Opinion ID: 415517
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Post-enactment legislative history

Text: 40 Title IX's post-enactment legislative history offers significant insight to the problem we face. Several amendments and proposed amendments, as well as formal consideration of the HEW regulations, confirm Congress' desire to ban discrimination in those honor societies with an adequate nexus to universities receiving federal funds. 41 HEW published its final Title IX regulations on June 4, 1975. The Secretary submitted these regulations to Congress for review pursuant to section 431(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act, Pub.L. 93-380, 88 Stat. 567, as amended, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232(d)(1). This laying before provision was designed to afford Congress an opportunity to examine the regulation and, if it found the regulation inconsistent with the Act from which it derives its authority ..., to disapprove it in a concurrent resolution. If no such disapproval was adopted within 45 days, the regulation would become effective. 16 42 Two resolutions of disapproval were introduced in the Senate, but neither was acted upon. See 121 Cong.Rec. 17300 (1975) and id. at 22940. One of these, Senate Concurrent Resolution 46, proposed by Senator Helms, would have disapproved regulations applying Title IX to programs and activities not directly receiving federal funds. The resolution was not reported out of committee. Similarly, the House failed to pass concurrent resolutions of disapproval. See 121 Cong.Rec. 21687. Congress thus failed to register its dissatisfaction with the regulations in question in this case. As the Supreme Court in North Haven noted, [T]he relatively insubstantial interest given the resolutions of disapproval that were introduced seems particularly significant since Congress has proceeded to amend section 901 when it has disagreed with HEW's interpretation of the statute. 102 S.Ct. at 1924 (footnote omitted). 43 Five attempted amendments to Title IX merit our careful attention. These amendments reveal that Congress contemplated the problem of Title IX's coverage of outside organizations, including honor societies such as Iron Arrow, and that Congress did not act to prevent such an extension of HEW's authority under Title IX. In the only one of these five proposed amendments actually adopted, Congress amended Title IX, even before it reviewed HEW's regulations, to except social fraternities and sororities and voluntary youth service organizations from the reach of section 901(a). Pub.L. 93-568, Sec. 3(a), 88 Stat. 1862 (1974). Senator Bayh, the sponsor of the amendment, emphasized that: 44 This exemption covers only social Greek organizations; it does not apply to professional fraternities or sororities whose admission practices might have a discriminatory effect on the future career opportunities of a woman. 45 120 Cong.Rec. 39992 (1974). 46 This amendment clarifies two aspects of Congress' thinking. 17 First, it is strong evidence that Congress intended that Title IX apply to outside organizations such as Iron Arrow, which might affect the post-graduation employment opportunities of women. Second, it is difficult to imagine, except in a very few cases where a fraternity or sorority might occupy a house in which construction was paid for in some part by federal funds, any sort of direct federal aid such an organization could receive. Yet this fact did not deter Congress from believing that, unless fraternities and sororities were specifically excepted from the coverage of Title IX, their discriminatory admissions policies would fall within the ambit of section 901(a). 18 47 In 1975, Senator Helms attempted to limit explicitly Title IX's coverage to educational programs and activities directly receiving federal financial assistance. S. 2146, 121 Cong.Rec. 23845 (1975). Congress declined to pass this amendment. In 1976, Senator McClure similarly attempted to define federal financial assistance as assistance received directly from the federal government. Amendment 390, 122 Cong.Rec. 28144 (1976). The Senate defeated this amendment. Senator McClure also attempted to amend section 901 to limit the meaning of educational program or activity to such as are curriculum or graduation requirements of the institutions. Amendment 389, 122 Cong.Rec. 28136 (1976). This amendment arguably would have placed Regulation 86.31(b)(7) beyond the Secretary's authority under Title IX. The Senate, by a vote of 52 to 28, declined to so limit the scope of Title IX's prohibitions. 122 Cong.Rec. 28147 (1976). 48 In 1976, Representative Mathis unsuccessfully attempted to broaden an amendment containing certain exceptions to Title IX, specifically sections 901(a)(6) to (9), 19 by also excepting professional fraternities and sororities from the coverage of Title IX. In response to inquiry on the scope of his proposed amendment, Representative Mathis clearly stated that honorary societies would remain subject to Title IX. 122 Cong.Rec. 13535 (1976). In addition, several other representatives strongly denounced the policy behind Representative Mathis' proposed amendment and noted that the discriminatory membership practices of such socities were among the abuses Title IX was designed to remedy. See 122 Cong.Rec. 13535-36 (1976). 49 These numerous attempts to alter Title IX's scope of coverage reveal that Congress was well aware that Title IX would be construed to prohibit discriminatory membership practices among honor societies such as Iron Arrow. We take these expressions of Title IX's scope as authoritative, in light of the recent language of the Supreme Court in North Haven that: 50 Although postenactment developments cannot be accorded the weight of contemporary legislative history, we would be remiss if we ignored these authoritative expressions concerning the scope and purpose of Title IX.... Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U.S., at 687, note 7 [99 S.Ct. at 1952, note 7]. Where an agency's statutory construction has been 'fully brought to the attention of the public and the Congress,' and the latter has not sought to alter that interpretation although it has amended the statute in other respects, then presumably the legislative intent has been correctly discerned. United States v. Rutherford, 442 U.S. 544, 554, note 10 [99 S.Ct. 2470, 2476, note 10, 61 L.Ed.2d 68] (1979), quoting Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader, 310 U.S. 469, 489 [60 S.Ct. 982, 989, 84 L.Ed. 1311] (1940).... 51 102 S.Ct. at 1925.