I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8648 

To increase the transparency of colleges and universities in carrying out 

their civil rights responsibilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2024 

Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To increase the transparency of colleges and universities 

in carrying out their civil rights responsibilities, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Rights Protection 

5 Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE AND TRANSPARENCY RELATED TO 

7 TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 

8 (a) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT RE9 QUIREMENT.—Section 487 of the Higher Education Act 

10 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

2 following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(30) The institution will comply with the pro4 visions of subsection (i) and provide to the Secretary 

5 an annual attestation of such compliance.’’. 

6 (2) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as 

7 subsections (j) and (k), respectively; and 

8 (3) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol9 lowing new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(i) COMPLIANCE AND TRANSPARENCY RELATED TO

11 COMPLAINTS UNDER TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS

12 ACT OF 1964.— 

13 ‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE AND TRANSPARENCY.—With 

14 respect to complaints received by an institution re15 lated to alleged violations of title VI of the Civil 

16 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), the 

17 institution will— 

18 ‘‘(A) have in effect, make publicly available 

19 (including on the website of the institution), 

20 and widely distribute to students and their fam21 ilies (including in student orientation materials) 

22 a description of the investigative processes of 

23 the institution related to such complaints; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) include in the description of inves2 tigative processes described in subparagraph 

3 (A) at least the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) The processes and factors used to 

5 determine whether such a complaint will be 

6 investigated and how the outcome of an in7 vestigation will be determined. 

8 ‘‘(ii) A designation of at least one em9 ployee to coordinate its efforts to comply 

10 with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

11 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), including 

12 any investigation of any complaint alleging 

13 the noncompliance of the institution with 

14 requirements under the Act. 

15 ‘‘(iii) The contact information and 

16 necessary steps for reporting such a com17 plaint to the institution. 

18 ‘‘(iv) A procedure to ensure that, for 

19 each such complaint received by the insti20 tution, the complainant will receive from 

21 the institution timely notification of each 

22 of the following: 

23 ‘‘(I) Confirmation of receipt of 

24 the complaint. 


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1 ‘‘(II) Notification of whether or 

2 not an investigation has been opened 

3 in response to the complaint. 

4 ‘‘(III) In the case that an inves5 tigation was not opened in response to 

6 the complaint, an explanation of why 

7 an investigation was not opened in8 cluding a summary of the information 

9 that was used to determine that an 

10 investigation should not be opened. 

11 ‘‘(IV) In the case that an inves12 tigation was opened— 

13 ‘‘(aa) notification that an in14 vestigation of the complaint will 

15 be carried out, and that the com16 plainant will be notified of the 

17 outcome of the investigation; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) notification of the out19 come of the investigation, includ20 ing an explanation of how the 

21 outcome was reached, and any 

22 remedial actions taken in re23 sponse to the complaint. 

24 ‘‘(v) A system for keeping and main25 taining records of such complaints, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Jun 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8648.IH H8648

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1 ing the determination and reasoning for 

2 whether or not an investigation into a com3 plaint was opened, a record of the inves4 tigation (including the outcome thereof), 

5 and a record of any remedial actions taken 

6 in response to the complaint. 

7 ‘‘(vi) The contact information and 

8 necessary steps for reporting a complaint 

9 related to an alleged violation of title VI of 

10 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

11 2000d et seq.) to the Office for Civil 

12 Rights of the Department of Education, 

13 including the hyperlink to the electronic 

14 complaint form of the Office for Civil 

15 Rights for an alleged violation of such title 

16 VI. 

17 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—An institution of higher 

18 education that fails to comply with any provision of 

19 subsection (a)(30) for two consecutive award years 

20 shall be ineligible to participate in the programs au21 thorized by this title for a period of not less than 

22 two years. To regain eligibility to participate in the 

23 programs authorized by this title, an institution of 

24 higher education shall demonstrate compliance with 

25 paragraph (1) prior to the completion of the period 


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1 during which the institution is ineligible due to fail2 ure to comply with such paragraph.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of the first 

5 award year beginning after the date of enactment of this 

6 Act. 

7 SEC. 3. OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS REQUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 30 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

11 ending 2 years after such date of enactment, the As12 sistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department 

13 of Education shall give a monthly briefing to the 

14 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

15 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

16 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen17 ate regarding discrimination on the basis of race, 

18 color, or national origin in violation of title VI of the 

19 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), 

20 disaggregated by the basis of discrimination, includ21 ing shared ancestry, that— 

22 (A) explains the number of complaints al23 leging such discrimination that the Office for 

24 Civil Rights of the Department of Education 

25 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’)— 


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1 (i) is investigating; and 

2 (ii) has received in the preceding 

3 month; 

4 (B) describes— 

5 (i) how the Office plans to address 

6 those complaints; and 

7 (ii) the investigations being carried 

8 out in response to those complaints, as ap9 plicable; and 

10 (C) provides data about the length of time 

11 that those complaints are pending after being 

12 received by the Office. 

13 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 48 hours prior to 

14 each briefing required under paragraph (1), the As15 sistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department 

16 of Education shall provide a written report to the 

17 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

18 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

19 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen20 ate that contains the information that will be pre21 sented at such briefing, in a manner that protects 

22 personally identifiable information in accordance 

23 with applicable privacy laws. 

24 (b) OCR PROCESS REFORMS.— 


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1 (1) DISMISSALS.—The Office shall not close or 

2 dismiss any complaint regarding discrimination on 

3 the basis of race, color, or national origin in viola4 tion of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

5 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) due to the filing of a com6 plaint involving the same allegations against the 

7 same recipient— 

8 (A) by an individual other than the com9 plainant with another Federal, State, or local 

10 agency, a court, or the recipient, unless the Of11 fice determines that such other individual’s 

12 complaint is part of a class action in which the 

13 complainant is part of such class; or 

14 (B) by the complainant with another Fed15 eral, State, or local agency, a court, or the re16 cipient. 

17 (2) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Office shall not 

18 delay an investigation of a complaint due to the fil19 ing of a complaint involving the same allegations 

20 against the same recipient with another Federal, 

21 State, or local agency or a recipient. 

22 (3) RECIPIENT DEFINED.—For purposes of this 

23 subsection, the term ‘‘recipient’’ means an institu24 tion of higher education (as such term is defined in 

25 section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 


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1 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that receives funds under an ap2 plicable program (as such term is defined in section 

3 400 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 

4 U.S.C. 1221)). 

Æ 


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