IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3659 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT 

To establish an Anti-Bullying Roundtable to study bullying 

in elementary and secondary schools in the United 

States, 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; FINDINGS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as 

3 ‘‘Danny’s Law’’. 

4 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) This Act is named in honor of Daniel 

6 Fitzpatrick, who, in August 2016, when he was 13 

7 years old, tragically took his own life as a direct re8 sult of bullying. 

9 (2) According to the Centers for Disease Con10 trol and Prevention, bullying is among the most 

11 commonly reported discipline problems in public 

12 schools. 

13 (3) Potential effects of bullying include social 

14 and emotional distress, physical injury, and in15 creased risk for lowering academic achievement. 

16 SEC. 2. ANTI-BULLYING ROUNDTABLE. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde18 pendent commission to be known as the ‘‘Anti-Bullying 

19 Roundtable’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Round20 table’’). 

21 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of the Roundtable shall be 

22 to study and report on bullying in elementary schools and 

23 secondary schools in the United States by consulting with 

24 State educational agencies and local educational agencies 

25 regarding— 

26 (1) current policies on bullying; 


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1 (2) teacher education on bullying and bullying 

2 prevention policies; 

3 (3) parent and student education on bullying 

4 and bullying prevention policies; 

5 (4) instances of student violence as a result of 

6 bullying; 

7 (5) instances of student self-harm as a result of 

8 bullying; 

9 (6) preventative measures in place at State and 

10 local levels; and 

11 (7) instances of cyberbullying and practices for 

12 addressing cyberbullying. 

13 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Roundtable shall be 

15 composed of 15 members, appointed as follows: 

16 (A) Three members shall be appointed by 

17 the Secretary of Education, and those three 

18 members shall represent three different cat19 egories of stakeholders described in paragraph 

20 (2). 

21 (B) Six members shall be appointed by the 

22 Speaker of the House of Representatives, three 

23 of whom shall be appointed on the rec24 ommendation of the majority leader of the 

25 House of Representatives, and three of whom 


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1 shall be appointed on the recommendation of 

2 the minority leader of the House of Representa3 tives. The Speaker, the majority leader, and the 

4 minority leader of the House of Representatives 

5 shall each select individuals who represent at 

6 least three different categories of stakeholders 

7 described in paragraph (2). 

8 (C) Six members shall be appointed by the 

9 President pro tempore of the Senate, three of 

10 whom shall be appointed on the recommenda11 tion of the majority leader of the Senate, and 

12 three of whom shall be appointed on the rec13 ommendation of the minority leader of the Sen14 ate. The President pro tempore, the majority 

15 leader, and the minority leader of the Senate 

16 shall each select individuals who represent at 

17 least three different categories of stakeholders 

18 described in paragraph (2). 

19 (D) In appointing members of the Round20 table, the Secretary of Education, the Speaker 

21 of the House of Representatives, and the Presi22 dent pro tempore of the Senate, to the extent 

23 practicable, shall take into account all the other 

24 nominees to the Roundtable to ensure as many 


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1 as possible of the categories of stakeholders de2 scribed in paragraph (2) are represented. 

3 (2) REPRESENTATION.—The members of the 

4 Roundtable shall include, to the extent practicable, 

5 at least one representative of each of the following: 

6 (A) Teachers. 

7 (B) School leaders. 

8 (C) Parents of schoolchildren. 

9 (D) Individuals who are at least 16 years 

10 of age and who have experienced bullying. 

11 (E) Physicians. 

12 (F) Child psychologists. 

13 (G) Paraprofessionals. 

14 (H) School resource officers or other ap15 propriate professionals responsible for school se16 curity. 

17 (I) Specialized instructional support per18 sonnel. 

19 (J) Other staff. 

20 (K) Other individuals with expertise work21 ing with bullied youth. 

22 (3) CHAIR.—The members of the Roundtable 

23 shall elect one individual to serve as chair. 

24 (4) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed 

25 for the duration of the existence of the Roundtable. 


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1 (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Roundtable 

2 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

3 appointment was made under paragraph (1) and in 

4 accordance with the requirements of paragraph (2). 

5 (6) PAY.—Members of the Roundtable shall 

6 serve without pay. 

7 (d) TIME FRAME FOR FORMATION.—Not later than 

8 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the des9 ignated Members of Congress and the Secretary shall ap10 point the members described in subsection (c)(1). 

11 (e) POWERS OF ROUNDTABLE.— 

12 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Round13 table may, for the purpose of carrying out this sec14 tion, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, 

15 take testimony, and receive evidence as the Round16 table considers appropriate. 

17 (2) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—Upon request 

18 of the chair of the Roundtable, the Secretary of 

19 Education shall work with the heads of appropriate 

20 departments or agencies to furnish requested infor21 mation to the Roundtable. 

22 (3) MAILS.—The Roundtable may use the 

23 United States mails in the same manner and under 

24 the same conditions as other departments and agen25 cies of the United States. 


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1 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.— 

2 Upon request of the Roundtable, the Secretary of 

3 Education shall provide to the Roundtable the ad4 ministrative support services necessary for the 

5 Roundtable to carry out its responsibilities under 

6 this Act. 

7 (f) REPORTS.— 

8 (1) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—Not later than 

9 270 days after the date on which the Roundtable 

10 has been formed, the Roundtable shall submit to the 

11 Secretary of Education, and the Secretary shall 

12 make public, a report on best practices concerning 

13 bullying, including cyberbullying, in elementary 

14 schools and secondary schools in the United States 

15 that contains, among other items— 

16 (A) recommendations for how to prevent 

17 bullying; 

18 (B) recommendations for how to best edu19 cate educators, administrators, and all relevant 

20 school staff on recognizing bullying; 

21 (C) recommendations for how parents can 

22 best address and discuss with their children the 

23 early warning signs of bullying; 

24 (D) recommendations for addressing un25 derlying causes of bullying behavior; 


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1 (E) recommendations to address bullying 

2 of at-risk students, including students who are 

3 at greater risk of self-harm; and 

4 (F) examples of successful evidence-based 

5 bullying prevention programming. 

6 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

7 after the date on which the Roundtable has been 

8 formed, the Roundtable shall transmit a final report 

9 to the Secretary of Education and the Congress con10 taining— 

11 (A) a detailed statement of the findings 

12 and conclusions of the Roundtable; and 

13 (B) recommendations for lawmakers re14 garding effective bullying prevention policies. 

15 (g) TERMINATION.—The Roundtable shall terminate 

16 upon submission of the final report pursuant to subsection 

17 (f)(2). 

18 (h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No data obtained 

19 under this Act from State educational agencies, local edu20 cational agencies, Federal departments or agencies, or 

21 other sources, including information described in sub22 section (e)(2), shall include or reveal personally identifi23 able information about any individual. 

24 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘elemen25 tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘paraprofesVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.RFS H3659

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1 sional’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘other staff’’, ‘‘school leader’’, ‘‘sec2 ondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, ‘‘specialized instructional 

3 support personnel’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have 

4 the meaning given those terms, respectively, under section 

5 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

Passed the House of Representatives September 16, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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