I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5722 
To require reporting of bullying to appropriate authorities and assist with 
equal protection claims against entities who fail to respond appropriately 
to bullying, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2020 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LEE of California, and Mr. 
TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To require reporting of bullying to appropriate authorities 
and assist with equal protection claims against entities 
who fail to respond appropriately to bullying, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bullying Redress And 
Verified Enforcement Act’’ or the ‘‘BRAVE Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:30 Feb 03, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5722.IH
H5722
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
Part F of title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Subpart 6—Bullying 
‘‘SEC. 8581. OFFICIAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) REPORT OF BULLYING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 
local educational agency shall require an employee of 
the local educational agency who becomes aware of 
bullying to report to the individual designated under 
subsection (b) by not later than 7 business days 
after becoming aware of such bullying a description 
of— 
‘‘(A) the acts that constituted bullying; 
‘‘(B) if the bullying included a reference to 
or was motivated by an actual or perceived pro-
tected characteristic of the victim, such pro-
tected characteristic; and 
‘‘(C) the response to such bullying by em-
ployees of the local educational agency. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1), in the case of an employee of a local educational 
agency who is informed of bullying by a student at-
tending a school served by the local educational 
agency, but the student requests that such bullying 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:25 Jan 31, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5722.IH
H5722
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) informs the public of the right to file 
a complaint under section 8582(b)(2). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—A local educational agency 
shall not publish a report under paragraph (1) in a 
case in which such publication would reveal person-
ally identifiable information about an individual stu-
dent. 
‘‘(e) ANNUAL POLICY REVIEW.—Each local edu-
cational agency shall review, on an annual basis, the poli-
cies on bullying for schools served by the local educational 
agency. 
‘‘SEC. 8582. FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT. 
‘‘(a) CONDITION OF FEDERAL FUNDING.—As a con-
dition of receiving funds under this Act, a local edu-
cational agency shall— 
‘‘(1) annually certify to the Secretary in writing 
that such local educational agency has complied with 
this section; and 
‘‘(2) together with such certification, submit the 
4 most recent quarterly reports published preceding 
such certification pursuant to section 8581(d). 
‘‘(b) FEDERAL RECEIPT OF COMPLAINTS.—The As-
sistant Secretary who serves as the head of the Office of 
Civil Rights for the Department of Education shall— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:25 Jan 31, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5722.IH
H5722
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(1) establish a procedure for a student of a 
local educational agency, a parent of such student, 
or another appropriate individual to submit to the 
Assistant Secretary a complaint relating to a failure 
to comply with this section; and 
‘‘(2) publish such procedure on the internet 
website of the Department of Education. 
‘‘(c) FEDERAL RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS.—After 
receiving a complaint pursuant to subsection (b), the As-
sistant Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) investigate such complaint to determine if 
a local educational agency failed to comply with this 
section; and 
‘‘(2) if such local educational agency is deter-
mined under paragraph (1) to have failed to comply 
with this section— 
‘‘(A) withhold further payment of funds 
under this Act to such local educational agency; 
‘‘(B) issue a complaint to compel compli-
ance of such local educational agency through a 
cease and desist order; or 
‘‘(C) enter into a compliance agreement 
with such local educational agency to bring it 
into compliance with this section, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:25 Jan 31, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5722.IH
H5722
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
in the same manner as the Secretary is authorized 
to take such actions under sections 455, 456, and 
457, respectively, of the General Education Provi-
sions Act. 
‘‘(d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ABOUT 
COMPLAINTS.—Not later than 60 days after receiving a 
complaint pursuant to subsection (b)(2), the Assistant 
Secretary shall make available on the internet website of 
the Department information about such complaint, which 
shall— 
‘‘(1) if the bullying included a reference to or 
was motivated by an actual or perceived protected 
characteristic of the victim, include a description of 
such protected characteristic; and 
‘‘(2) exclude any personally identifiable infor-
mation of any student involved. 
‘‘SEC. 8583. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this subpart: 
‘‘(1) BULLYING.—The term ‘bullying’ means 
any severe, pervasive, or persistent electronic, writ-
ten, verbal, or physical act by one student or a 
group of students toward another student during 
school hours and on school premises, or at a school- 
sponsored activity outside of school hours, that 
causes— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:25 Jan 31, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5722.IH
H5722
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) harm to or reasonable concern for the 
person, property, or mental health of such other 
student; or 
‘‘(B) such other student to withdraw from 
or avoid benefitting from the services, activities, 
or opportunities offered by the school. 
‘‘(2) PROTECTED CHARACTERISTIC.—The term 
‘protected characteristic’ includes race, color, sex, re-
ligion, national origin, disability, gender, gender 
identity, and sexual orientation.’’. 
SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) 
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
8574, the following: 
‘‘SUBPART 6—BULLYING 
‘‘Sec. 8581. Official reporting requirements. 
‘‘Sec. 8582. Federal enforcement. 
‘‘Sec. 8583. Definitions.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:25 Jan 31, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5722.IH
H5722
lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS