[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 101 (Thursday, June 23, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4552-S4553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 510--AFFIRMING THE IMPORTANCE OF TITLE IX, APPLAUDING 
THE INCREASE IN EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS, 
   AND RECOGNIZING THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK LEFT TO BE DONE TO 
                  FURTHER INCREASE SUCH OPPORTUNITIES

  Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Booker, Mrs. 
Boxer, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, 
Mr. Coons, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Franken, Mrs. Gillibrand, 
Ms. Heitkamp, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Mr. 
Markey, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
Murphy, Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, Mr. Reid, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. 
Shaheen, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Tester, Mr. Udall, Ms. Warren, Mr. 
Whitehouse, and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions:

                              S. Res. 510

       Whereas 44 years ago President Richard M. Nixon signed 
     title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 
     et seq.) into law (referred to in this preamble as ``title 
     IX''), and in 2002 a resolution was passed establishing that 
     such title may be cited as the ``Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal 
     Opportunity in Education Act'';
       Whereas title IX prohibits any educational institution that 
     receives Federal education funding from discriminating 
     against students or employees on the basis of sex;
       Whereas sex discrimination includes gender-based violence, 
     sexual harassment and assault, dating violence, and domestic 
     violence;
       Whereas title IX guarantees equal educational opportunities 
     for all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
     transgender (referred to in this preamble as ``LGBT'') 
     students, pregnant or parenting students, and gender 
     nonconforming students;
       Whereas since 1972, the United States has made great 
     progress in providing educational opportunities to women and 
     girls, and in 2016 women earn the majority of doctoral, 
     master's, baccalaureate, and associate's degrees;
       Whereas since 1972, the participation of women and girls in 
     sports has increased by almost 900 percent in high school and 
     almost 500 percent in college, providing women and girls with 
     the opportunity to develop leadership and teamwork skills, 
     earn athletic scholarships to help finance a college degree, 
     and become successful professional athletes;
       Whereas, despite the progress that has been made in higher 
     education and athletics, women, girls, pregnant or parenting 
     students, LGBT individuals, and gender nonconforming 
     individuals in the United States are still too often denied 
     equal educational opportunities;

[[Page S4553]]

       Whereas the share of baccalaureate degrees in science, 
     technology, engineering, and mathematics earned by women has 
     decreased over the past decade, and women now earn only 19 
     percent of engineering degrees, 18 percent of computing 
     degrees, 42 percent of mathematics degrees, and 39 percent of 
     physical science degrees, at the baccalaureate level;
       Whereas women of color earn only 6 percent of computing 
     degrees and 3 percent of engineering degrees at the 
     baccalaureate level;
       Whereas women have about 64,000 fewer opportunities than 
     men to participate in college sports, and in 2015 only 37 of 
     the 313 athletic directors in Division I sports were women;
       Whereas multiple studies have confirmed that 1 in 5 women 
     are sexually assaulted on college campuses and about 20 
     percent of girls have been the victims of sexual assault or 
     attempted sexual assault while in high school;
       Whereas more than 50 percent of girls in grades 7 through 
     12 experience sexual harassment and 10 percent of high school 
     students experience dating violence each year, which can lead 
     to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and unhealthy and 
     antisocial behaviors, and can negatively impact academic 
     achievement;
       Whereas men still hold the vast majority of school 
     leadership positions, and only about 31 percent of full 
     professors at degree-granting postsecondary institutions are 
     women, 26 percent of college and university presidents are 
     women, and 27 percent of school district superintendents are 
     women;
       Whereas pregnant and parenting students are more likely to 
     drop out of high school than other students, and only 51 
     percent of mothers under the age of 20 earn a high school 
     diploma by the age of 22, leading to decreased opportunities 
     for continuing education and employment; and
       Whereas LGBT students face pervasive discrimination and 
     harassment in school, on college campuses, and in the 
     workforce, impeding their ability to fully access the 
     educational opportunities they are entitled to: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) applauds the tremendous increase in educational 
     opportunities, including in sports, for women and girls since 
     the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972;
       (2) commends the work of the Department of Education and 
     the Department of Justice to ensure that students have a safe 
     learning environment by working to ensure that schools 
     prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment on the 
     basis of sex, including sexual assault, harassment, domestic 
     and dating violence, pregnancy, sex-stereotyping, and 
     discrimination based on actual or perceived gender identity; 
     and
       (3) recognizes that progress must still be made to secure 
     the promise of such title IX that no educational institution 
     that receives Federal education funding discriminates against 
     any person because of their sex.

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