I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3555 

To amend the Department of Education Organization Act and the Higher 

Education Act of 1965 to require publication of information relating 

to religious exemptions to the requirements of title IX of the Education 

Amendments of 1972, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. 

BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Education Organization Act 

and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require publication of information relating to religious exemptions 

to the requirements of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 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 ‘‘Exposing Discrimina5 tion in Higher Education Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PUBLICATION ON WEBSITE OF THE DEPARTMENT 

2 OF EDUCATION. 

3 Section 203 of the Department of Education Organi4 zation Act (20 U.S.C. 3413) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(d) The Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights shall 

7 publish, on the Department’s website, in a prominent loca8 tion, information regarding religious exemptions to the re9 quirements of title IX of the Education Amendments of 

10 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in accord with this para11 graph. Such information shall include a list naming each 

12 institution of higher education that requests such an ex13 emption, the name of each such institution that has re14 ceived an exemption, and the nature and scope of that ex15 emption (including each program or activity covered by 

16 the exemption and the personal characteristics or behav17 iors to which the exemption applies).’’. 

18 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION ON WEBSITE OF EACH INSTITUTION 

19 OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 

20 Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 1092) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(n) DISCLOSURE OF RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS TO

24 TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1972.— 

25 Each institution of higher education participating in any 

26 program under this title that requests, receives, or exerVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3555.IH H3555

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1 cises or intends to exercise a religious exemption to the 

2 requirements of title IX of the Education Amendments of 

3 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) shall submit in writing to 

4 the Assistant Secretary a statement by the highest rank5 ing official of the institution, identifying the provisions of 

6 part 106 of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

7 that conflict with a specific tenet of the religious organiza8 tion and shall publish on its website, in a prominent loca9 tion, the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) REQUEST LETTER.—Each letter submitted 

11 by the educational institution to the Department to 

12 request such an exemption. 

13 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTION LETTER.—Each letter from 

14 the Department to the educational institution that 

15 grants or denies such an exemption. 

16 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF REQUEST.—Notice that the 

17 educational institution has requested an exemption 

18 under section 901(a)(3) of the Education Amend19 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681(a)(3)). 

20 ‘‘(4) NOTICE OF EXEMPTION.—If applicable, 

21 notice that the educational institution has received 

22 an exemption under section 901(a)(3) of the Edu23 cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681(a)(3)). 

24 ‘‘(5) COVERED PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OR

25 BEHAVIORS.—A list of the personal characteristics 


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1 or behaviors to which each requested or granted ex2 emption applies. 

3 ‘‘(6) COVERED ACTIVITIES OR PROGRAMS.—A 

4 list of the activities or programs to which each ex5 emption applies. 

6 ‘‘(7) STATEMENT OF RIGHTS.—The statement 

7 ‘Students continue to have rights under title IX of 

8 the Education Amendments of 1972. Any student 

9 who experiences discrimination may contact the Of10 fice for Civil Rights at the United States Depart11 ment of Education at lllll or lllll.’, 

12 with the first blank space being filled with a link to 

13 the website of the Office for Civil Rights and the 

14 second blank space being filled with the telephone 

15 number of the Office for Civil Rights.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS