I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6161 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of 

higher education to notify certain Federal agencies when principal investigators at such institutions engage in discrimination on the basis of 

sex, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. 

KAPTUR, Ms. LEE, Mr. MCNERNEY, and Mr. RYAN of Ohio) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and 

Technology, and the Budget, 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 require 

institutions of higher education to notify certain Federal 

agencies when principal investigators at such institutions 

engage in discrimination on the basis of sex, 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 ‘‘Federal Funding Ac5 countability for Sexual Harassers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 

2 EDUCATION. 

3 Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(30)(A) With respect to any individual whom, 

7 as a result of a grievance procedure described in sec8 tion 106.8(b) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula9 tions (or successor regulations) carried out by the 

10 institution, is found by the institution to have en11 gaged in discrimination on the basis of sex while the 

12 individual was a principal investigator at the institu13 tion, the institution will report (not later than 1 

14 month after such finding) to each Federal depart15 ment and agency that has awarded such institution 

16 a competitive research and development grant on or 

17 after the date that is 10 years before such finding, 

18 the following information: 

19 ‘‘(i) The name of the individual. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The date and nature of the violation 

21 for which such determination was made. 

22 ‘‘(iii) The findings of such determination. 

23 ‘‘(iv) The remedy (such as corrective train24 ing or suspension) required by the institution 

25 after such determination. 


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1 ‘‘(B) With respect to a formal complaint alleg2 ing discrimination on the basis of sex by a principal 

3 investigator at the institution, which was filed with 

4 such institution, but for which the institution has 

5 not carried out a grievance procedure described in 

6 section 106.8(b) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula7 tions (or successor regulations) 6 months after the 

8 date on which such complaint was filed, the institu9 tion will report (not later than the date that is 7 

10 months after the date on which such complaint was 

11 filed) to each Federal department and agency that 

12 has awarded such institution a competitive research 

13 and development grant on or after the date that is 

14 10 years before such complaint was filed, the fol15 lowing information: 

16 ‘‘(i) The current status of the complaint. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The nature of the complaint. 

18 ‘‘(iii) The date of the alleged violation. 

19 ‘‘(iv) The reason why the institution has 

20 yet to complete the grievance procedure. 

21 ‘‘(C) In the case of an institution that is re22 quired to report information— 

23 ‘‘(i) under subparagraph (A) or (B), the 

24 institution will— 


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1 ‘‘(I) ensure that such information is 

2 accurate; and 

3 ‘‘(II) if errors are discovered in such 

4 information, report the corrected informa5 tion to each Federal department and agen6 cy described in such subparagraphs, as 

7 soon as practicable; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) under subparagraph (B), the institu9 tion will not report any personally identifiable 

10 information with respect to individuals involved 

11 with the formal complaint on which the institu12 tion is reporting. 

13 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 

14 ‘principal investigator’, when used with respect to an 

15 institution of higher education— 

16 ‘‘(i) means an individual at and approved 

17 by such institution to be responsible for the sci18 entific or technical direction of a research and 

19 development grant awarded (or that may be 

20 awarded) to the institution by a Federal depart21 ment or agency; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) includes an individual identified by 

23 such institution as a co-investigator, senior per24 sonnel, or an individual in an equivalent posiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6161.IH H6161

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1 tion at the institution with respect to such 

2 grant.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN FEDERAL DEPART4 MENTS AND AGENCIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal department or 

6 agency authorized to award research and development 

7 grants on a competitive basis— 

8 (1) when making the final decision of whether 

9 to award such a grant to an institution of higher 

10 education— 

11 (A) shall determine whether any reports 

12 have been filed under section 487(a)(30)(A) of 

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

14 1094(a)(30)(A)), as added by section 2, on any 

15 individual who will be the principal investigator 

16 at the institution of higher education for such 

17 grant; and 

18 (B) if such a report has been filed, will 

19 consider the report when making such decision; 

20 and 

21 (2) shall keep each report received under such 

22 section 487(a)(30)(A) (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(30)(A)) 

23 on an individual— 

24 (A) in a case in which during the 10-year 

25 period beginning on the date of receipt of such 


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1 report no additional such report is filed on such 

2 individual, for such 10-year period; or 

3 (B) in a case in which during the 10-year 

4 period described in subparagraph (A) an addi5 tional such report is filed on such individual, 

6 for the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

7 receipt of such additional report; and 

8 (3) shall carry out the reporting requirements 

9 described in section 1105(a)(40) of title 31, United 

10 States Code, as added by section 4. 

11 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

13 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

14 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High15 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

16 (2) PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR.—The term 

17 ‘‘principal investigator’’ has the meaning given the 

18 term in section 487(a)(30)(D), as added by section 

19 2. 

20 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN FED21 ERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES. 

22 Section 1105(a)(40) of title 31, United States Code, 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new para24 graph: 


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1 ‘‘(40) in the case of a Federal department or 

2 agency authorized to award research and develop3 ment grants on a competitive basis— 

4 ‘‘(A) the number of reports received under 

5 section 487(a)(30) of the Higher Education Act 

6 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(30)), as added by 

7 the Federal Funding Accountability for Sexual 

8 Harassers Act, and disaggregated by reports re9 ceived under subparagraph (A) and by reports 

10 received under subparagraph (B) of such sec11 tion; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the number of cases in which the de13 partment or agency recommended awarding 

14 such a grant for which the principal investi15 gator (as defined in section 3(b) of the Federal 

16 Funding Accountability for Sexual Harassers 

17 Act) was an individual on which a report under 

18 section 487(a)(30)(A) of the Higher Education 

19 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(30)(A)) had 

20 been filed during the preceding fiscal year.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT. 

22 The Secretary of Education shall enter into a con23 tract with the National Academy of Sciences under which 

24 the National Academy of Sciences shall— 


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1 (1) conduct a comprehensive study on the prev2 alence and impact of sexual harassment in higher 

3 education in science, engineering, and medical de4 partments and programs, which shall include an 

5 evaluation of, and strategies to, address the legisla6 tive, administrative, educational, and cultural bar7 riers to reducing the negative impacts of such sexual 

8 harassment; and 

9 (2) not later than 3 years after the date of en10 actment of this Act, submit to the Secretary of Edu11 cation and make public a report on the results of 

12 such study, including— 

13 (A) an evaluation of the impact of sexual 

14 harassment on the academic careers of sci15 entists, engineers, and health care professionals; 

16 (B) a review of current institutional proce17 dures for preventing sexual harassment with an 

18 assessment of their efficacy, with comparisons 

19 to international programs and procedures if rel20 evant; and 

21 (C) recommendations for evidence-based 

22 strategies and policies that can reduce or elimi23 nate sexual harassment. 

Æ 


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