I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5685 

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

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 

Mr. POCAN (for himself, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 

CASTEN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. DAVIS of 

Illinois, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARAMENDI, 

Mr. KEATING, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. LEE of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 

MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. 

PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. 

SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. SMITH of 

Washington, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TONKO, 

Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) 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 2023’’. 


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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 (iii), (iv), and 

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

12 and 

13 (B) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol14 lowing: 

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

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

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

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

19 means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, im20 ages, sounds, or data of any nature transmitted in 

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

22 photoelectronic, or photooptical system. 

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

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

25 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement 

26 Act (47 U.S.C. 1001).’’; 


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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 ‘‘(i) a statement of policy regarding harassment 

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

12 color, national origin, sex (including sexual orienta13 tion, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, a med14 ical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, a 

15 sex stereotype, and sex characteristics, including 

16 intersex traits), disability, or religion, which shall in17 clude— 

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

19 enrolled students by other students, faculty, 

20 and staff— 

21 ‘‘(aa) on campus; 

22 ‘‘(bb) in noncampus buildings or on 

23 noncampus property; 

24 ‘‘(cc) on public property; 


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1 ‘‘(dd) in dormitories or other residen2 tial facilities for students on campus; 

3 ‘‘(ee) through the use of electronic 

4 mail addresses issued by the institution of 

5 higher education; 

6 ‘‘(ff) through the use of computers 

7 and communication networks, including 

8 any telecommunications service, owned, op9 erated, or contracted for use by the institu10 tion of higher education or its agents; or 

11 ‘‘(gg) during an activity sponsored by 

12 the institution of higher education or car13 ried out with the use of resources provided 

14 by the institution of higher education; 

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

16 is carried out in whole or in part through the 

17 use of electronic messaging services, commercial 

18 mobile services, electronic communications, or 

19 other technology; 

20 ‘‘(III) a description of the institution’s pro21 grams to combat harassment, which shall be 

22 aimed at the prevention of harassment; 

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

24 a student should follow if an incident of harass25 ment occurs; and 


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

2 the institution will follow once an incident of 

3 harassment has been reported; and 

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

5 which a pattern of harassment occurs based on one 

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

7 and the actions taken by the institution of higher 

8 education. 

9 ‘‘(B) The statement of policy described in subpara10 graph (A)(i) shall address the following areas: 

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

12 cases of alleged harassment, which procedures shall 

13 include a clear statement that the accuser and the 

14 accused shall be informed of the outcome of any dis15 ciplinary proceedings in response to an allegation of 

16 harassment. 

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

18 the final determination of an institutional discipli19 nary procedure regarding harassment. 

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

21 health, or student and employee services for victims 

22 or perpetrators of harassment, both on campus and 

23 in the community. 

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

25 office at the institution that will be responsible for 


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1 receiving and tracking each report of harassment by 

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

3 SEC. 3. ANTI-HARASSMENT COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti7 ty’’ means— 

8 (A) an institution of higher education, in9 cluding an institution of higher education in a 

10 collaborative partnership with a nonprofit orga11 nization; or 

12 (B) a consortium of institutions of higher 

13 education located in the same State. 

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

15 the Secretary of Education. 

16 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au17 thorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

18 entities to enable eligible entities to carry out the author19 ized activities described in subsection (d). 

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

21 shall ensure that each grant awarded under this section 

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

23 purpose of this section. 

24 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

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


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1 made available through the grant to address harassment 

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

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

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(9)(A)(i)), as amended by section 

5 2 of this Act, by initiating, expanding, or improving pro6 grams— 

7 (1) to prevent the harassment of students at in8 stitutions of higher education; 

9 (2) at institutions of higher education that pro10 vide counseling or redress services to students who 

11 have suffered such harassment or students who have 

12 been accused of subjecting other students to such 

13 harassment; or 

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

15 staff of institutions of higher education about ways 

16 to recognize and prevent harassment or ways to ad17 dress such harassment if it occurs. 

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

19 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli20 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

21 containing such information, as the Secretary may re22 quire. 

23 (f) DURATION; RENEWAL.—A grant under this sec24 tion shall be awarded for a period of not more than 3 


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

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

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

4 under this section, the Secretary shall select eligible enti5 ties that demonstrate the greatest need for a grant and 

6 the greatest potential benefit from receipt of a grant. 

7 (h) REPORT AND EVALUATION.— 

8 (1) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO THE SEC9 RETARY.—Not later than 6 months after the end of 

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

11 shall— 

12 (A) evaluate the effectiveness of the activi13 ties carried out with the use of funds awarded 

14 pursuant to this section; and 

15 (B) prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

16 report on the results of the evaluation con17 ducted by the entity. 

18 (2) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

19 Not later than 12 months after the date of receipt 

20 of the first report submitted pursuant to paragraph 

21 (1) and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall pro22 vide to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

23 and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 

24 Education and the Workforce of the House of Rep25 resentatives a report that includes the following: 


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1 (A) The number and types of eligible enti2 ties receiving assistance under this section. 

3 (B) The anti-harassment programs being 

4 implemented with assistance under this section 

5 and the costs of such programs. 

6 (C) Any other information determined by 

7 the Secretary to be useful in evaluating the 

8 overall effectiveness of the program established 

9 under this section in decreasing incidents of 

10 harassment at institutions of higher education. 

11 (3) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—The Secretary 

12 shall use the information provided under paragraph 

13 (1) to publish a report of evidence-based best prac14 tices for combating harassment at institutions of 

15 higher education, which shall be based on scientific 

16 research that meets nationally recognized standards. 

17 The report shall be made available to all institutions 

18 of higher education and other interested parties. 

19 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029. 

22 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

23 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to invalidate 

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

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


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

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

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

4 1681 et seq.), section 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation 

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

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

7 obligations imposed by this Act are in addition to those 

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

9 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education Amend10 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 of 

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

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

13 et seq.). 

Æ 


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