[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 262 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 262

   Affirming the importance of title IX, applauding the increase in 
educational opportunities available to all people, regardless of sex or 
 gender, and recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done 
                to further increase those opportunities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 24, 2019

 Mrs. Murray (for herself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Harris, Mr. Kaine, Ms. 
Duckworth, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Smith, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. 
Hassan, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Coons, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Carper, 
    Ms. Warren, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Rosen, Mr. 
  Schumer, Mr. Markey, Mr. Booker, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. 
  Baldwin, Mr. Casey, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Brown, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Cortez 
Masto, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Tester) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Affirming the importance of title IX, applauding the increase in 
educational opportunities available to all people, regardless of sex or 
 gender, and recognizing the tremendous amount of work left to be done 
                to further increase those opportunities.

Whereas in 1972, President Richard M. Nixon signed into law title IX of the 
        Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) (referred to in 
        this preamble as ``title IX'');
Whereas in 2002, Congress passed a joint resolution establishing that title IX 
        may be cited as the ``Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education 
        Act'';
Whereas title IX prohibits any institution that receives Federal education 
        funding from discriminating against students or employees on the basis 
        of sex;
Whereas sex discrimination includes--

    (1) gender-based violence;

    (2) sexual harassment and assault;

    (3) dating violence; and

    (4) domestic violence;

Whereas title IX guarantees--

    (1) equal educational opportunities for all students, including 
pregnant or parenting students and gender non-conforming students; and

    (2) protection for students from discrimination on the basis of actual 
or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity;

Whereas since 1972, the United States has made great progress in providing 
        educational opportunities to women and girls and, in 2017, women earned 
        the majority of doctoral, master's, and associate degrees;
Whereas in the 2016-2017 academic year, women earned approximately 57 percent of 
        the bachelor's degrees awarded by institutions of higher education in 
        the United States for the 18th consecutive year;
Whereas since 1972, the participation of women and girls in sports has increased 
        by 1,000 percent in high school and greater than 500 percent in college, 
        providing women and girls with the opportunity--

    (1) to develop leadership and teamwork skills;

    (2) to earn athletic scholarships to help finance a college degree; and

    (3) to become successful professional athletes;

Whereas, despite the progress that has been made in higher education and 
        athletics, women, girls, pregnant or parenting students, and transgender 
        and gender non-conforming students in the United States are still 
        frequently denied equal educational opportunities;
Whereas pregnant and parenting students are more likely to drop out of high 
        school compared to other students, and only 51 percent of teenage 
        mothers earn a high school diploma by the age of 22, leading to 
        decreased opportunities for continuing education and employment;
Whereas the number of baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, 
        and math earned by women has decreased over the past decade and, as of 
        the 2016-2017 academic year, women earn only--

    (1) 38 percent of physical science degrees;

    (2) 19 percent of computing degrees;

    (3) 20 percent of engineering degrees; and

    (4) 42 percent of mathematics degrees;

Whereas, despite representing 56 percent of all students enrolled in colleges 
        and universities in the United States, women hold almost \2/3\ of all 
        outstanding student debt ($900,000,000,000 of the total 
        $1,400,000,000,000), and the average amount of student debt owed by a 
        woman following the completion of a baccalaureate degree is $2,700 more 
        than the average amount of student debt owed by a man;
Whereas, despite constituting 50 percent of law school graduates over the past 
        20 years, women constitute only 22.7 percent of partners at major law 
        firms;
Whereas, while women represent 75 percent of the healthcare workforce, only 12 
        percent of the chief executive officers of hospitals are women;
Whereas 44 percent of all National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, 
        Division II, and Division III student athletes are women, but only 11 
        percent of the athletic directors in Division I sports are women;
Whereas men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions, while women 
        make up approximately--

    (1) 4.8 percent of the chief executive officers of companies included 
in the S&P 500;

    (2) 18 percent of Governors;

    (3) 27.6 percent of executive officers elected in statewide elections; 
and

    (4) 30 percent of college and university presidents;

Whereas, when data is disaggregated, women of color have lower rates of--

    (1) leadership positions; and

    (2) science, technology, engineering, and math degrees;

Whereas women continue to experience sexual harassment and assault--

    (1) as minors;

    (2) at colleges and universities; and

    (3) in the workplace;

Whereas 1 in 4 girls will experience some form of sexual abuse before turning 18 
        years old, with--

    (1) 8 percent of high school students experiencing physical dating 
violence; and

    (2) 7 percent of high school students experiencing sexual assault by a 
dating partner;

Whereas experiencing sexual abuse can--

    (1) lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety; and

    (2) negatively impact academic achievement;

Whereas multiple studies have confirmed that--

    (1) 1 in 5 women and 1 in 4 transgender or gender non-conforming 
students are sexually assaulted on college campuses; and

    (2) approximately 20 percent of girls have been the victims of sexual 
assault or attempted sexual assault while in high school;

Whereas students face pervasive discrimination and harassment on the basis of 
        sexual orientation and gender identity in school, on college campuses, 
        and in the workplace, which--

    (1) impedes the ability of the students to fully access the educational 
opportunities to which the students are entitled; and

    (2) constitutes sex discrimination;

Whereas, because of the recent national focus on sexual harassment and assault, 
        reporting to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (referred to in 
        this preamble as the ``EEOC'') has increased 12 percent from 2017 to 
        2018, reflecting more accurate data on the prevalence of harassment and 
        resulting in a 50 percent increase in lawsuits filed by the EEOC in 
        2018;
Whereas the rule proposed by the Department of Education regarding title IX 
        would substantially narrow campus protections and would irresponsibly 
        reverse much of the progress made to combat sexual assaults on 
        educational campuses; and
Whereas, between 2011 and 2016, investigations by the Office for Civil Rights at 
        the Department of Education into reports of sexual and dating violence 
        and discrimination against transgender students have helped to identify 
        and respond to systemic issues of discrimination against students that 
        otherwise would have gone unrecognized, yet recent actions from the 
        Office for Civil Rights indicate that there will be fewer resources and 
        less attention focused on issues of sexual and dating violence and 
        discrimination against transgender students moving forward: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) applauds the tremendous increase in educational 
        opportunities for women and girls, including in sports, since 
        the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 
        U.S.C. 1681 et seq.);
            (2) encourages the Department of Education and the 
        Department of Justice to protect the rights of students to have 
        safe learning environments by working to ensure schools prevent 
        and respond to discrimination and harassment on the basis of 
        sex, including--
                    (A) sexual assault;
                    (B) harassment;
                    (C) domestic and dating violence;
                    (D) discrimination or harassment on the basis of 
                pregnancy;
                    (E) sex stereotyping; and
                    (F) discrimination or harassment on the basis of 
                actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender 
                identity; and
            (3) recognizes the work that still remains to be done to 
        secure the promise of title IX of the Education Amendments of 
        1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) that no federally funded 
        educational institution shall discriminate against any person 
        on the basis of sex.
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