[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 20, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5227-S5229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. Mack, and Mr. Faircloth):
  S. 2100. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase 
public awareness concerning crime on college and university campuses; 
to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.


                  campus crime disclosure act of 1998

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, today I introduce the Campus Crime 
Disclosure Act of 1998. My legislation amends the Crime Awareness and 
Campus Security Act of 1990,
  Educational institutions were once safe havens where we sent our 
children. Unfortunately, today we are all aware of the increase in 
violence that has reached as far down as our elementary schools to our 
youngest and most innocent victims. I would note that just recently, in 
the rural Pennsylvania community of Edinboro, a young teenager 
lamentably shot a teacher to death at an 8th grade graduation dance and 
wounded other students. While there is much that Congress can do to 
reduce violence in our society and across all levels of educational 
institutions, my legislation is focused on our national commitment to 
improving public safety on college and university campuses, where young 
adults are often away from their homes for the first time and living in 
unfamiliar surroundings.
  The legislation I am introducing today builds upon the fine work of 
my distinguished colleagues, Representative Goodling of Pennsylvania 
and Senator Jeffords of Vermont, who as chairmen of the authorizing 
committees having jurisdiction over higher education, have included 
campus crime amendments in the legislation reauthorizing the Higher 
Education Act. However, I believe that their amendments to the 1990 
Campus Security Act do not go far enough. Accordingly, my legislation 
includes provisions which are not included in the reauthorization bill 
and are necessary to bring schools into full compliance with the law, 
such as a more detailed definition of ``campus'' and new civil 
penalties.
  Based on my experience as District Attorney of Philadelphia, and my 
frequent involvement with educators and college students, I know that 
safety on campuses is a very serious issue. I want to recognize one 
family in particular for helping keep me and my colleagues informed on 
the important issue of campus crime, Howard and Connie Clery, and their 
son Ben, of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania for their continued work on 
campus security policy. As my colleagues may know, in 1988, the Clerys' 
daughter, Jeanne, was beaten, raped and murdered by a fellow student in 
her campus dormitory room at Lehigh University. Soon after the tragedy, 
Howard and Connie began to work on getting campus safety laws passed in 
the States and the U.S. Congress. In fact, the campus security law 
enacted in 1990 is often referred to as the ``Clery Bill.'' The Clerys 
founded Security on Campus, Inc., which serves as a watchdog of campus 
crime policies and procedures administered by our nation's colleges and 
universities.
  Based on continued conversations with the Clerys, it became apparent 
to me that there was a critical need for Congressional oversight of how 
the Department of Education has implemented the 1990 Act and whether 
the Department's financial resources are adequate for enforcement of 
the reporting requirements. On the fifth of March of this year, I held 
a hearing on security on campus as chairman of the Senate Labor, Health 
and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, to 
examine the Department of Education's enforcement of campus crime 
reporting requirements. The Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary 
Education for the U.S. Department of Education, David Longanecker, 
testified that: ``Generally the issue of campus is one of the foremost 
difficult areas that we have found campuses are having a difficult time 
with, and it is a particular issue for an urban institution.'' 
Secretary Longanecker went on to say that sidewalks and public lands 
are excluded from the Department's current definition of campus. 
Further, testimony at the hearing showed that buildings which are used 
for commercial purposes where other parts are used for educational 
purposes do not fall within the Department's interpretation of 
``campus,'' which, my own personal view, is an incorrect one. As one of 
the authors of the 1990 law, I believe that the omission of such 
information violates the spirit of the law and is a disservice to 
parents and students, especially for parents who send their children to 
college in urban settings, where commercial property such as food shops 
and retail stores and city streets thread through the entire campus. I 
believe it is preposterous to suggest that if a student fell victim to 
a crime say on a sidewalk which he or she was using to get to class 
would go unreported.

  The Campus Crime Disclosure Act of 1998 clarifies the law as to what 
constitutes a college or university campus. From now on, institutions 
would have to report to parents, students, and other members of the 
general public a more precise assessment of the criminal activity on 
campus. Specifically, a campus will be interpreted to mean: any 
building or property owned and controlled by the institution or owned 
by a student organization recognized by the institution, any public 
property such as sidewalks, streets, parking facilities, and other 
thoroughfares that provide access to the facilities of the institution, 
and any property owned or

[[Page S5228]]

controlled by the institution that is not in close proximity to the 
campus must still be reported on. The bill also makes clear that all 
dormitories and residential facilities, whether on or off-campus, which 
are owned or operated by the institution, fall under the definition of 
campus.
  My legislation gives the Secretary of Education stronger enforcement 
authority. Should an institution fail to report crime data, the 
Department of Education can fine that institution up to $25,000. 
According to a study conducted by the General Accounting Office, 63 
institutions of higher education were in violation of the Crime 
Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990. Yet, the Department of 
Education did not take any punitive action against these institutions. 
The inclusion of fines will provide the Department with the necessary 
tool to ensure that all schools fulfill the intention of the law.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of the Campus Crime 
Disclosure Act of 1998 to enhance security on campus. The bill is 
urgently needed to steer the U.S. Department of Education in the right 
direction as it monitors crime on America's college campuses. Quite 
simply, everyone benefits from clear and accurate reporting of the 
risks facing college students.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the text of the 
bill be printed in the Record as well as a section-by-section analysis.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2100

       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 ``Campus Crime Disclosure Act 
     of 1998''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) According to the General Accounting Office, 63 
     institutions of higher education were in violation of the 
     amendments made by the Crime Awareness and Campus Security 
     Act of 1990 since the enactment of such Act in 1990. The 
     Department of Education has not taken punitive action against 
     these institutions.
       (2) The Department of Education's interpretation of the 
     statutory definition of campus has enabled institutions of 
     higher education to underreport the instances of crimes 
     committed against students.
       (3) In order to improve public awareness of crimes 
     committed on college and university campuses, it is essential 
     that Congress act to clarify existing law and to discourage 
     underreporting of offenses covered by the amendments made by 
     the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990.

     SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL CRIME CATEGORIES.

       (a) In General.--Section 485(f)(1) of the Higher Education 
     Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)) is amended--
       (1) by amending subparagraph (F) to read as follows:
       ``(F) Statistics concerning the occurrence on campus, 
     during the most recent calendar year, and during the 2 
     preceding calendar years for which data are available, of 
     criminal offenses reported to campus security authorities or 
     local police agencies, and of referrals of persons for campus 
     disciplinary action, for the following:
       ``(i) Murder.
       ``(ii) Sex offenses, forcible or nonforcible.
       ``(iii) Robbery.
       ``(iv) Aggravated assault.
       ``(v) Burglary.
       ``(vi) Motor vehicle theft.
       ``(vii) Manslaughter.
       ``(viii) Larceny.
       ``(ix) Arson.
       ``(x) Liquor law violations, drug-related violations, and 
     weapons violations.'';
       (2) by striking subparagraph (H); and
       (3) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as subparagraph (H).
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 485(f) of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) of paragraph 
     (4), by striking ``paragraphs (1)(F) and (1)(H)'' and 
     inserting ``paragraph (1)(F)''; and
       (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ``paragraphs (1)(F) and 
     (1)(H)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1)(F)''.

     SEC. 4. TIMELY MANNER.

       Section 485(f)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1092(f)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following: ``Such reports shall be readily available to 
     students and employees through various mediums such as 
     resident advisors, electronic mail, school newspapers, and 
     announcement postings throughout the campus.''.

     SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF CAMPUS.

       Subparagraph (A) of section 485(f)(5) of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(5)) is amended to 
     read as follows: ``(A) For purposes of this section the term 
     `campus' means--
       ``(i) any building or property owned or controlled by an 
     institution of higher education within the same reasonably 
     contiguous geographic area of the institution, including a 
     building or property owned by the institution, but controlled 
     by another person, such as a food or other retail vendor;
       ``(ii) any building or property owned or controlled by a 
     student organization recognized by the institution;
       ``(iii) all public property that is within the same 
     reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution, 
     such as a sidewalk, a street, other thoroughfare, or parking 
     facility, that provides immediate access to facilities owned 
     or controlled by the institution;
       ``(iv) any building or property owned, controlled, or used 
     by an institution of higher education in direct support of, 
     or related to the institution's educational purposes, that is 
     used by students, and that is not within the same reasonably 
     contiguous geographic area of the institution; and
       ``(v) all dormitories or other student residential 
     facilities owned or controlled by the institution.''.

     SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1092) is amended further by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(8)(A) The Secretary shall report to the appropriate 
     committees of Congress each institution of higher education 
     that the Secretary determines is not in compliance with the 
     reporting requirements of this subsection.
       ``(B) The Secretary shall provide to an institution of 
     higher education that the Secretary determines is having 
     difficulty, or is not in compliance, with the reporting 
     requirements of this subsection--
       ``(i) data and analysis regarding successful practices 
     employed by institutions of higher education to reduce campus 
     crime; and
       ``(ii) technical assistance.
       ``(9) For purposes of reporting the statistics described in 
     paragraph (1)(F), an institution of higher education shall 
     distinguish, by means of a separate category, any criminal 
     offenses, and any referrals for campus disciplinary actions, 
     that occur--
       ``(A) on publicly owned sidewalks, streets, or other 
     thoroughfares, or in parking facilities, that provide 
     immediate access to facilities owned by the institution and 
     are within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of 
     the institution; and
       ``(B) in dormitories or other residential facilities for 
     students, or in other facilities affiliated with the 
     institution.''.

     SEC. 7. FINES.

       Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended further by adding after paragraph 
     (9) (as added by section 6) the following:
       ``(10)(A) Upon determination, after reasonable notice and 
     opportunity for a hearing, that an institution of higher 
     education--
       ``(i) has violated or failed to carry out any provision of 
     this subsection or any regulation prescribed under this 
     subsection; or
       ``(ii) has engaged in substantial misrepresentation of the 
     nature of the institution's activities under this subsection,
     the Secretary shall impose a civil penalty upon the 
     institution of not to exceed $25,000 for each violation, 
     failure, or misrepresentation.
       ``(B) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the 
     Secretary. In determining the amount of such penalty, or the 
     amount agreed upon in compromise, the appropriateness of the 
     penalty to the size of the institution of higher education 
     subject to the determination, and the gravity of the 
     violation, failure, or misrepresentation shall be considered. 
     The amount of such penalty, when finally determined, or the 
     amount agreed upon in compromise, may be deducted from any 
     sums owing by the United States to the institution 
     charged.''.
                                  ____


            The Campus Crime Disclosure Act of 1998--Summary

       The Campus Crime Disclosure Act of 1998 amends the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 to increase public awareness concerning 
     crime on college and university campuses.
       Section 1. Title: ``Campus Crime Disclosure Act of 1998.''
       Section 2. Findings.
       Section 3. Additional Crime Categories.
       Adds reporting requirements for offenses such as 
     manslaughter, larceny, arson, and for arrests or persons 
     referred for campus disciplinary action for liquor law 
     violations, drug-related violations, and weapons violations.
       Section 4. Definition of Campus.
       This section responds to the Department of Education's 
     interpretation of the 1990 campus crime reporting law by 
     modifying the definition of campus to include: any building 
     or property owned and controlled by the institution or by a 
     student organization recognized by the institution within the 
     contiguous area of the institution, any public property such 
     as sidewalks, streets, parking facilities, and other 
     thoroughfares that provide access to the facilities of the 
     institution, any building or property owned or controlled by 
     the institution that is not within the contiguous area but 
     used for educational purposes. The bill also makes clear that 
     all dormitories and residential facilities (on or off-campus) 
     which are owned or operated by the institution, fall under 
     the definition of campus.
       Section 5. Reporting Requirements.
       Adds three additional reporting requirements: (1) the 
     Secretary of Education must report back to Congress when 
     schools are

[[Page S5229]]

     found in noncompliance, (2) the Secretary shall provide 
     technical assistance to schools concerning compliance with 
     reporting requirements and the implementation of campus 
     security procedures, and (3) requires institutions to include 
     in their reported statistics: crimes committed on public 
     property such as streets and sidewalks and student 
     residences.
       Section 6. Fines.
       Mandates for the first time that the Secretary of Education 
     shall impose civil penalties of up to $25,000 on institutions 
     which fail to comply with the Act's reporting requirements.
                                 ______