[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4760 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4760

 To establish requirements for investigations of certain complaints of 
                            discrimination.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   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.

    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 ``Restoring Civility on Campus Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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''.
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