Office 

4 of Compliance should update the program of sexual 

5 harassment prevention and response training in em6 ployment which is offered by the Office to Members, 

7 officers, and employees of the House to include the 

8 following: 

9 (A) Practical examples, derived from situa10 tions easily recognizable to employees of the 

11 House, which are aimed at instructing super12 visors in the prevention of harassment, dis13 crimination, and retaliation, and at instructing 

14 employees in how to recognize situations of har15 assment. 

16 (B) Information regarding the rights of 

17 employees, the options for reporting complaints, 

18 and an overview of the dispute resolution proc19 ess. 

20 (C) Training regarding bystander interven21 tion. 

22 (D) An overview of the consequences for 

23 perpetrating sexual harassment. 

24 (E) Information regarding anti-retaliation 

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1 perience sexual harassment and come forward 

2 to report it. 

3 (F) Interactive methods of instruction 

4 which apply adult learning methodology. 

5 (2) CONSULTATION.—It is the sense of the 

6 House that the Office of Compliance should consult 

7 with the Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sex8 ual Violence: A National Resource Center (also 

9 known as ‘‘Workplaces Respond’’), the nonprofit 

10 nongovernmental entity described in section 41501 

11 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 

12 U.S.C. 12501), in updating and implementing the 

13 program described in paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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