I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2680 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase transparency and 

reporting on campus sexual violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2015 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. COSTA, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Mr. DELANEY, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HONDA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. KUSTER, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

MEEHAN, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RANGEL, 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase 

transparency and reporting on campus sexual violence, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hold Accountable and 

3 Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Violence Act’’ or 

4 the ‘‘HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 

6 (a) DISCLOSURE OF PROGRAM REVIEWS AND OPEN

7 INVESTIGATIONS.—The Department of Education Organi8 zation Act is amended— 

9 (1) in section 203(b) (20 U.S.C. 3413(b)), by 

10 adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 

11 ‘‘(3) The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall 

12 make publicly available on the Department’s website a list 

13 of institutions under investigation, the sanctions (if any) 

14 or findings issued pursuant to such investigations, and a 

15 copy of program reviews and resolution agreements en16 tered into with the Secretary or Attorney General under 

17 title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1681 et seq.) or title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

19 (42 U.S.C. 2000c et seq.). 

20 ‘‘(4) Not later than 30 days after the termination of 

21 the resolution agreements described in paragraph (3), the 

22 Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall transmit to the 

23 Secretary, the President, and the Congress, and make 

24 publicly available on the Department’s website, the letter 

25 terminating the Department of Education’s monitoring of 

26 such agreements.’’; and 


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1 (2) in section 205 (20 U.S.C. 3415), by adding 

2 at the end the following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(c) The Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Edu4 cation shall make publicly available on the Department’s 

5 website a list of institutions under investigation, the sanc6 tions (if any) or findings issued pursuant to such inves7 tigations, and a copy of program reviews and resolution 

8 agreements entered into with the Secretary or Attorney 

9 General under subsection 485(f) of the Higher Education 

10 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)).’’. 

11 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not later than January 

12 1, 2016, the Inspector General of the Department of Edu13 cation shall submit to Congress and make publicly avail14 able a report reviewing compliance with paragraphs (3) 

15 and (4) of section 203(b) of the Department of Education 

16 Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3413(b)) and section 205(c) 

17 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 3415), as added by subsection (a). 

18 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO LEVY FINES. 

19 Section 203(c) of the Department of Education Orga20 nization Act (20 U.S.C. 3413) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (3); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(5) to impose a civil penalty to be paid by an 

4 institution of higher education that has violated a 

5 law under the jurisdiction of the Office for Civil 

6 Rights, the amount of which shall be determined by 

7 the gravity of the violation, and the imposition of 

8 which shall not preclude other remedies available 

9 under Federal law.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. CLIMATE SURVEYS. 

11 Paragraph (1) of section 485(f) of the Higher Edu12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(K) Beginning October 1, 2017, statistics 

15 based upon a sexual violence climate survey con16 ducted not later than April 1, 2016, and every 2 

17 years thereafter— 

18 ‘‘(i) which is developed and approved by 

19 the Secretary, in consultation with the Director 

20 of the Centers for Disease Control of the De21 partment of Health and Human Services and 

22 the Attorney General, except that the National 

23 Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 

24 developed by the National Center for Injury 

25 Prevention and Control of the Centers for DisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2680.IH H2680

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1 ease Control and Prevention may be used for 

2 purposes of this subparagraph until the sexual 

3 violence climate survey has been developed; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) which assesses the occurrence on cam5 pus or in a noncampus building or property 

6 during the preceding calendar year for which 

7 data is available of— 

8 ‘‘(I) instances of domestic violence, 

9 dating violence, sexual assault, and stalk10 ing; 

11 ‘‘(II) indicators of discrimination, and 

12 positive and negative trends for intimate 

13 relationships regardless of gender or sexual 

14 orientation; 

15 ‘‘(III) the effectiveness of campus 

16 policies designed to improve relationships 

17 between students regardless of gender or 

18 sexual orientation; 

19 ‘‘(IV) the effectiveness of current 

20 processes for complaints on and investiga21 tions into sex-based, race-based, national 

22 origin-based, sexual-orientation based, gen23 der-identity based, and disability based 

24 harassment, assault, discrimination, doVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2680.IH H2680

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1 mestic violence, dating violence, and stalk2 ing; 

3 ‘‘(V) perpetration of domestic vio4 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 

5 stalking; and 

6 ‘‘(VI) any other issues relating to sex7 based, race-based, national origin-based, 

8 sexual-orientation based, gender-identity 

9 based, and disability-based discrimination, 

10 harassment, assault, domestic violence, 

11 dating violence, and assault, as appro12 priate.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. CREATION OF A PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

14 Section 485(f)(14) of the Higher Education Act of 

15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(14)) is amended to read as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(14)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), an aggrieved 

18 individual may allege a violation of this subsection in a 

19 judicial proceeding. A court may award an aggrieved indi20 vidual all appropriate relief, including equitable relief, 

21 compensatory damages, cost of the action, and remedial 

22 action. 

23 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not be construed to pre24 clude an aggrieved individual from obtaining other rem25 edies under any other provision of law or to require such 


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1 individual to exhaust any administrative complaint process 

2 or notice-of-claim requirement before seeking redress 

3 under this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(C) For actions brought pursuant to this paragraph, 

5 the statute of limitations period shall be determined in ac6 cordance with section 1658(a) of title 28, United States 

7 Code. The tolling of any such limitations period shall be 

8 determined in accordance with section 1979 of the Revised 

9 Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983) in the 

10 forum State.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. INCREASE OF CLERY ACT PENALTIES. 

12 Section 485(f)(13) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(13)) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘in the same amount and’’; and 

15 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

16 following: ‘‘, expect that such section shall be applied 

17 by substituting ‘$100,000’ for ‘$25,000’ ’’. 

18 SEC. 7. NOTIFICATION OF POLICIES AIMED AT PREVEN19 TION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (8) of section 485(f) 

21 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub23 paragraphs: 

24 ‘‘(D) The statement of policy described in subpara25 graph (A) shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(i) written using simple and understandable 

2 language and clear formatting; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) made available and posted on the institu4 tion’s public website, and in conspicuous places, in5 cluding places in and around student housing, resi6 dence halls, student health centers, student recre7 ation centers, the main student center on campus, 

8 and academic buildings where students congregate 

9 and are likely to see it. 

10 ‘‘(E) The statement of policy described in subpara11 graph (A) shall be provided, on an annual basis, to each 

12 student group, student team, or student organization 

13 which is part of such institution, is recognized by the insti14 tution, or permitted by the institution to use its name or 

15 facilities or is known by the institution to act as an unaf16 filiated student group, student team, or student organiza17 tion, and each institution of higher education described in 

18 subparagraph (A) shall ensure that each such group, 

19 team, or organization distributes a copy of such policy to 

20 each of its members as well as each of its applicants for 

21 membership, including plebes, pledges, or similar appli22 cants. 

23 ‘‘(F) An institution’s compliance with subparagraph 

24 (E) with respect to an unaffiliated student group, student 

25 team, or student organization shall not constitute evidence 


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1 of the institution’s recognition or endorsement of such un2 affiliated group, team, or organization.’’. 

3 (b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—Not later 

4 than August 1, 2017, the Comptroller General shall report 

5 to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

6 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

7 Education, and Labor of the Senate on— 

8 (1) the implementation of section 485(f)(8) of 

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

10 1092(f)(8)), as amended by subsection (a), includ11 ing— 

12 (A) the extent to which institutions of 

13 higher education have developed the statement 

14 of policy required under subparagraph (A) of 

15 such section; 

16 (B) how institutions of higher education 

17 are— 

18 (i) distributing such statement of pol19 icy; and 

20 (ii) determining whether the policy is 

21 received and understood by students; and 

22 (C) the Secretary of Education’s oversight 

23 of the compliance of institutions of higher edu24 cation with respect to the statement of policy 

25 requirements under such section, including efVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2680.IH H2680

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1 forts, in consultation with the Attorney General, 

2 to provide technical assistance to institutions of 

3 higher education in complying with such re4 quirements; and 

5 (2) any changes in the numbers of dating vio6 lence, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking 

7 incidents reported to campus security authorities or 

8 local police agencies as indicated by the annual secu9 rity reports distributed under of section 485(f)(1) of 

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

11 1092(f)(1)). 

12 SEC. 8. CAMPUS SEXUAL VIOLENCE TASK FORCE. 

13 (a) CAMPUS SEXUAL VIOLENCE TASK FORCE.—Not 

14 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, the Secretary of Education and the Attorney General 

16 shall create a joint interagency task force to be known as 

17 the ‘‘Campus Sexual Violence Task Force’’ that shall— 

18 (1) provide pertinent information to the Sec19 retary of Education, Attorney General, Congress, 

20 and the public with respect to campus sexual vio21 lence prevention, investigations, and responses, in22 cluding the creation of a consistent, public complaint 

23 processes for violations of title IX of the Education 

24 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) and 


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1 section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)); 

3 (2) provide recommendations to institutions of 

4 higher education for establishing sexual assault pre5 vention and response teams; 

6 (3) develop recommendations for institutions of 

7 higher education on providing survivor resources, in8 cluding healthcare, rape kits, sexual assault nurse 

9 examiners, and access to confidential advocacy and 

10 support services; 

11 (4) develop recommendations for best practices 

12 for responses and prevention with respect to sexual 

13 violence for educational institutions, taking into con14 sideration an institution’s size and resources; 

15 (5) solicit input from survivors, advocates from 

16 national, State, and local anti-sexual violence advo17 cacy organizations, institutions of higher education, 

18 and other public stakeholders; 

19 (6) assess the Department of Education’s abil20 ity under section 902 of the Education Amendments 

21 of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1682) to levy intermediate fines 

22 for noncompliance with title IX of the Education 

23 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) and 

24 the advisability of additional remedies for such nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2680.IH H2680

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1 compliance, in addition to the remedies already 

2 available under Federal law; and 

3 (7) create a plan described in subsection (c). 

4 (b) PERSONNEL DETAILS.— 

5 (1) AUTHORITY TO DETAIL.—Notwithstanding 

6 any other provision of law, the head of an element 

7 of any Federal agency is that is funded under the 

8 Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 

9 13925 et seq.) may detail an officer or employee of 

10 such element to the Campus Sexual Violence Task 

11 Force or to the Secretary of Education to assist the 

12 Task Force with the duties described in subsection 

13 (a), as jointly agreed to by the head of such element 

14 and the Task Force. 

15 (2) BASIS FOR DETAIL.—A personnel detail 

16 made under paragraph (1) may be made— 

17 (A) for a period of not more than 3 years; 

18 and 

19 (B) on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable 

20 basis. 

21 (c) ADDITIONAL PLAN.—Not later than 270 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Campus Sex23 ual Violence Task Force shall submit to Congress a plan 

24 for recruiting, retaining, and training a highly-qualified 

25 workforce employed by the Department of Education to 


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1 carry out investigation of complaints alleging a violation 

2 of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) or section 485(f) of the Higher Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)), and enforcement 

5 of such title IX (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) or such section 

6 485(f) (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)), with respect to campus sexual 

7 violence. Such plan shall include— 

8 (1) an assessment of the capabilities of the cur9 rent workforce carrying out such investigation and 

10 enforcement; 

11 (2) an examination of issues of recruiting, re12 tention, and the professional development of such 

13 workforce, including the possibility of providing re14 tention bonuses or other forms of compensation for 

15 the purpose of ensuring the Department of Edu16 cation has the capacity, in both personnel and skills, 

17 needed to properly perform its mission and provide 

18 adequate oversight of educational institutions; 

19 (3) an assessment of the benefits of outreach 

20 and training with both law enforcement agencies and 

21 institutions of higher education with respect to such 

22 workforce; 

23 (4) developing best practices for interviewing 

24 and investigating sexual violence, including guidance 


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1 on evidentiary standards for administrative re2 sponses; 

3 (5) an examination of best practices for making 

4 institutions of higher education aware of the most 

5 effective campus sexual violence prevention, inves6 tigation, and response practices and identifying 

7 areas where more research should be conducted; and 

8 (6) strategies for addressing such other matters 

9 as the Secretary of Education considers necessary to 

10 campus sexual violence prevention, investigation, and 

11 responses. 

12 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Campus Sexual Violence 

13 Task Force shall report to Congress on an annual basis, 

14 and make publicly available, a report of its activities and 

15 any update of the plan required under subsection (c), in16 cluding the number of complaints received regarding sex17 ual violence (including violence on the basis of sexual ori18 entation and gender identity), the number of open inves19 tigations, the average time to complete an investigation, 

20 the number of investigations initiated based on com21 plaints, and the number of investigations initiated by the 

22 Department of Education. 

23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 (1) TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMEND25 MENTS OF 1972.—There are authorized to be approVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2680.IH H2680

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1 priated for training, hiring, and retaining a work2 force exclusively dedicated to investigation and en3 forcement of title IX of the Education Amendments 

4 of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) provisions with re5 spect to sexual violence, for fiscal year 2016 and 

6 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, an amount 

7 that is equal to the sum of the amounts appro8 priated for such purpose for fiscal year 2015 plus 

9 $5,000,000. 

10 (2) SECTION 485(F) OF THE HIGHER EDU11 CATION ACT OF 1965.—There are authorized to be 

12 appropriated for training, hiring, and retaining a 

13 workforce exclusively dedicated to investigation and 

14 enforcement of section 485(f) of the Higher Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)), for fiscal 

16 year 2016 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, 

17 an amount that is equal to the sum of the amounts 

18 appropriated for such purpose for fiscal year 2015 

19 plus $5,000,000. 

20 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘educational institution’’ includes 

22 an institution of higher education, an elementary 

23 school, or a secondary school. 

24 (2) The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec25 ondary school’’ have the meanings given the terms 


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1 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (3) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

4 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

6 (4) The term ‘‘sexual assault’’ has the meaning 

7 of an offense that meets the definition of rape, fond8 ling, incest, or statutory rape under— 

9 (A) the Uniform Crime Report of the Fed10 eral Bureau of Investigation; and 

11 (B) the final regulations published by the 

12 Department of Education in the Federal Reg13 ister on October 20, 2014 for Appendix A of 

14 subpart D of part 668, Code of Federal Regula15 tions (79 Fed. Reg. 62752). 

16 SEC. 9. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

17 Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

18 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1)(F)(i)(II), by striking ‘‘sex 

20 offenses, forcible or nonforcible’’ and inserting ‘‘sex21 ual assault’’; and 

22 (2) by amending paragraph (6)(A)(v) to read as 

23 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(v) The term ‘sexual assault’ has the meaning 

2 of an offense that meets the definition of rape, fond3 ling, incest, or statutory rape under— 

4 ‘‘(I) the Uniform Crime Report of the Fed5 eral Bureau of Investigation; and 

6 ‘‘(II) the final regulations published by the 

7 Department of Education in the Federal Reg8 ister on October 20, 2014, for Appendix A of 

9 subpart D of part 668, Code of Federal Regula10 tions (79 Fed. Reg. 62752).’’. 

Æ 


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