[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1207 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1207

 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to withhold Federal student 
financial assistance from students who have engaged in hazing, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2003

   Ms. Watson (for herself, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. 
Millender-McDonald, Mr. Owens, and Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                           and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to withhold Federal student 
financial assistance from students who have engaged in hazing, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hazing Prohibition Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. LOSS OF STUDENT FINANCIAL AID ELIGIBILITY FOR HAZING.

    Section 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (51 U.S.C. 20 
U.S.C. 1091) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(s) Loss of Student Financial Aid Eligibility for Hazing.--
            ``(1) Suspension of eligibility required.--A student who 
        has been subjected to an official sanction for hazing, or for 
        being an accessory to hazing, shall not be eligible to receive 
        any grant, loan, or work assistance under this title during the 
        period beginning on the date of such sanction and ending after 
        an interval of one year.
            ``(2) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
                    ``(A) The term `hazing' means any assumption of 
                authority by a student whereby another student suffers 
                or is exposed to any cruelty, intimidation, 
                humiliation, embarrassment, hardship, or oppression, or 
                is required to perform exercises to excess, to become 
                sleep deprived, to commit dangerous activities, to 
                curry favor from those in power, to submit to physical 
                assaults, to consume offensive foods or alcohol, or the 
                threat of bodily harm or death, or the deprivation or 
                abridgement of any right.
                    ``(B) The term `official sanction'--
                            ``(i) means expulsion, suspension, 
                        probation, censure, condemnation, reprimand, or 
                        any other disciplinary, coercive, or adverse 
                        action taken by an institution of higher 
                        education or administrative unit of the 
                        institution; and
                            ``(ii) includes an oral or written warning 
                        made by an official of an institution of higher 
                        education acting in the official capacity of 
                        the official.''.

SEC. 3. REPORTING OF HAZING CRIMES TO STUDENTS.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 485(f)(1)(E) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)(E)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (vii);
            (2) by inserting ``and'' after the semicolon at the end of 
        clause (viii); and
            (3) by inserting after clause (viii) the following new 
        clause:
                    ``(ix) hazing;''.
    (b) Definition.--Section 485(f) of such Act is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term `hazing' has the 
meaning provided in section 484(s)(2).''.
                                 <all>