I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 482 

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

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. CAPUANO, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Ms. CHU, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. 

SCHWARTZ, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. HAHN, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. POCAN, and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tyler Clementi Higher 

5 Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN2 FORMATION FOR STUDENTS. 

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

4 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking the subsection heading and in6 serting ‘‘DISCLOSURE OF CAMPUS SECURITY AND

7 HARASSMENT POLICY AND CAMPUS CRIME STATIS8 TICS.’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (6)(A)— 

10 (A) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) 

11 as clauses (vi) and (vii), respectively; and 

12 (B) by inserting after clause (i) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘commercial mobile service’ has 

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

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

17 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘electronic communication’ 

18 means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, im19 ages, sounds, or data of any nature transmitted in 

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

21 photoelectronic, or photooptical system. 

22 ‘‘(iv) The term ‘electronic messaging services’ 

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

24 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement 

25 Act (47 U.S.C. 1001). 


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1 ‘‘(v) The term ‘harassment’ means conduct, in2 cluding acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggres3 sion, intimidation, or hostility (including conduct 

4 that is undertaken in whole or in part, through the 

5 use of electronic messaging services, commercial mo6 bile services, electronic communications, or other 

7 technology) that— 

8 ‘‘(I) is sufficiently severe, persistent, or 

9 pervasive so as to limit a student’s ability to 

10 participate in or benefit from a program or ac11 tivity at an institution of higher education, or 

12 to create a hostile or abusive educational envi13 ronment at an institution of higher education; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(II) is based on a student’s actual or per16 ceived— 

17 ‘‘(aa) race; 

18 ‘‘(bb) color; 

19 ‘‘(cc) national origin; 

20 ‘‘(dd) sex; 

21 ‘‘(ee) disability; 

22 ‘‘(ff) sexual orientation; 

23 ‘‘(gg) gender identity; or 

24 ‘‘(hh) religion.’’; 


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1 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (9) through 

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

3 and 

4 (4) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(9)(A) Each institution of higher education partici7 pating in any program under this title, other than a for8 eign institution of higher education, shall develop and dis9 tribute as part of the report described in paragraph (1) 

10 a statement of policy regarding harassment, which shall 

11 include— 

12 ‘‘(i) a prohibition of harassment of enrolled stu13 dents by other students, faculty, and staff— 

14 ‘‘(I) on campus; 

15 ‘‘(II) in noncampus buildings or on non16 campus property; 

17 ‘‘(III) on public property; 

18 ‘‘(IV) through the use of electronic mail 

19 addresses issued by the institution of higher 

20 education; 

21 ‘‘(V) through the use of computers and 

22 communication networks, including any tele23 communications service, owned, operated, or 

24 contracted for use by the institution of higher 

25 education or its agents; or 


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1 ‘‘(VI) during an activity sponsored by the 

2 institution of higher education or carried out 

3 with the use of resources provided by the insti4 tution of higher education; 

5 ‘‘(ii) a description of the institution’s programs 

6 to combat harassment, which shall be aimed at the 

7 prevention of harassment; 

8 ‘‘(iii) a description of the procedures that a stu9 dent should follow if an incident of harassment oc10 curs; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) a description of the procedures that the 

12 institution will follow once an incident of harassment 

13 has been reported. 

14 ‘‘(B) The statement of policy described in subpara15 graph (A) shall address the following areas: 

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

17 cases of alleged harassment, which procedures shall 

18 include a clear statement that the accuser and the 

19 accused shall be informed of the outcome of any dis20 ciplinary proceedings in response to an allegation of 

21 harassment. 

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

23 the final determination of an institutional discipli24 nary procedure regarding harassment. 


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

2 health, or student services for victims or perpetra3 tors of harassment, both on campus and in the com4 munity. 

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

6 office at the institution that will be responsible for 

7 receiving and tracking each report of harassment by 

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

9 SEC. 3. ANTI-HARASSMENT COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO10 GRAM. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti13 ty’’ means— 

14 (A) an institution of higher education, in15 cluding an institution of higher education in a 

16 collaborative partnership with a nonprofit orga17 nization; or 

18 (B) a consortium of institutions of higher 

19 education located in the same State. 

20 (2) HARASSMENT.—The term ‘‘harassment’’ 

21 has the meaning given the term in section 

22 485(f)(6)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

23 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)), as amended by section 2 

24 of this Act. 


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1 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Education. 

3 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au4 thorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

5 entities to enable eligible entities to carry out the author6 ized activities described in subsection (d). 

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

8 shall ensure that each grant awarded under this section 

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

10 purpose of this section. 

11 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

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

13 made available through the grant to address one or more 

14 of the types of harassment listed in section 

15 485(f)(6)(A)(v)(II) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

16 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)(v)(II)), as amended by section 

17 2 of this Act, by initiating, expanding, or improving pro18 grams— 

19 (1) to prevent the harassment of students at in20 stitutions of higher education; 

21 (2) at institutions of higher education that pro22 vide counseling or redress services to students who 

23 have suffered such harassment or students who have 

24 been accused of subjecting other students to such 

25 harassment; or 


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

2 staff of institutions of higher education about ways 

3 to prevent harassment or ways to address such har4 assment if it occurs. 

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

6 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli7 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

8 containing such information, as the Secretary may re9 quire. 

10 (f) DURATION; RENEWAL.—A grant under this sec11 tion shall be awarded for a period of not more than 3 

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

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

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

15 under this section, the Secretary shall select eligible enti16 ties that demonstrate the greatest need for a grant and 

17 the greatest potential benefit from receipt of a grant. 

18 (h) REPORT AND EVALUATION.— 

19 (1) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO THE SEC20 RETARY.—Not later than 6 months after the end of 

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

22 shall— 

23 (A) evaluate the effectiveness of the activi24 ties carried out with the use of funds awarded 


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1 pursuant to this section in decreasing harass2 ment and improving tolerance; and 

3 (B) prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

4 report on the results of the evaluation con5 ducted by the entity. 

6 (2) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

7 Not later than 12 months after the date of receipt 

8 of the first report submitted pursuant to paragraph 

9 (1) and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall pro10 vide to Congress a report that includes the following: 

11 (A) The number and types of eligible enti12 ties receiving assistance under this section. 

13 (B) The anti-harassment programs being 

14 implemented with assistance under this section 

15 and the costs of such programs. 

16 (C) Any other information determined by 

17 the Secretary to be useful in evaluating the 

18 overall effectiveness of the program established 

19 under this section in decreasing incidents of 

20 harassment at institutions of higher education. 

21 (3) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—The Secretary 

22 shall use the information provided under paragraph 

23 (1) to publish a report of best practices for com24 bating harassment at institutions of higher edu25 cation. The report shall be made available to all inVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:00 Feb 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H482.IH H482

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1 stitutions of higher education and other interested 

2 parties. 

3 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2019. 

6 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

7 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to invalidate 

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

9 available to victims of discrimination under any other Fed10 eral law or law of a State or political subdivision of a 

11 State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

12 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 

13 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 

14 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

15 794, 794a), or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

16 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this 

17 Act are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the 

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

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

20 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

21 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabil22 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

Æ 


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