Restoring Civility on Campus Act of 2024

Bill: 118-s-4760
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]
Introduced: 2024-07-24
Policy area: Education
Latest action: action_date: 2024-07-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4760 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 24, 2024 Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Ms. Ernst , Mrs. Capito , and Mr. Grassley ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish requirements for investigations of certain complaints of discrimination.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Restoring Civility on Campus Act of 2024 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Antisemitic incidents on college campuses in the United States surged by 700 percent after the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel. (2) Islamophobic incidents in the United States rose by 178 percent after the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel. (3) The Antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents on college campuses have received the most public attention in the United States. (4) Antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents on college campuses are often violations of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq. ) (referred to in this section as title VI ). (5) The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education has received a surge in complaints and investigations involving title VI following October 7, 2023. (6) Based on the history of the Office for Civil Rights handling complaints regarding title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ( 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq. ) (referred to in this section as title IX ), the Government Accountability Office recognized that the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education resolves compliance issues extremely slowly and should establish timeliness goals. (7) The Government Accountability Office found that the Office for Civil Rights did not communicate with some colleges following the finding of a title IX violation and a resolution agreement for 5 years or more. (8) It is imperative that the Secretary of Education direct the Office for Civil Rights to swiftly address violent incidents of discrimination on college campuses that may be a violation of title VI based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics. (9) Compliance monitoring will be necessary to ensure that further title VI violations do not reoccur on college campuses. 3. Emergency priority for campus investigations of discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics (a) In general The Secretary of Education (referred to in this Act as the Secretary ) shall direct the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education (referred to in this Act as the Office ) to send an investigator, in-person, to each covered entity that participates in a program under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq. ) and that was the site of a covered complaint of alleged discrimination, in order to conduct an investigation of, and meet with the president or chancellor of the covered entity regarding, such complaint— (1) in the case of a complaint that was submitted before the date of enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after such date of enactment; and (2) in the case of a complaint that is submitted on or after the date of enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after the date the complaint is submitted. (b) Reports Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 30 days thereafter until the date specified in subsection (e), the Office shall prepare and make publicly available a report that— (1) describes the number, findings, and determinations of covered complaints of alleged discrimination that were investigated in accordance with this Act; (2) lists any similarities between covered complaints of alleged discrimination in order to help covered entities identify potential mitigation strategies and to ensure that covered entities can operate safely; (3) indicates if any criminal charges were filed or filed and dropped in association with the covered complaint of alleged discrimination; (4) indicates if any criminal convictions resulted from criminal charges filed in association with such covered complaint; (5) indicates if the covered entity pursued any institutional disciplinary procedures in association with such covered complaint, and the outcome of any such procedures; (6) indicates if the covered complaint involved any alleged violations of the time, place, and manner policy held by the covered entity; and (7) indicates if the covered complaint involved any alleged retaliation by the covered entity or the complainant. (c) Updates for Complainant and Covered Entity (1) In General The Office shall provide an update, upon request of a complainant or covered entity and not less than every 30 days, regarding whether the status of the covered complaint is in intake, under investigation, in negotiation, or in resolution. (2) Continuation Before the date described in subsection (f), the Secretary shall evaluate the efficacy of the provision of updates provided under paragraph (1) and consider extending such updates to all complaints received by the Office. (d) Covered complaint For purposes of this section, the term covered complaint means a complaint— (1) alleging discrimination in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq. ) on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; (2) that is based on actions that occurred on or after October 7, 2023 and before the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act; (3) was filed not later than 180 days after the date of the incident on which the covered complaint is based; and (4) was not dismissed based on the policies and procedures of the Office of Civil Rights case processing manual, as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act. (e) Covered entity In this section the term covered entity means an entity described in section 606(2) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d–4a(2). (f) Sunset The requirements under this section shall cease to have force or effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 4. Requirements for the Office for Civil Rights Beginning not later than 10 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall require staff of the Office to report to the Office in-person, except for the purpose of conducting in-person investigations. 5. Clery Act Compliance and Additional Fines (a) Audit (1) In General The Secretary of Education shall begin an audit to evaluate compliance with paragraph (1)(F)(ii) of section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1092(f) ) (known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act ), and specifically to ensure that each covered institution of higher education has properly disclosed the category of prejudice associated with each applicable criminal offense in accordance with such paragraph (1)(F)(ii) for the covered time period. (2) Temporary increase in fines The Secretary of Education shall impose a fine in the amount of $1,000,000 for an institution of higher education for each instance of noncompliance found through the audit described in paragraph (1) after a covered institution has been provided with the covered institution's due process rights under section 487(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.1094(b)). (b) Definitions In this section: (1) Covered institution The term covered institution means an institution of higher education— (A) that participates in title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq. ); and (B) with respect to which there is a pending complaint with the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education alleging discrimination in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq. ) on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics. (2) Covered time period The term covered time period means on or after October 7, 2023 and before the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 6. Disciplinary procedure reporting requirement Section 487(a)(26) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(26) ) is amended by inserting “or an offense in connection with an alleged violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” after nonforcible sex offense .