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Union Calendar No. 493 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8648 

[Report No. 118–593] 

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 

JULY 18, 2024 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 7, 2024] 


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A BILL 

To increase the transparency of colleges and universities 

in carrying out their civil rights responsibilities, and for 

other purposes. 


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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 REQUIRE9 MENT.—Section 487 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

10 (20 U.S.C. 1094) is amended— 

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

12 following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(30) The institution will comply with the provi14 sions of subsection (i) and provide to the Secretary an 

15 annual attestation of such compliance.’’. 

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

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

18 (3) by inserting after subsection (h) the following 

19 new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(i) COMPLIANCE AND TRANSPARENCY RELATED TO

21 COMPLAINTS UNDER TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

22 OF 1964.— 

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

24 respect to complaints received by an institution re25 lated to alleged violations of title VI of the Civil 


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1 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), the in2 stitution will— 

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

4 (including on the website of the institution), and 

5 widely distribute to students and their families 

6 (including in student orientation materials) a 

7 description of the investigative processes of the 

8 institution related to such complaints; 

9 ‘‘(B) include in the description of investiga10 tive processes described in subparagraph (A) at 

11 least the following: 

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

13 determine whether such a complaint will be 

14 investigated and how the outcome of an in15 vestigation will be determined. 

16 ‘‘(ii) A designation of at least one em17 ployee to coordinate its efforts to comply 

18 with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

19 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), including any in20 vestigation of any complaint alleging the 

21 noncompliance of the institution with re22 quirements under the Act. 

23 ‘‘(iii) The contact information and 

24 necessary steps for reporting such a com25 plaint to the institution. 


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

2 each such complaint received by the institu3 tion, the complainant will receive from the 

4 institution timely notification of each of the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(I) Confirmation of receipt of the 

7 complaint. 

8 ‘‘(II) Notification of whether or 

9 not an investigation has been opened 

10 in response to the complaint. 

11 ‘‘(III) In the case that an inves12 tigation was not opened in response to 

13 the complaint, an explanation of why 

14 an investigation was not opened in15 cluding a summary of the information 

16 that was used to determine that an in17 vestigation should not be opened. 

18 ‘‘(IV) In the case that an inves19 tigation was opened— 

20 ‘‘(aa) notification that an in21 vestigation of the complaint will 

22 be carried out, and that the com23 plainant will be notified of the 

24 outcome of the investigation; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) notification of the out2 come of the investigation, includ3 ing an explanation of how the 

4 outcome was reached, and any re5 medial actions taken in response 

6 to the complaint. 

7 ‘‘(v) A system for keeping and main8 taining records of such complaints, includ9 ing the determination and reasoning for 

10 whether or not an investigation into a com11 plaint was opened, notifications to and 

12 communications with the complainant and, 

13 if applicable, the respondent, a record of the 

14 investigation (including the outcome there15 of), and a record of any remedial actions 

16 taken in response to the complaint. 

17 ‘‘(vi) The contact information and nec18 essary steps for reporting a complaint re19 lated to an alleged violation of title VI of 

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

21 2000d et seq.) to the Office for Civil Rights 

22 of the Department of Education, including 

23 the hyperlink to the electronic complaint 

24 form of the Office for Civil Rights for an al25 leged violation of such title VI; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) with respect to public awareness cam2 paign materials created and distributed by the 

3 Office for Civil Rights of the Department relat4 ing to protections for individuals under title VI 

5 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d 

6 et seq.), display and publish such materials, as 

7 applicable— 

8 ‘‘(i) not later than 30 days after such 

9 materials are distributed; 

10 ‘‘(ii) for not less than 1 year or until 

11 new such materials are distributed, which12 ever is later; 

13 ‘‘(iii) in high traffic, public places on 

14 the campus of the institution; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) on publicly available websites of 

16 the institution. 

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 two 

22 years. To regain eligibility to participate in the pro23 grams authorized by this title, an institution of high24 er education shall demonstrate compliance with para25 graph (1) prior to the completion of the period during 


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1 which the institution is ineligible due to failure to 

2 comply with such paragraph.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub4 section (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 Senate 

17 regarding discrimination on the basis of race, color, 

18 or national origin in violation of title VI of the Civil 

19 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 (re25 ferred 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 out 

8 in response to those complaints, as applica9 ble; and 

10 (C) provides data about the length of time 

11 that those complaints are pending after being re12 ceived 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 Senate 

20 that contains the information that will be presented 

21 at such briefing, in a manner that protects personally 

22 identifiable information in accordance with applica23 ble 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 violation 

4 of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

5 2000d et seq.) due to the filing of a complaint involv6 ing the same allegations against the same recipient— 

7 (A) by an individual other than the com8 plainant with another Federal, State, or local 

9 agency, a court, or the recipient, unless the Of10 fice determines that— 

11 (i) a court has certified a class action 

12 with respect to the alleged violation of such 

13 other individual’s complaint; 

14 (ii) such other individual is a member 

15 of such class; and 

16 (iii) the complainant is a member of 

17 such class; or 

18 (B) by the complainant with another Fed19 eral, State, or local agency, a court, or the re20 cipient. 

21 (2) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Office shall not delay 

22 an investigation of a complaint due to the filing of 

23 a complaint involving the same allegations against 

24 the same recipient with another Federal, State, or 

25 local agency or the recipient. 


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

2 subsection, the term ‘‘recipient’’ means an institution 

3 of higher education (as such term is defined in section 

4 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 1002)) that receives funds under an applicable pro6 gram (as such term is defined in section 400 of the 

7 General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221)). 


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Union Calendar No. 493 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8648 

[Report No. 118–593] 

A BILL 

To increase the transparency of colleges and univerities, and for other purposes. sities in carrying out their civil rights responsibilJULY 18, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


rfrederick on LAP8M3WLY3PROD with BILLS