[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1357 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1357

   To provide for an examination of how schools are implementing the 
   policy guidance of the Department of Education's Office for Civil 
  Rights relating to sexual harassment directed against gay, lesbian, 
                  bisexual, and transgender students.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 3, 2001

 Mr. Wellstone (for himself and Mr. Feingold) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for an examination of how schools are implementing the 
   policy guidance of the Department of Education's Office for Civil 
  Rights relating to sexual harassment directed against gay, lesbian, 
                  bisexual, and transgender students.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Although title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 
        (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) does not prohibit discrimination on 
        the basis of sexual orientation, one section of the Department 
        of Education's Office for Civil Rights' 1997 final policy 
        guidance, entitled ``Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of 
        Students by School Employees, Other Students, or Third 
        Parties'' published in the Federal Register on March 13, 1997, 
        62 Fed. Reg. 12034, included a determination that ``sexual 
        harassment directed at gay or lesbian students that is 
        sufficiently serious to limit or deny a student's ability to 
        participate in or benefit from the school's program constitutes 
        sexual harassment prohibited by title IX under the 
        circumstances described in this guidance.''. This language was 
        unchanged in a 2001 update of the policy guidance entitled 
        ``Revised Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of Students by 
        School Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties'' for which 
        a notice of availability was published in the Federal Register 
        on January 19, 2001, 66 Fed. Reg. 5512.
            (2) That section of the 2001 ``Revised Sexual Harassment 
        Guidance: Harassment of Students by School Employees, Other 
        Students, or Third Parties'' went on to state: ``Though beyond 
        the scope of this guidance, gender-based harassment, which may 
        include acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggression, 
        intimidation, or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping, 
        but not involving conduct of a sexual nature, is also a form of 
        sex discrimination to which a school must respond, if it rises 
        to the level that denies or limits a student's ability to 
        participate in or benefit from the educational program....A 
        school must respond to such harassment in accordance with the 
        standards and procedures described in this guidance.''.
            (3) There is evidence that brings into question the degree 
        to which the policy guidance on sexual harassment against gay, 
        lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students is being 
        implemented. For example, a 7-State study by Human Rights Watch 
        of the abuses suffered by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and 
        transgender students at the hands of their peers, published in 
        ``Hatred in the Hallways: Violence and Discrimination Against 
        Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students in U.S. 
        Schools'' found that such students were often the victims of 
        abuses.
            (4) A 2000 study by the American Association of University 
        Women focused on implementation of title IX of the Education 
        Amendments of 1972 more generally, and the findings of that 
        study, published in ``A License for Bias: Sex Discrimination, 
        Schools, and Title IX'', included a finding that many schools 
        and universities have not established procedures for handling 
        title IX-based grievances.
            (5) The 2001 report of the Surgeon General, entitled 
        ``Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and 
        Responsible Sexual Behavior'' notes that ``antihomosexual 
        attitudes are associated with psychological distress for 
        homosexual persons and may have a negative impact on mental 
        health, including a greater incidence of depression and 
        suicide, lower self-acceptance and a greater likelihood of 
        hiding sexual orientation.''. It goes on to report: ``Averaged 
        over two dozen studies, 80 percent of gay men and lesbians had 
        experienced verbal or physical harassment on the basis of their 
        orientation, 45 percent had been threatened with violence, and 
        17 percent had experienced a physical attack.''.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide for an 
examination of how secondary schools are implementing the policy 
guidance of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights 
related to sexual harassment directed against gay, lesbian, bisexual, 
and transgender students.

SEC. 2. STUDY OF HOW EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ARE IMPLEMENTING THE 
              POLICY GUIDANCE RELATING TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT.

    (a) In General.--The United States Commission on Civil Rights 
(hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Commission'') shall conduct 
a study of the 1997 final policy guidance entitled ``Sexual Harassment 
Guidance: Harassment of Students by School Employees, Other Students, 
or Third Parties'' published in the Federal Register on March 13, 1997, 
62 Fed. Reg. 12034, and the application of such policy guidance.
    (b) Scope.--
            (1) Nationwide.--The study shall be conducted nationwide.
            (2) Elements of study.--The study shall examine, at a 
        minimum, with regard to secondary schools--
                    (A) the extent to which there exists sexual 
                harassment against gay and lesbian students in 
                secondary schools, using the applicable standards in 
                the policy guidance of the Office for Civil Rights 
                described in subsection (a);
                    (B) the extent to which there exists gender-based 
                harassment that negatively affects the learning 
                environment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender 
                students in secondary schools, applying the definition 
                of such gender-based harassment contained in the 2001 
                update of the policy guidance entitled ``Revised Sexual 
                Harassment Guidance: Harassment of Students by School 
                Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties'' for which 
                a notice of availability was published in the Federal 
                Register on January 19, 2001, 66 Fed. Reg. 5512;
                    (C) the level of awareness by school officials and 
                students of the policy guidance described in subsection 
                (a); and
                    (D) the level of implementation of such policy 
                guidance.
    (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``secondary school'' has 
the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

SEC. 3. REPORTING OF FINDINGS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall transmit to Congress and to 
the Secretary of Education--
            (1) a report of the Commission's findings under section 2; 
        and
            (2) any policy recommendations developed by the Commission 
        based upon the study carried out under section 2.
    (b) Dissemination.--The report and recommendations shall be 
disseminated, in a manner that is easily understandable, to the public 
by means that include the Internet.

SEC. 4. COOPERATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--The head of each Federal department or agency 
shall cooperate in all respects with the Commission with respect to the 
study under section 2.
    (b) Information.--The head of each Federal department or agency 
shall provide to the Commission, to the extent permitted by law, such 
data, reports, and documents concerning the subject matter of such 
study as the Commission may request.
    (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Federal department or 
agency'' means any agency as defined in section 551 of title 5, United 
States Code.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this Act, such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2002.
    (b) Availability.--Any amount appropriated under the authority of 
subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.
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