I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2747 

To prevent harassment at institutions of higher education, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2019 

Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CRIST, Mr. 

DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Mr. MOULTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. 

RYAN, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. TITUS, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GARAMENDI, 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 

Mr. SOTO, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Mr. COHEN, Mrs. CRAIG, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. HAYES, 

Mr. MORELLE, and Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To prevent harassment at institutions of higher education, 

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 ‘‘Tyler Clementi Higher 

3 Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN5 FORMATION FOR STUDENTS. 

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

7 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking the subsection heading and in9 serting ‘‘DISCLOSURE OF CAMPUS SECURITY AND

10 HARASSMENT POLICY AND CAMPUS CRIME STATIS11 TICS.’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (6)(A)— 

13 (A) by redesignating clauses (iii), (iv), and 

14 (v), as clauses (vi), (vii), and (viii), respectively; 

15 and 

16 (B) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘commercial mobile service’ has 

19 the meaning given the term in section 332(d) of the 

20 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)). 

21 ‘‘(iv) The term ‘electronic communication’ 

22 means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, im23 ages, sounds, or data of any nature transmitted in 

24 whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, 

25 photoelectronic, or photooptical system. 


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1 ‘‘(v) The term ‘electronic messaging services’ 

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

3 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement 

4 Act (47 U.S.C. 1001).’’; 

5 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (9) through 

6 (18) as paragraphs (10) through (19), respectively; 

7 and 

8 (4) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(9)(A) Each institution of higher education partici11 pating in any program under this title, other than a for12 eign institution of higher education, shall develop and dis13 tribute as part of the report described in paragraph (1)— 

14 ‘‘(i) a statement of policy regarding harassment 

15 on the basis of a student’s actual or perceived race, 

16 color, national origin, sex (including sexual orienta17 tion, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, a med18 ical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, and 

19 a sex stereotype), disability, or religion, which shall 

20 include— 

21 ‘‘(I) a prohibition of such harassment of 

22 enrolled students by other students, faculty, 

23 and staff— 

24 ‘‘(aa) on campus; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) in noncampus buildings or on 

2 noncampus property; 

3 ‘‘(cc) on public property; 

4 ‘‘(dd) in dormitories or other residen5 tial facilities for students on campus; 

6 ‘‘(ee) through the use of electronic 

7 mail addresses issued by the institution of 

8 higher education; 

9 ‘‘(ff) through the use of computers 

10 and communication networks, including 

11 any telecommunications service, owned, op12 erated, or contracted for use by the institu13 tion of higher education or its agents; or 

14 ‘‘(gg) during an activity sponsored by 

15 the institution of higher education or car16 ried out with the use of resources provided 

17 by the institution of higher education; 

18 ‘‘(II) a prohibition of such harassment that 

19 is carried out in whole or in part through the 

20 use of electronic messaging services, commercial 

21 mobile services, electronic communications, or 

22 other technology; 

23 ‘‘(III) a description of the institution’s pro24 grams to combat harassment, which shall be 

25 aimed at the prevention of harassment; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) a description of the procedures that 

2 a student should follow if an incident of harass3 ment occurs; and 

4 ‘‘(V) a description of the procedures that 

5 the institution will follow once an incident of 

6 harassment has been reported; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a detailed description of each occasion in 

8 which a pattern of harassment occurs based on one 

9 or more of the characteristics described in clause (i) 

10 and the actions taken by the institution of higher 

11 education. 

12 ‘‘(B) The statement of policy described in subpara13 graph (A)(i) shall address the following areas: 

14 ‘‘(i) Procedures for timely institutional action in 

15 cases of alleged harassment, which procedures shall 

16 include a clear statement that the accuser and the 

17 accused shall be informed of the outcome of any dis18 ciplinary proceedings in response to an allegation of 

19 harassment. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Possible sanctions to be imposed following 

21 the final determination of an institutional discipli22 nary procedure regarding harassment. 

23 ‘‘(iii) Notification of existing counseling, mental 

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1 tors of harassment, both on campus and in the com2 munity. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Identification of a designated employee or 

4 office at the institution that will be responsible for 

5 receiving and tracking each report of harassment by 

6 a student, faculty, or staff member.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. ANTI-HARASSMENT COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO8 GRAM. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means— 

12 (A) an institution of higher education, in13 cluding an institution of higher education in a 

14 collaborative partnership with a nonprofit orga15 nization; or 

16 (B) a consortium of institutions of higher 

17 education located in the same State. 

18 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Education. 

20 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au21 thorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

22 entities to enable eligible entities to carry out the author23 ized activities described in subsection (d). 

24 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT AWARDS.—The Secretary 

25 shall ensure that each grant awarded under this section 


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1 is of sufficient amount to enable the grantee to meet the 

2 purpose of this section. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

4 that receives a grant under this section shall use the funds 

5 made available through the grant to address harassment 

6 on the basis of one or more of the characteristics described 

7 in section 485(f)(9)(A)(i) of the Higher Education Act of 

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(9)(A)(i)), as amended by section 

9 2 of this Act, by initiating, expanding, or improving pro10 grams— 

11 (1) to prevent the harassment of students at in12 stitutions of higher education; 

13 (2) at institutions of higher education that pro14 vide counseling or redress services to students who 

15 have suffered such harassment or students who have 

16 been accused of subjecting other students to such 

17 harassment; or 

18 (3) that educate or train students, faculty, or 

19 staff of institutions of higher education about ways 

20 to prevent harassment or ways to address such har21 assment if it occurs. 

22 (e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

23 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli24 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 


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1 containing such information, as the Secretary may re2 quire. 

3 (f) DURATION; RENEWAL.—A grant under this sec4 tion shall be awarded for a period of not more than 3 

5 years. The Secretary may renew a grant under this section 

6 for one additional period of not more than 2 years. 

7 (g) AWARD CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding a grant 

8 under this section, the Secretary shall select eligible enti9 ties that demonstrate the greatest need for a grant and 

10 the greatest potential benefit from receipt of a grant. 

11 (h) REPORT AND EVALUATION.— 

12 (1) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO THE SEC13 RETARY.—Not later than 6 months after the end of 

14 the eligible entity’s grant period, the eligible entity 

15 shall— 

16 (A) evaluate the effectiveness of the activi17 ties carried out with the use of funds awarded 

18 pursuant to this section; and 

19 (B) prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

20 report on the results of the evaluation con21 ducted by the entity. 

22 (2) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

23 Not later than 12 months after the date of receipt 

24 of the first report submitted pursuant to paragraph 

25 (1) and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2747.IH H2747

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1 vide to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

2 and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 

3 Education and Labor of the House of Representa4 tives a report that includes the following: 

5 (A) The number and types of eligible enti6 ties receiving assistance under this section. 

7 (B) The anti-harassment programs being 

8 implemented with assistance under this section 

9 and the costs of such programs. 

10 (C) Any other information determined by 

11 the Secretary to be useful in evaluating the 

12 overall effectiveness of the program established 

13 under this section in decreasing incidents of 

14 harassment at institutions of higher education. 

15 (3) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—The Secretary 

16 shall use the information provided under paragraph 

17 (1) to publish a report of evidence-based best prac18 tices for combating harassment at institutions of 

19 higher education, which shall be based on scientific 

20 research that meets nationally recognized standards. 

21 The report shall be made available to all institutions 

22 of higher education and other interested parties. 

23 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

25 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025. 


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1 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

2 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to invalidate 

3 or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal standards 

4 available under any other Federal law or law of a State 

5 or political subdivision of a State, including title VI of the 

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

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

8 1681 et seq.), section 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation 

9 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794, 794a), or the Americans with 

10 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The 

11 obligations imposed by this Act are in addition to those 

12 imposed by title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

13 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education Amend14 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 of 

15 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the 

16 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

17 et seq.). 

Æ 


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